Positive Effect of Exercise for Foals

Young horses naturally get a fair amount of exercise if they are turned out with their dams or in larger groups with other mares and foals. It’s common to see foals running beside their mothers and sparring with other youngsters. It’s known that exercise supports proper skeletal development, but how much exercise is enough? Would more exercise, or a different type of activity, be helpful or harmful?

In a study designed to investigate these questions, computed tomography scans were made of the fetlock joints of 12 long yearlings (18 months old). Six of these horses had been on turnout as foals. The other six had also been turned out, but in addition they had been exercised at a gallop for 1,000 meters on five days each week beginning at the age of three weeks.

Scans showed that the exercised horses had fewer gross lesions in the fetlock joints, greater bone density, and greater bone formation rates than the horses that did not have extra exercise. There were no musculoskeletal injuries for any of the horses. Patterns of bone density that indicate a risk for fracture were not different between horses in the two groups, indicating that early exercise did not increase the chance of fracture.

The only questionable effect found in the exercised foals was a slightly lower level of glycosaminoglycans in the cartilage matrix of the exercised foals, possibly indicating a minor decrease in quality. Bone formation and characteristics showed no negative effects of exercise. The researchers, acknowledged experts in their field, concluded that exercise at the conducted level was safe and beneficial to bone development in these young horses.