Essential Nutrition for Mares & Foals

Feeding for Healthy Pregnancies, Strong Foals, and Fewer Headaches

When a woman gets pregnant, one of the first things her doctor tells her is to start taking prenatal vitamins. The same goes for mares...except theirs come in pellet form and smell delicious😀.

Pregnancy and lactation are no joke when it comes to nutrition. This is the most demanding time in a horse’s life, and her body is working overtime to grow and feed a brand-new baby. If her diet isn’t up to par, it can snowball fast — leading to issues for her and long-term developmental problems for the foal.

Let’s break down what she really needs, why hay won’t cut it, and how to avoid the most common feeding mistakes (including one that’s been passed around barns for decades).

That’s where a fortified feed steps in. Think of it like a prenatal for horses — built to support the mare and set her foal up for success. Look for feeds with:

• Quality amino acids like lysine, methionine, and threonine
• Trace minerals in the right ratios (more on that in a sec)
• Big hitters like vitamin E and vitamin A

These nutrients don’t just help her thrive, they build stronger bones, better joints, and more resilient babies.

The Not-So-Secret to Strong, Sound Foals
Want to help your foal avoid joint issues like OCDs? It starts before they’re born. The most effective prevention tool is proper, balanced nutrition. Specifically:

• A calcium-to-phosphorus ratio of at least 2:1
• Trace minerals like copper, zinc, and manganese for joint development
• Ingredients in the highest bioavailable forms

Look at the tag and scan for words like:
• Copper lysine complex
• Zinc methionine complex
• Manganese methionine complex

Why do those matter? These forms are chelated, which is a fancy way of saying the body can actually absorb and use them. The amino acid they’re bound to acts like a VIP escort — getting the mineral exactly where it needs to go.

Please Don’t Feed Your Weanling or Yearling Oats (Without Reading This First)

Yes, oats are old-school. Yes, they’ve been fed for generations. But here’s the deal:

• They’re super high in starch and sugar (aka NSCs)
• They lack key minerals
• They can contribute to too-fast growth and joint problems

If you absolutely must feed oats:

• Cut them with low-NSC ingredients like beet pulp
• Top with a diet balancer to provide calcium, phosphorus, copper, zinc, manganese, vitamin A, and vitamin E

What We Recommend

If you’re looking to skip the guesswork and feed something built specifically for mares and foals, we’ve got options:

• Intensify Growth & Development – Great for supporting steady growth and soundness
• Horseman’s Elite Mare & Foal – Designed for pregnancy, lactation, and babies
• Pro Balance™ - perfect for balancing oats or non-fortified feeds and controlling calories in overweight mares. With a bonus full research-backed dose of biotin.
• Boost ‘Em - Protein, fat, and carbohydrates plus vitamins, minerals, and amino acids to maintain reproductive health and balanced growth.

All of these are made with the right mineral ratios, amino acids, and vitamins already in the bag. No need to mix and match (unless you really want to).