Okay, come on, admit it - don't we all go googly-eyed when we see a foal? Full of fluff, and cheek, bouncing around happily with the world at their feet? And doesn't every proud owner of a beautiful mare dream of one day raising their own foal? I personally get flushed with all kinds of happy stuff and start talking in a ridiculous squeaky voice at the sight of a bub in a stable next to their mum. They're just wayyyy too gorgeous ... 😍

But there's no doubt that there's many considerations to carefully plan, to ensure a healthy start for both mum and foal, From considering the social birthing environment, feed and nutrients, just how much should us humans get involved in those early days, and the common issues that may crop up.  And lest we forget - the often completely ignored yet vital consideration of creating the foal's microbiome, which will determine their future immunity. How the foal's hindgut biome is established will literally determine their health – or unhealth – for the rest of their life.

The social birthing environment for both mum and foal

Remember that horses are social animals, and in nature a mare is never alone. One of the first and most important considerations is ensuring that the about-to-foal mare is not going to be isolated in her usual stable. Nearby mares acting as aunties - and in the perfect world, their own foals as well - are so important, not only for the emotional well-being of the birthing mare but also for the development of the newborn foal.

Those aunties all help in caregiving, helping the mare to recover between nurturing her own foal and ensuring her foal learns essential social skills early on to facilitate a smoother integration into the world, not to mention reducing stress during the birthing and postnatal phases.

Similarly, foals require foal buddies for play. By the time they're weaned, these buddies become crucial for the youngster, easing the separation from mum and reducing potential trauma. Within their group, foals learn to navigate their social environment, enhance their physical agility, and learn to stand their ground when they need to.

Nutrition - the foundation of health

I get many enquiries from owners who are unsure about the correct dietary regime for their broodmare. What's the right amount of this or that, and how much and what's best? Fundamentally, feeding a broodmare is not that different from feeding any other horse, other than she's going to need more forage - up to 3kg/100 kg bodyweight per day of adlib, high-quality meadow hay, to ensure her hindgut biome stays healthy and continues to produce her energy source and those other essential metabolites that help any horse thrive.

Meanwhile it’s a no-brainer to avoid those bulk-filler junk feedbowl feeds high in quick sugars and starches, and the buffet of pro-inflammatory molasses, soya, alfalfa, synthetics etc, to prevent elevated blood glucose levels which your mare won't be able to burn off via sufficient exercise. Feed quality meadow hay cobs and sainfoin to the feedbowl, which are rich in fibre and proteins. The tip of the day is that if the feedbowl carrier isn't made from grass fibre, don't feed it. Simples. 😉

Post-birth, her diet should support her in producing nutrient-rich milk, particularly rich in essential amino acids such as lysine and methionine, both of which you'll find as standard in our mineral balancers; these amino acids are vital for the foal to build their own proteins, essential for their growth and development. 

NB - If the mother is milk-deficient, her body will begin to break down its own muscle protein for energy to enrich her milk supply, depriving herself in order to nourish her foal. Sadly we see this too often, especially with rescue mares in foal who have suffered from severe neglect and cruelty. We see this regularly with the wonderful equine charity SAFE - Saving Abandoned Fly-Grazing Equines, whom EquiNatural supports.

It's also vital to maintain constant access to roughage to prevent colic and maintain a healthy gut flora balance, both crucial for the foal's development. The usual rule applies to feeding straw, as in Don't, as apart from many other detrimental reasons it can lead to constipation and colic, particularly towards the end of pregnancy. Don't go near haylage either, as it will cause significant hindgut dysbiosis, leading to irreparable damage in the foal's own hindgut biome and immunity during their first few months.

Meanwhile, Raspberry leaf is the ultimate pregnancy herb. It tones the uterine muscles and is high in beneficial vitamins and minerals, and will also help with increased milk production. Feeding raspberry leaf during the last 45-days of your mare's pregnancy is thought to help the mare during delivery, with success noted for mares with chronic delivery type problems (eg, prolonged delivery, retained placenta, little or no milk production, excessive bleeding during delivery).

Optimal foal feeding

Initially the foal should rely on breast milk, supplemented by nibbling on hay and grass - these will provide all the necessary nutrients for the early days. Meanwhile, owners should be cautious of commercial foal feeds high in sugars, such as 'foal muslis', which can predispose foals to various health issues.

Minerals

Since foals derive their nutrients solely from the mare in the initial months, if you're not doing it already, it's important that during the critical last 2-months of pregnancy the mare’s diet should be supplemented with minerals, particularly copper and zinc, to support foetal development for a strong and healthy start to life. This will also help the mare recover more swiftly post birth, and help the foal build a strong musculoskeletal framework to enhance overall vitality and strong hooves from birth.

Worming before birth

It's said to be a recommendation to worm the mare towards the end of her pregnancy, although personally I'd be a tad nervous about chemically worming. The main threat apparently comes from the dwarf threadworm, despite them allegedly being relatively harmless to healthy adult horses with a healthy immune system; however, they can cause severe diarrhea in newborns who have yet to develop any immunity. I'd suggest regular FECs and a herbal intestinal cleanse along the way with our SiboCARE - which will also benefit her hindgut biome integrity - followed by a handful of our BiomeTonic at regular intervals.

Stable or field?

I'm pretty sure this is a given, but here's a thing - in nature, wild horses living outside can delay the birth if they feel stressed, suggesting there may be benefits to a less 'controlled' environment. Birthing outdoors offer natural conditions (that oddly are said to be more hygienic than a stable); however, show me anyone who wouldn't be bringing in to a comfortable barn for monitoring, especially in the event of complications, plus there's always our typical british spring torrents to consider - the last thing we want is a foal born in a thunderstorm.

Whichever way we go, while first time mums (both horse and the human owner!) will of course benefit from monitoring, it's important not to confine the mare too much as this may induce stress.

Human bonding

Okay, so we all know a newborn foal is irrestible, but - early human socialisation should be approached with care as, much as we all want to get involved with a ton of the love stuff, too much of us humans immediately after the birth may interfere with the natural bonding between mum and foal, which could lead to behavioural issues later in life. While our presence is of course important, it shouldn’t disrupt the mare's and foal's initial bonding.

Time for the great outdoors!

Get that baby outside with mum from the get-go, literally Day-1, and especially if there are other foals to play with.😃 Ideally foalie should be able to integrate into a herd where they can learn appropriate social behaviours, which will be really important for later training and interaction.

Exposure to outdoor space for movement is also so important for physical development and social behaviour, whereas foals raised in confined conditions, or with just adults, often show developmental and social deficiencies compared to those raised in more open, natural environments with foal buddies.

Gut health - healthy mum's hindgut means healthy foal

The mare’s hindgut health plays a direct role in how a foal will develop their own gut biome and immunity, as foals inherit their initial gut flora from eating their mother’s faeces, a well-recognised process known as coprophagia.

A healthy mare passes on those beneficial fibre-fermenting microbes in her faeces that aid in the foal's ability to themselves digest and absorb nutrients from their forage. However, if the mare has a disrupted hindgut biome, or has been fed haylage (which introduce lactic acid bacteria into the hindgut), the foal will ingest harmful bacteria which trust me, will lead to lifelong metabolic disorders such as autoimmunity (allergies such as equine asthma or sweet itch) and KPU. We've got this all covered in our Creating the Foal's Microbiome page.

Common health issues in foals

The last thing I want to do here is frighten anyone with unpronounceable scary foal-related disease names, so I'll pull this para together by saying suffice to say, foals, like our own human infants, have immature immune systems that need to develop through exposure to their environment - they need to learn to recognise the pathogens so their immune cells can build an immunity against them.

Monitoring for signs of common ailments like diarrhea and respiratory issues is of course really important, but medical intervention should be cautiously sensible, opting more for natural recovery whenever possible rather than the use of antibiotics, in order to build a strong and effective long-term immunity. Because these days we all know that antibiotics will annihilate a gut biome, upon which all health depends ...

To conclude ...

Raising a foal is awesomely rewarding but it's going to need a bit of careful planning. By having an understanding of the social, nutritional, and health needs of both mum and her baby, you’ll be ensuring the best start to their new life together.

I'll end with some heartwarming images of my dear friend Sarah's new foal and her mum, nicknamed Chip, born April 2024. So named after the Blue Chip Championships they were meant to be going to, so Sarah had to stay home while daughter went to the show with dad instead. What a homecoming present though! 💖