Ask the Nutritionist: Dr. Getty's Forum for Equine Nutrition
Welcome to my forum.
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All the best,
Dr. Getty
Hi Sherrie,
Thank you for your kind words. Glanzen Complete is fine, adjusting for the amount of Triple Crown you're feeding, to avoid overlaps of nutritional supplementation. I would also give her Nutra Flax -- plain flaxseed meal that is stabilized and has added calcium to correct for flaxseed's naturally high phosphorus content. The dosage is 1 scoop per 400 lbs of body weight, but decrease it by the amount of Glanzen Complete she's getting.
The only change, or perhaps clarification I would make is to make sure she has all the grass hay she wants, along with approximately 1/3 alfalfa hay. So for every two flakes of grass hay you give her, give her 1 flake of alfalfa. But the key is to make sure she never runs out. Merely giving her more will result in her eating more. But is she has all she wants, she will self-regulate her intake so she only eats what she needs. This is a very important concept.
I don't recall if I recommended The Complete Foaling Manual to you, but it is an excellent guide to help with foaling, what to look for, what is normal and what is not, and how to care for the newborn foal.
Happy Foaling!
Dr. Getty 
First of all I want to say that I enjoy your forum so much and want to thank you for posting all the articles with your response! I feel much better and more informed on nutrition because of this site... Thank you...
I have followed your advice with my pregnant mare who is almost 4mo. I have taken her off of grain, added 2 flakes grass with 1 flake alfalfa in the morning to help her have more to munch on then 1 flake alfalfa in the evening. I am not able to change this just yet so she gets more grass but am working on it. I took her off the strategy af and put her on the triple crown low starch, 2cups 2x day and have started adding your glantzen complete. How am I doing and what would be the next step at what time and/or should I change over to your mare IP instead?
Where are you from? Bayfield, CO
Greetings Sherrie!
It was WONDERFUL meeting you at the Rocky Mountain Horse Expo in Denver! And you ARE one of my best fans. I hope you are enjoying my book and have found the chapter on Pregnancy to be informative.
An overall vitamin/mineral supplement is only important if you are not feeding the Kent feed according to directions for her weight. Since it is fortified with vitamins and minerals, she will get her basics if fed the recommended amount. But, if she is fed less than what is suggested by the manufacturer (which is often the case), then a supplement is helpful.
I cannot give you an intelligent answer about Purina 12:12 because their website does not give me the specific ingredients or guaranteed analysis. If you'll like to email that to me, or if you found it on another site, I can take a look at it for you.
Flaxseed meal is very important, so one thing I'd recommend is Nutra Flax. This is a stabilized flaxseed meal that has a small amount of calcium added to correct for the naturally inverted calcium to phosphorus ratio that exists in flax. But, are you feeding Glanzen Complete? If so, you will not want to add Nutra Flax, since Glanzen Complete is flaxseed meal based.
If this is your first foal, or if you need some helpful guidance to know what's normal and what's not during foaling and for the newborn, I highly recommend the book, The Complete Foaling Manual.
Happy Foaling and keep me posted!
Dr. Getty
Author of Feed Your Horse Like A Horse
Where are you from? Bayfield, CO