badly undernourished Mare in foal

Question
Hi Leigh
I went to look at a horse to buy her today after I saw her I had to buy her as she was all bones and very thin except for her foal bulge.I'm collecting her tomorrow and taking her home to take care of her I'm so disgusted that someone could let a horse starve like that.Any advice as I'm sure she has tapeworms.She is fifteen and its going to be a long road to help her come back from.
Anne

Answer
Hi Anne,

It will be a long road, and it's complicated by her pregnancy.  How far along is she?  This will seriously affect what her feeding regime should be.

As a general rule you should feed her little and often. 5 - 6 meals a day would be good if you can manage it, but at least 3 (if time is tight).

For the first week or two I would put her on good quality hay - lucerne/alfalfa hay morning and night and constant access to good quality grass hay.

After a week I would start her on a small supplement.  A little lucerne chaff & a little wheaten/oaten chaff, 100g of rice bran and a good quality breeding pellet (follow the directions on the bag but only feed about 1/4 of the stated amount at first) plus a good vitamin/mineral supplement and a calcium supplement designed for breeding mares.

Over the following weeks slowly increase the supplement until you are feeding about 500g of rice bran a day and the pellets as per the bag.

I would continue with the vitamin/mineral mix throughout her pregnancy and make sure you increase the calcium as it gets close to her time to deliver.

Any female animal is at serious risk if underfed during pregnancy.  There is a condition which is caused by a deficiency of calcium at the time of birth.  This will cause very serious complications and may result in the death of mare and foal.  If you start feeding her slowly and well now and supplement her correctly, there should be few problems.

To be sure, it would probably be best to get a vet to give her a once over to check for any underlying problems.

Good Luck