Feeding Young Horses for Sound Growth
Raising a young horse can be both rewarding and challenging. You spent a great deal of time researching stallion prospects for breeding, invested money in stallion fees, and patiently cared for your mare during her eleven month pregnancy. When the product of your efforts finally hits the ground in the spring, you hope the foal will grow up to be a strong, sound, and athletic horse.
Nutrition plays a significant role in producing a strong, sound horse. Your foal must receive a diet adequate in energy, protein, vitamins, and minerals in order to grow properly and achieve its full genetic potential.
When you plan a feeding program for your young horses, it is very important to recognize the following factors:
- The nutrient requirements of young horses are high.
- The young horse’s anatomically small digestive system prevents it from being able to utilize large amounts of bulky, low quality feeds.
- High quality forages, grains, and feeds should be used to provide more concentrated sources of energy, protein, vitamins, and minerals (the younger the horse, the more nutrient-dense the diet needs to be).
- Protein quality is just as important as the quantity of protein included in a young horse’s diet. High quality protein sources, including soybean meal, canola meal, alfalfa meal, and dried milk products, provide more of the amino acid lysine, which is essential for growth.
Sound Growth
A major concern for the growth of young horses is the occurrence of bone and joint disorders, commonly called developmental orthopedic disease (DOD). The DOD complex includes epiphysitis, osteochondrosis, angular limb deformities, contracted tendons, and wobbler’s syndrome. Common symptoms of DOD include enlargements and deformities of the ankles, knees, and hocks, as well as “pulling up”in the pasterns (contracted tendons). If left unattended, severe cases of DOD may ultimately affect the future soundness and serviceability of the horse.
Many factors are thought to contribute to the development of DOD, including the foal’s genetic predisposition, rapid growth, trauma, overly excessive or restrictive exercise, and poor nutrition. More often than not, several of these factors are involved simultaneously.
