Life Cycle

How do a horse’s nutritional needs change as he progresses through his life, from foal to veteran? Dr Helen Warren, Alltech’s European technical manager, has the lowdown.

- Helen Warren

The horse, like any other animal, has differing nutrient requirements based on a number of factors, not least his age.

Requirements for most nutrients in mature horses is mainly based on bodyweight. However, younger animals tend to require more energy and protein per unit of bodyweight compared with adult animals.

As horses age, there are some changes to how they digest nutrients and this can be compounded by issues that affect older equines, such as poor dentition.

Here are the considerations you need to take with regards to feeding and diet, as a horse or pony progresses through his life...

The foal

After a successful birth, a healthy foal will be standing up by 30 minutes and suckling within one hour.

Early suckling is critical to the foal’s survival and thrift. There is no placental transfer of immunoglobulins in the horse, so the foal is reliant on antibodies coming from the mare’s colostrum.

Colostrum is the first milk the mare produces and is a yellowy substance that contains a large number of immunoglobulins, as well as protein and some fat.

Energy and protein requirements for growing foals are based on age, growth rate and bodyweight.

Despite this, there are no definitive needs for animals younger than four months of age. As most nutrient requirements are partly based on bodyweight, it makes sense that requirements for all major nutrients increases as the horse grows.

However, if considered in terms of energy and protein required per kilo of bodyweight, then four-month-old foals have greater requirements than a mature horse doing very heavy exercise!