My mom has mini horses. She obtained them many years ago with her husband. It was mainly his passion but after his death she kept a few of them and has continued to care for them for many years. Their care has been questioned in the past but I was not hugely involved with what happened but supposedly one of the horses was pregnant and my mother didn't know it and it gave birth and died while it was at a boarding facility. The rumor I heard was my mother was being blamed for not knowing due to not being willing to pay a vet to find out. Therefor the horse was not treated/fed properly for a pregnant horse. I made a few phone calls but I was 800 miles away and the parties involved did not know me and everyone seemed to have found resolve the boarding facility returned her horses and things went back to normal. She now had two female horses and no chances for breeding errors. My mother has money. Plenty of money to pay for a vet whenever it's needed. She tends to be very very cheap and hold her purse strings very tight. That's fine. It's her money and she has always been that way. Anyway now that we have lived in the same town with her and for a while the same house. I've questioned things she does with the horses. It seems her ways are more about saving a buck than doing what they need. Like their sweet feed. How much are they supposed to get? She gives them one small very small handful each afternoon. To me that seems so small. I realize they are mini horses but they go wild for that stuff and I just wondered is she just rationing to save money or is this correct feeding? Then with their hay at night she gives a tiny chunk of hay for both horses. Is that normal also? Also she lets them out to the grassy field around 730am and brings them into the barn around 230 or 3pm. She used to leave them till at least 4 pm but she says they are getting fat so she brings them in early. They don't get any other foods or treats ever. They don't look malnourished. They have big bellies so I figured she knows what she's doing. Now the big issue is she got a male mini a few months ago. She's decided she wants them to breed. I've asked her how will she know if they are pregnant. She said she will find out in April when the vet comes. That doesn't sound right to me. I asked her why can't she have the vet come now if she thinks its possible they are pregnant. I went on to ask her if pregnant horses probably need to be fed differently don't they? She says nope it's not an issue and she doesn't want to pay the vet extra to come out before April. So today when we were there one horse looks huge on one side of her belly. I asked her about it and she said oh no she's a fatty. And she added she will find out if she's pregnant in April when the vets regular visit comes up. So I don't know what to do. Do I need to have a talk with my mother or does this sound normal? It may seem really stupid for me to not know but I've never been around horses or owned one so I really don't know what they eat or how much.
Thanks for any info you can give
Thanks for any info you can give