Horses are superior athletes. Physical adaptations through evolution have given horses speed and endurance.

Few animals are as precocious as the horse. Within 20 minutes of birth a foal may stand and within hours can be ready to run at speeds no human athlete will ever achieve.

Nutritional Management of Metabolic disorders of Horses PJ Huntington and JD Pagan Proc 14th Asian Assoc Animal Prod. Animal Science Congress p369 -374.

Foals have a long gestational period (about 320 days) and are precocious at birth, standing and nursing within 20 minutes to 1 hour after birth.

Pagan, J. D., L. A. Lawrence, D. Nash and P. J. Huntington. 2008. The relationship between shin soreness, blood parameters and cannon bone measurements in Thoroughbreds being prepared for two year olds in training sales. In: Proc. Aus. Eq. Symp. Vol. 2 Gold Coast, OLD. 4 – 6 June. pp. 40.

Hindgut acidosis is a common problem in horses consuming large quantities of either grain or fructan-rich forages. This dietary regimen may lead to shifts in hindgut acidity when a portion of the grain starch is not digested in the small intestine. Passing into the cecum and colon, the starch is rapidly fermented, changing the environment […]

CG Brown-Douglas. The Balancing Act of Growing a Sound, Athletic Horse. Proceedings of the 16th KER Nutrition Conference, Lexington, Kentucky. 14-16 April, 2008. Pp 109-117.

Feeding protected sodium bicarbonate attenuates hindgut acidosis in horses fed a high grain ration Pagan JD , Lawrence TJ , Lawrence LA , Huntington PJ Australian Equine Veterinarian 27(3), 53, 2008. Proceedings report of this research available here.

Several metabolic disorders are common in modern breeds of horses. Many of these disorders such as
equine Cushing’s disease (ECD), equine metabolic syndrome (EMS), osteochondritis dissecans (OCD), recurrent
equine rhabdomyolysis (RER), and polysaccharide storage myopathy (PSSM) can be managed
nutritionally by careful regulation of caloric intake with particular attention paid to the source of energy provided.

A 1996 Kentucky Equine Research (KER) study monitored the incidence of developmental orthopedic disease (Pagan and Jackson, 1996).