be achieved bearing in mind the needs that foals have every day. It is common to see that because they are at the end of every stage, they are also late for forage distribution. For example: a receptor mare that is giving birth in January in a soybean forage pasture. There is great availability of good forage for lactation; everything starts off perfectly for the newly-born. March arrives— there is little soybean forage left by April— and by then the foal is a little over 3 months: an age at which the lactating mare’ s milk— however good the mare may be as a milk provider— produces only enough to cover 50 % of what the foal needs for its correct development. It is at this precise moment that the foal needs the famous fiber every single day, and because it is so young, it must also be good quality. If we don’ t pay attention to this, it is not easy to detect, because from what one can see, the receptor mare appears perfectly healthy, with a full udder, and the foal which should be growing with a daily weight increase of 900 g, is doing so with only 500. In only one month it will be weighing 12 kgs. less than what is desirable, but it still will not appear thin. This not being considered a problem, we might do even worse by it if we stretch its stay in the soybean forage field while waiting for the arrival of some winter grass in May. We make things worse not only because they remain for too long in a soybean field that is terminated, but because we enter too quickly into a winter grass which is the worst forage for young foals because of its high water content. The foal will fall back on its development even more, and many times weaning is stretched out because it appears drawn and we don’ t realize that what it needs is a good pasture and not only milk. The correction should be made in the need for fiber of a foal that is still with its mother at the end of lactation. One must reserve pastures or seasoned grass fields for these and for all the foals if one aims at weaning early and with good development.
-Which are the best pastures for raising foals before they’ re weaned?-One must find out which the forage species are in each zone that adapt best, and among those, which are the ones that offer a more stable“ menu” throughout the year. In all these years I’ ve shared every situation with excellent Agricultural Engineers, and it was not easy to pin-point this issue, because the forage situation I consider to be the best for raising horses after weaning is far from being the best for those who manage cattle. In the Province of Buenos Aires, which is where I’ ve done most of my research, the species that comes closest to what I would expect is fescue grass, in its latest generation varieties. What attracts me most about this grass is: a) It becomes well implanted in a great variety of soils. b) It is very resistant to some dry or excessively damp conditions c) Cold does not seem to bother it very much. d) In summer when flowering, when loaded and / or harvested, it still offers a good amount of green leaves. e) It is reasonably palatable, which means that animals never seek to eat it from so low down that it damages the plant. This is what occurs, for example with Cocksfoot: it is so palatable that they choose it and eat it right up to the root, thus killing the plant. As this does not happen( with fescue), the density of the plants is maintained and as it becomes matted over the years, soil coverage is very good, which in a way controls the spreading of weeds. With all this I would expect to cover the need for fiber during the greater part of the year in a stable manner. From then on, with a daily ration, the needs are completed( energy, proteins, minerals and vitamins) according to the evolution of the pastures. Consociated pastures, ideal for cattle because they contain mixtures of legumes and grasses that have different forage production cycles, turn them into a very unstable menu throughout the seasons and in general require special animal load change management to take advantage of it. It is not recommended in pastures for foals before they are weaned or being raised after weaning.
-How can a breeder assess whether he / she is going along the correct path as regards feed?-“ It’ s no use starting on a good feed program if we don’ t know how to conduct good follow-up.” There is no need for scales or complicated studies; the only tool we need for permanent assessment of the process is a good observer. He / she must know what
252