good job hun just look on the back of the feed bag it will tell you amounts to feed ZB and I will be in aiken in september we will pop in and buy dixie

Yes feel free to stop in Just let me know. LOL So wait...you want Dixie??? The back of the bag says they should be getting at least 9 pounds a day so we are going to up it for them.

pm me and tell me all about her she is only 3 yep she could do somethingxx

and if she a bitch yep thats my kind of gal,I had a trailer in aiken this week but its to early.xx

Yes, he's right there, BUT, same with a dog, in any ONE feed, plus of course you can kill it with unsoaked sugarbeet too! There are mixes and there are mixes, same again with dog foods. You really need to find a proper mix for a horse in foal (maybe they do one for a mare in foal and one for a mare who HAS already given birth I really don't know! ). I used to give crushed barley with my high energy mix because I know that barley is a very good weight putter on for horses and that's what I needed when my poor horse looked like a hat rack because I was galloping the guts out of him across country (he was an ID/Tb so he could take it plus he loved it!) Anyways, I for one am certainly not getting at you, but then again, I probably sound like it coz I sometimes come across as quite aggressive without meaning too. I just want to try and help you out to see if we can get to the bottom of if and where you might be going wrong that's all. As ZB said, we're all staunch animal lovers on here so it's only right that we want to take the time and effort to help somebody if we can, be it on the puter!

If I were you, I'd go off to your feed store and have a chat with whoever runs it, sometimes these people can be very informative and they might point you in the right direction of a good and appropriate type of food for both your horses plus of course Luna, and personally I also think they need some supplements. I always gave supplements to my own horse, but then they were just in hard work, not giving birth, so I'm sure horses either in foal or having had one needs some kind of supplement too?

Having read through and through, my gut instinct is, the reason your mare Dixie has turned nasty is wholely 100% because she is hungry. I've seen it myself with people's horses when they aren't feeding them correctly, and quite honestly, it's quite a balancing act to get it right sometimes and weight falls off them very rapidly, a lot quicker than a dog!

From what you are saying about the food, quite honestly, no, I don't think they're having enough feed, and they should always have ad lib hay if not half a bale each overnight if they're out - that's a MUST! It looks to me like they are living out - are they? That would make a whole world of difference if they are. Grass is just not enough, they need more hard feed than you are giving, and if you can't do that, then they need a bale of hay each every day, morning and night 1/2 and 1/2 and a good overnight rug for when it turns cold, otherwise you'll be defeating the object of all the food, it won't do them any good, it'll only keep them warm.

I'm sorry you're taking offence at our postings, I'm only trying to be helpful. Whether you take my advice or not is entirely up to you. Meanwhile, I'll carry on clacking away on here with any help I can offer through my knowledge of horses. I don't know everything, nobody can ever know everything about horses, but mine were always happy, healthy and willing which was enough for me. Please don't take offence, I'm only trying to help you out.

Hi hun..............glad you got the RESULT..............bare with them, emailing is hard,no-one is putting you down just trying to help. Well done looks like you have a home for Dixie then......and plenty of pic's to boot. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Yeah can't wait to see you in AIKEN. XXXXXXXXXXXX

LOL! Yeah it will be neat Sorry I ran we went to the feed store and to the farm for the day and we just got back.

I have some good news too! We put another older mare in the pasture with Dixie, Luna and Sassy. Her name is Nevada and she is a 15 year old Mustang (from the wild) and she was pulled from the other pasture as it has become all boys. Since she has been in the pasture Dixie's demeanor has changed drastically. She is almost like day and night. She comes to us when we go to the fence, she lets us pet her but she is still a bit jumpy. She is spending more time with Luna too! So now I am really confused why such a change??

Nevada is on the left

Getting a new coat

I LOVE this pic

I think you should be careul, not to take the foal away from the mum too much, as you are already breaking the bond, too early.. plus the milk situation is important. the foal needs plenty, and should be getting this from her mother. The foal wont grow without her milk, or a replacer, but that should be unnecessary, since she has her mother there(she hasnt died or anything) I think your foal should be getting all the nutrients its needs from the milk. I wouldnt suggest weaning until the foal is able to accept solid horse food, (so has a stronger constitution ) probably around 5 to 6 months. Hope this helps. X beautiful foal