Getting foal-ready

Getting foal-ready


While waiting nearly a year — 340 days on average — for your mare to foal, there’s a whole host of things you can do to help things run smoothly.

Providing daily exercise lets your mare stay in shape for foaling. Offering a diet of good pasture, high-quality hay, grain and a vitamin/mineral supplement is great for the first eight months. But during the last three months, you’ll want to add more protein and calories.

Keeping up with deworming helps decrease your mare’s parasite load — and the load to which her foal will be exposed. Also, check if your mare needs a tetanus vaccination six weeks before foaling so that protective antibodies can be passed on to her foal in her first milk.

You can also ready a birthing stall — then ask your veterinarian what else you can do to prepare for the big day.

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