The New Arrival — Care Of The Foal And Its Dam

CAROL SHWETZ DVM Producing a healthy foal begins long before labour. It starts with having a healthy mare. Healthy mares have healthy foals, and healthy foals have healthy mares. Exercise is an essential part of a healthy pregnancy – after all the uterus is a muscle too. One can reasonably ride a pregnant mare up


The Real Cost Of Raising Ranch Horses

The other day was difficult. The discussion centred on the horse industry as the Dickinson Research Extension Center was reviewing program costs. As the horse program was discussed, the updated costs were noted. Based on a fiveyear average, the annual cost (direct and overhead expenses) for maintaining a producing mare and nursing foal was $764.68

Let’s Go Ridin’ – for Mar. 19, 2009

Last time we talked about breeding your mare, so this time I thought I would tell you about witnessing the miracle of birth, horse style. In all my years of being around horses, I had never seen a mare foal. They like to do it under cover of darkness most times, they like to be



Let’s Go Ridin’ – for Feb. 12, 2009

Ever thought of breeding your mare? Maybe you have, or maybe you’re in the breeding business, so you know all of the options available to you nowadays. But if you are considering it for the first time, it can be an overwhelming project. The first step is to objectively analyze your mare for her breeding