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!