Exercise Programs for Young Foals

Can you give your young foal a jump-start into a more successful racing career by implementing a physical training program in his first year of life? Apparently it’s not possible to do this because of the way muscular development progresses.

According to Stephanie Valberg, D.V.M., Ph.D., an expert on equine muscle structure and function, the metabolic and contractile adaptations in skeletal muscle that are present at birth allow young foals to stand within minutes of being born. This early muscular ability is necessary to produce quick bursts of speed to evade predators. Equine muscle contains high glycogen content and glycolytic capacity from birth, and mare’s milk provides a rich source of sugar for energy metabolism.

During the first years of a horse’s life, there is a shift in fiber type proportions that gradually provides more endurance and a slightly slower speed of muscle contraction. Because of the timing of this natural shift in muscle fiber types, beginning physical conditioning before a horse is a year old does not speed up the changes that occur naturally with growth. Any positive impact of this early training appears to be minimal in young growing horses compared to the improvement seen when training is begun at 18 months to 3 years of age.