Pregnant Mare Question

[ReneeF]

My little mare is heavily pregnant and her feet seem to be sore. Farrier has trimmed her hooves which has helped but it seems it’s uncomfortable for her to walk. We have suspected that she foundered before we brought her last October. Vet has checked her out and ran bloodwork that came back good. Would it be suggested to give her small dosage of Bute?

 

[Cayuse]

I would not give her bute. Especially since she is in foal. I am pretty sure it is not the best thing for minis because they can be sensitive to it, or don't metabolize it like a big horse and can get toxic.
I would call the vet that did the work up on her and ask what would be the best plan of action.

 

[Ryan Johnson]

First thing to do is to get her off green grass. If you have an area you can lock her in , it would probably be best for her. If you can put a deep bed of straw down, it will help. Unfortunately pregnancy is a trigger for a laminitic attack. What are you currently feeding her ?

 

[ReneeF]

I would not give her bute. Especially since she is in foal. I am pretty sure it is not the best thing for minis because they can be sensitive to it, or don't metabolize it like a big horse and can get toxic.
I would call the vet that did the work up on her and ask what would be the best plan of action.

Okay thank you for your response. I’ll check to see what would be the best option for her

First thing to do is to get her off green grass. If you have an area you can lock her in , it would probably be best for her. If you can put a deep bed of straw down, it will help. Unfortunately pregnancy is a trigger for a laminitic attack. What are you currently feeding her ?

She is kept in a dry lot with an open barn for shelter. We feed her Nutrena Safe Choice and costal hay. Turn her out to graze pasture grass for a short while in the evenings

 

[Ryan Johnson]

I would eliminate the pasture from her diet all together. Just keep her on the grass hay. With the weight of the pregnancy and being a laminitic mare, the two can be a disaster.

You have to be cruel to be kind. No more treats , no more sweet feeds and definitely no more grass.

I learnt this all from experience . I would hate your little mare to founder again ( and now that she has ,she will be much more prone to it)

To remove any excess sugar from the hay , soak for a min 2 hours. When my mare was really bad I cut up a yoga mat ( the foal ones) and taped it to the bottom of her hooves. It gave more cushioning.

Hope this helps

 

[ReneeF]

I would eliminate the pasture from her diet all together. Just keep her on the grass hay. With the weight of the pregnancy and being a laminitic mare, the two can be a disaster.

You have to be cruel to be kind. No more treats , no more sweet feeds and definitely no more grass.

I learnt this all from experience . I would hate your little mare to founder again ( and now that she has ,she will be much more prone to it)

To remove any excess sugar from the hay , soak for a min 2 hours. When my mare was really bad I cut up a yoga mat ( the foal ones) and taped it to the bottom of her hooves. It gave more cushioning.

Hope this helps

Thank you! I had actually forgotten about eliminating grass from her diet! We switched to a low sugar feed and costal hay. Will take off grass completely and will try the yoga mat to ease her discomfort.

 

[Becmar]

I feed coastal hay and a little alfalfa (can be cubes but soak them pellet is easier to soak) to help the calcium levels for her and Safe Choice grain 1/2 cup (low sugar for the minis) ..