From birth to two years of age horses have special feeding considerations. These include evaluation of the mares milk, introduction to solid foods, weaning, and changing dietary needs including, fiber, energy, protein, and mineral requirements. Just as with adults however this requires an ability to accurately judge the overall health of the growing foal including body condition scoring and the ability to judge the quality of forages and concentrates. This article discusses introducing the nursing foal to solid food, weaning, and nutrition and feeding the foal up through 2 years of age. Also discussed is prevention of nutritionally related orthopedic diseases like OCD.

Though most foals will begin nibbling solid foods the first week, a healthy mare's milk will supply a foal with all his protein, caloric, vitamins, and mineral needs the first two months of life. She will continue to provide adequate minerals up to the fourth month, but protein and energy will lag after the second month. Most mares will allow their own foals to feed with them, and as they grow the foals will consume increasing amounts of forage and concentrate. Feed efficiency is high in foals even prior to the second month.

There should always be free access to water. However, frequent water drinking may be an indiction of too little milk production. Foals do not typically drink prior to 3 weeks of age and some do not drink water until weaned. Other signs of too little milk could be excessively long nursing and nursing other objects than the mare's teats.