No summary of feeding recommendations for Foals exists today, which is why this subject was chosen for a literature study. The aim of this study was to describe nutrient requirements of healthy full term Foals and how the feeding should be designed to raise Foals if they lose their mother. Mare milk composition changes during lactation to meet the requirements of the suckling Foal. Foals are born with enzymes in their small intestine and the concentrations of these follow the consumption patterns of the Foal. Microbes colonizes the gut as the Foal becomes older and these changes cause Foal diarrhea.

Swedish horse breeders have generally very few mares producing a few Foals a year and the breeders have relatively few traditions, little knowledge and experience to breed Foals successfully. It is therefore important to provide adequate information about new findings in horse nutrition. However, there is not much research about feeding the suckling Foal to ensure a sound growth. Current feeding recommendations in the literature seems to be different. This gives a confusing message and the information is difficult to apply. This paper reviews some publications in the area of feeding the suckling and weaning Foal. Most authors stress that it?s important to start feeding the Foal early in life.

Every spring you can see newborn Foals running on fields among the mare. But some unfortunate end up visiting the equine hospital requiring surgery. This is a challenge for the anesthetist because of the neonatal Foal?s unique physiology. Therefore you need to take these differences under consideration when you anesthetize Foals.

More than 1000 Swedish Warmblood Foals are shown every year at Foal inspections which are arranged around the country. Six traits are evaluated at these inspections: type, head-neck-body, correctness of legs, walk, trot and canter. No previous genetic studies have been done on the data from these evaluations. The purpose of this study was to do genetic analyses of the traits which are evaluated at Foal inspections. The purpose was also to see if there are any correlations between the results of the Foal inspections and the results from the tests of three-year-old horses.

The danger and vulnerability associated with a preterm birth seem to be closely correlated with a dysfunction of the fetal hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, whose maturation in the Foal is without a doubt as delicate as it is important. Not only is this endocrine cascade vital for the Foal in order to cope with neonatal stress, it also appears to be fundamental for the final fetal intrauterine maturation, as well as for the onset of Foaling. Equine gestation exhibits some rather unique features, indicating a somewhat different significance of the endocrine changes associated with HPA maturation, compared to many other species. This hormonal cascade is rapid and confined to a narrow time during late gestation in the horse, and the risk of the Foal completely missing it therefore becomes prominent. Induced parturition in the mare may be operated through uterotonic agents, which occasionally bring about premature Foals. Desirable seems the ability to initiate equine labour while simultaneously enhancing fetal HPA maturation, as in humans and ruminants through perinatal glucocorticoid administration. However, similar treatment in the horse has resulted in various, sometimes fatal, outcomes. In the light of the distinctive features of equine gestation, difficulties are encountered following such administration of glucocorticoids and ACTH.

The retrospective part of this study evaluates the susceptibility patterns of bacteria isolated from blood in critically ill Foals in Sweden. The most commonly obtained bacteria were Actinobacillus spp. (38 %) and Escherichia coli (27 %). Trimethoprim-sulphonamide (TMS) had good efficacy against most gram negative bacteria with the exception of Klebsiella spp. Among 17 Escherichia coli isolates 94 % were susceptible to trimethoprim-sulphonamide whereas all 24 isolates of Actinobacillus spp.

Retrospective data from two stud farms, in this study named stud farm A and B, including 742 mares, was statistically analysed. Parameters included in the analysis were type of insemination, date of the first insemination, number of inseminations, the age of the mares, if the mares had a Foal or not, Foaling date, result of pregnancy examination (if it was done), twin pregnancy and treatments given to the mares. The pregnancy results and the treatments where compiled into a number of frequency tables in which the mares where arranged according to age, month of first insemination, Foal or not and type of insemination. There was a significant difference in pregnancy result between the years at both stud farms (2001 better than 2002). At stud farm A, in year 2001, month (at start of insemination) significantly influenced the pregnancy result.

Infection with Parascaris equorum is common among young horses in Sweden as well as in the rest of the world. The parasite has a direct lifecycle and reproduces in the small intestine. The eggs are passed out with faeces and become infective after approximately two weeks. The horses get infected when they ingest eggs that are dispersed in the environment. The symptoms seen in horses usually include retarded growth and loss of weight.

Weaning is a standard procedure at most studs, and the methods of weaning varies greatly. The method used at the stud in this particular study is supposed to decrease stress. The purpose of the study was to compare the behaviour of Foals in group before and after stepwise removal of their mares. Standardbred Foals with their mothers were kept in three different groups at pasture (12, 11 and 11 Foals, respectively, mixed sexes). They had free access to silage and the Foals were fed concentrate in a creep-feeding area. By the time the Foals were 5 months old, the mares were stepwise removed from the pasture.

Följande litteraturstudie sammanställer information från sex rapporter om hästar med kolik orsakad av spolmask. Särskild tyngdpunkt är ägnad förekomsten av spolmaskassocierad kolik, predilektionsområde för obstruktionen, riskgrupp, riskperiod samt avmaskning i samband med kolikfallen. Detta ämne är synnerligen aktuellt då avmaskningsmedel numera är receptbelagt och en alltmer utbredd läkemedelsresistens mot anthelmintika förekommer. Riskperioden då flest kolikfall inträffar är under hösten och riskåldern är cirka fem månader. Majoriteten av hästarna är avmaskade med ett paralyserande anthemintikum en till fem dagar innan koliken.

By tradition horses are weaned at an age of 5-6 months. This study illuminates weaned Foals misdirected suckling behaviour, which means that they try to suckle another Foal. Since no information about this issue is presented, we decided to perform a behaviour study on weaned Foals. The misdirected suckling behaviour was studied on a group with 7 Foals, with both fillies and colts. In the group the weaning age varied between 147 days and 215 days, and the first time we observed them, they had been separated from the mares for 12 days.

The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect on growth of Foals on two different diets, either a forage-based diet or a diet containing approx. 40 % concentrate. The report also includes a review of the pertinent literature on the effects of diet on mares? milk and growth of horses. The hypothesis of the study was that a forage based diet will result in a similar growth pattern as a diet including more concentrates if the diets contain the same amount of energy, crude protein, lysine, calcium and phosphorous.

Den naturliga process där stoet avvänjer sitt föl strax innan hon ska föla igen ger den unga hästen möjlighet att gradvis ändra sitt val av föda och mogna till en självständig individ. Den tidigare och mer abrupta avvänjningen som ofta sker av domesticerade hästar är mycket stressande för fölet. Negativa effekter som kan ses är en ökad skaderisk, försämrat immunförsvar och utveckling av onormala beteenden som stereotypier. Eftersom hästägare och uppfödare vill ha friska och sunda hästar är det viktigt att börja med en god välfärd för fölet som kan ligga till grund för den framtida hästens välmående. Det finns i dagsläget studier som redovisar avvänjningsmetoder som orsakar fölet mer eller mindre stress.

Establishing a reference interval for plasma fibrinogen in Foals Fibrinogen concentrations were analysed in EDTA preserved blood plasma samples from 34 thoroughbred Foals born in 2001 and 2002 at one stud farm. The Foals were between 0 and 240 days old at the time of the sampling, and there were 19 fillies and 12 stallions in the group. The Foals were examined for clinical symptoms of disease and their body temperature was measured before blood was sampled from the jugular vein. From totally 156 blood samples, 31 were selected as originating from clinically healthy Foals, and used to determine a reference range for thoroughbred Foals. Samples originating from Foals showing clinical symptoms of disease or an abnormal body temperature at the time of sampling, were classified as coming from unhealthy animals.

Outdoor housing of horses? best fulfils the horses? need for physical activity and it is an alternative to the more cost and energy demanding indoor housing in stables. Furthermore, if outdoor housed horses have access to shelter they can generally cope well with adverse weather conditions such as high or low ambient temperature, heavy rain or strong winds. In this study, the daytime shelter-seeking behaviour of three groups of horses housed outdoors was studied during the summer. The aim was to evaluate whether shelter use is related to weather variables (e.g., ambient temperature and wind speed) and insect harassment. The shelter-seeking behaviour was studied for three different groups of horses: Group 1) eight individually housed horses in paddocks that had access to three different shelter types (C: closed on three sides with roof, R: open on three sides with roof, W: closed on three sides without roof), Group 2) 25 group housed mares with Foals on pasture with access to shelters C, and Group 3) ten mares without Foals on pasture without access to shelter. Each group was studied for eight days.