I have now purchased two bags of Suregrow and a bag of chaff for Penny. I am slowly introducing her to the pellets so that she is ready to start feeding January 1st. I have been giving her handfuls with her mineral lick, she seems to like it so will have her first full feed on January 1st. I might also get some molasses to wet the feed as she seems to rather like the stuff!

I have found some rubber matting for her stable, which has now been laid and swept. It's now waiting for a bed on top of it which I will put down shortly. I am going to start to bring Penny in for her feed so that she gradually gets used to coming in again. She found it rather traumatic when she came in the other day!

The weather has been very mild and wet, though it has got colder today. Penny's rug seems to be keeping her warm and dry so i am pleased with that. Her field is in a mess, the ground is very heavily poached, I am hoping that the horses will go in another field before the spring to give it a rest. Also need to ask about the fencing as it is currently eletric - which is no good for foals!

Penny now has a Mark Todd light weight rug to wear, the rain has been non stop lately and cannot be very pleasant for her. When I brought her in to her new stable she was very over anxious. She wanted to get straight back to her field companions and was not at all happy about having the mud knocked off her. As such we didn't achieve much but managed to get her new rug on - with her putting up quite a protest. I was pleased to find that under the mud her coat is in good condition, it has a shine to it and there are no signs of rain scald.

I have been researching what to feed her. Because she is carrying a lot of condition I am going to feed her a low calorie diet. I do think that she has lost weight over the past two weeks, which is not surprising given the extreme weather we have had. Hopefully with her rug on she will be better protected. I am going to start feeding her Dodson & Horrell's Sure Grow from January, to ensure that the foal gets the right nutrients. I will gradually introduce mare & Youngstock mix so that in her final three months she is being fed nearly her maximum amount. The most feed she will require is in the first three months after foaling, when she will be feeding her foal.

The weather is again bad tonight, with heavy rain and wind. TB's do not fare that well with rain, they can cope with the cold but not the wet. Hence the rug. Fingers crossed she keeps it on!

Next EHV due 5th February 2007. Need to seek advice on Tetanus etc.

Penny EHV

Penny has had her first EHV today. The vet said that she is looking well and not too fat as I had feared. He advised that she start being fed in her last six months, so I will start feeding her in January and build it up gradually until she is on maximum feed for March, April and May. We also now have a nice big stable for her, so she will start coming in at night from April. I now have to research what to feed her. It will be a stud mix but not sure which one. I will email the companies and see what is best.

In answer to Jeni's question, the general rule of thumb for a mare's gestation is 11 months and one week after her covering date. However there are various things that come in to play, such as time of year, weather etc so it can vary quite widely, sometimes between a fortnight. She needs a close eye kept on her about a month prior to her foaling date in order to check for any changes.

One of the most obvious signs is her 'bagging up' which is when her udder starts to fill up. This should start changing at least a month - two moths before foaling. However with maiden mares such as Penny (first time mum's) the changes aren't always so obvious. Immediately prior to foaling she will start 'waxing up' which is when you will find a milky wax on her teats. She may even run milk. If she does run milk for long then we need to collect it, as it contains the vital colostrum for the foal, which it needs in it's first few hours of life, giving it the immunisation provided by the mare.

Penny's EHV vaccination has been booked in for Monday 4th December at 1500.

Heavy rain and wind is making life a bit less enjoyable for Penny at the moment. No sign of mud fever though and her coat has developed nicely ~ she doesn't seem to be feeling the change in weather too badly. She is having her daily mineral lick to compliment her grass diet.

Penny is due to have her first of three Equine Herpes Virus (EHV) vaccinations on 5th December.



Here is a bit about it: Equine Herpes Virus or Equine Rhinopneumonitis virus orEHV is a highly infectious viral disease. EHV-1 can cause abortion, respiratory disease and paralysis. EHV-4 can also cause abortion but usually causes only respiratory disease. The virus can survive for 14 - 45 days in the environment and is spread via the respiratory tract or from aborted fetuses, membranes and fluid. Infected foals can also pass the infection onto healthy mares in their group via their respiratory systems. Once a pregnant mare is infected she may abort from 4 months onwards but it is usually between the 8th and 11th months. ABORTION may take place several months after infection or as little as 2 weeks later. Content from petcaretips.net

This blog has been created as a way to map Penny's progress and treatment.