Lactating mare feding advice for novice owner

[canalwood]

Hi all

Hoping someone might be able to provide some advice for a novice owner. I have a mare who I have never looked after myself - she was a (very generous) gift a number of years ago but as I had a young family that took most of my time she was always on loan. She has come back to me now due to unfortunate circumstances with her last carer and is pregnant - due any day now. We have someone who will foal her and keep mare and foal for about 6 weeks post partum - then she (and foal) are ideally going to be looked after by me until weaned. And this is where the questions begin...

I have been offered by a family friend 1 acre of good grass, access to water and some shelter provided by trees. It is currently secured for cattle so may need updating to keep mare and foal safe and secure. My understanding is that 1 acre is probably not enough grass to keep the mare in top form. Would I need to top up with hay/haylage/other food? Or would I be best relying on other food sources (ie hay/haylage) as main nutrition and just rely on field for excercise given its size?

Mare is hanoverian crossed with Irish draft to give an indication of size. Any idea of how much food she would need to be supplemented with so I can approximate costs?

It is also a hilly site so I am hoping that is suitable for a young foal - I know the grass is good as it has been well managed by the owner.

Any other concerns i should have on the suitability of an acre for the pair?

Apologies in advance if my questions are unclear or naive. I have ridden for years but never kept a horse myself and never cared for a foal so this is all new to me. I am hoping it is not too naive to think I could mange caring for them both until foal weans... planning for how we manage that next stage in their lives will come later

Thanks in advance for any help/advice

 

[eggs]

You might get more answers if you post this is the Breeding section.

When I have had in foal mares I have upped their hard feed with a good stud cube in the last three months of pregnancy and then kept feeding them this whilst they are feeding the foal and start to tail it off after three months so that by weaning they are pretty much on their usual rations. Feeding a foal takes a lot out of a mare so you may need to experiment with feeding levels.

If the grass does not hold up you will need to supplement with hay/haylage.

It might be worth looking around for youngstock livery for when you wean your foal.

 

[canalwood]

Thanks for the reply and the advice. I will post in the breeding section to see if I can get any further input.

Foal was born yesterday. Its a boy