Laminitis, acorns and the final-final foal has landed

The drought’s broken, the foals are growing, and this year weaning is later – the final weeks of summer have brought a fresh focus on long-term performance at TGS

Two months ago, in this column, we were celebrating our last foal of the season. A few weeks later, we were asked to foal two polo mares, so it was back to split sleeping shifts for Doug. The second mare hung on and foaled so close to the end of August, we had begun to think that we were going to still be sitting up in September: unheard of at TGS!

Thankfully, the drought has finally broken and the fields which had become brown and dusty are quickly greening up with fresh grass growth. It has been an expensive summer though: we have fed more hard feed than usual, and we have been putting hay out each day. The extra feed was to help ensure that the mares had sufficient nutrients and calories to produce good quality milk for those with foals at foot and optimal embryo growth conditions for those mares back in foal.

With all the new grass, we need to keep a close eye out for any mares beginning to look footsore or lame. It is not just fat ponies that can get laminitis. In all cases, laminitis involves inflammation of the laminae, the tissues that attach the hoof wall to the bones in the foot. It causes severe pain and damage to the hoof structure. Although relatively rare in Thoroughbreds, this current flush of new grass, with its high sugar and starch content, could still pose a danger that we have to be aware of. Only last week, Ruling Court, an exciting Godolphin-owned 3-year-old who won the prestigious 2,000 Guineas, Group 1 flat race at Newmarket in May, had to be put down due to complications arising from laminitis.
We also need to monitor the acorn drop because acorn poisoning is another very real danger for horses – and indeed, dogs. In normal years, there is plenty of grass and the horses tend to ignore the acorns. This year, however, with grass only just beginning to grow and therefore still in short supply, there is a greater danger that hungry mares or foals might turn to the acorns as a tasty smackerel of a tummy filler.

Always adapting
We haven’t quite started weaning the foals yet. New research conducted by the Royal Veterinary College has revealed that Thoroughbred foals that are given extensive turnout in large pastures during their first six months, and those weaned later, are more likely to go on to race, compete more often and earn more prize money. Our foals have always had acres of space to gallop around and play in, but this year we are consciously keeping them with their dams that little bit longer. If applying the findings of the RVC’s study can help us keep the Thoroughbreds we breed within racing, and also support them in reaching their full athletic potential, then we’re keen to follow that guidance and align with the Welfare Board’s strategic priorities for the care of horses bred for racing.

In addition to their dam’s milk, foals quickly copy their mothers grazing behaviour to supplement their diet, and with this summer’s lack of grass, they have been tucking into the hay put out in the fields, alongside their mothers, each afternoon. The foals also quickly start picking at their mother’s feed from a very early age. To help promote good, healthy growth by ensuring that the foals have all the important nutrients required, and also to help reduce the stress at weaning, a specially-formulated stud concentrate feed is provided from around three to four months of age. We feed the foals in a creep feeder, which they can walk into, but the mares cannot access as they are too big to fit under the bars or through the gates. So the foals can happily eat without the mares pushing them off and scoffing the lot.
For now, we are happy that the very final-final foal has been foaled, and we can get on with prepping the first few Thoroughbred foals of the year: they are almost six months old, and we will soon be getting them ready for the autumn/winter sales.