Ask The Equine Nutritionist

My mare foaled about 3 months ago, both mare and baby are quite healthy, but the mare still has a big, pregnant-looking pot belly! Its not fat, because her ribs show above it. How do I get rid of this? Its not for lack of excercise, as shes back in full training (she's a reiner) and is in great physical shape. She's on a regular worming schedule and eats high quality grass and alfalfa hay, a small amount of 12% feed supplimented with Gro N Win. Is there something else I can do (feeding or exercise) that can help her lose the pot belly look?

There are a couple of reasons your mare might have a big belly following foaling. For one thing she might actually be underweight rather than fat. You do mention that her ribs are showing. Check her body score on the body score scale (see attachment). If she is a 5 or below she might be needing more nutrition rather than less. I would start out with a good dose of wormer, even though she is on a regular schedule, check with your vet but my suggestion is the 5 day panacur called power pack, which will make sure she is not harboring parasites. Then I would increase the amount of Grow n Win she is getting. You can double it if needed. Plus I would add 4 oz of whole flax seed to the mix per day. I would also give her rice bran up to 2 lbs per day. And I would add in one good quality vitamin mineral supplement. It does not matter which one you pick but pick a good one. LinPro, Glantzen, Platinum Performance or KER's one would be my recommendations. Her exercise program may need to be changed she needs to do the equine equivalent of crunches! Have her do plenty of long slow distance work such as trail riding especially up and down slopes, get her to trot and lope circles with a big swinging trot really reaching under he with the hind legs. Leg yielding, shoulder-in and travers (haunches -in) and renvers (shoulder-in, reverse bend) are also good exercises to build up the belly muscles. Plenty of very forward active work over trotting poles and cavaletti will help her use the belly muscles too. Remember it will take time to build up and strengthen those belly muscles.

Dr. Melyni Worth Ph.D. - 2004 (c)

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