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Discussion on Foal's exercise capacity
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Member:
Christos
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Posted on Saturday, May 29, 2004 - 8:53 am:
Dear DrO,
We have a 7 week old colt whom we would like to take along trail rides following his mom.
He is in excellent shape and a week ago he was allowed to freely follow his mom in arena work for a good hour, hardly breaking a sweat though he was cantering for the most part.
Next day he was all fresh and could not wait to repeat it.
Is such exercise safe for the little bugger as long as he doesn't look the tiniest bit tired ?
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Member:
Dres
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Posted on Saturday, May 29, 2004 - 10:04 am:
christos, i am not a vet, but my understanding is the stress on the joints and ligaments is what you should be more worried about... foals lay down a lot.. to take the stress off? growing pains..??? i would hesitate on the trail rides.. and if the foal will stay in a paddox close to the arena , maybe a nice bucket of extra feed while mom is being worked would be the answer...
Ann
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Member:
Oscarvv
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Posted on Saturday, May 29, 2004 - 3:05 pm:
IMO, an hour of mostly cantering seems like much too much work for a 7 week old foal. Since a foal will follow it's dam for as long as they can, you can't count on the foal to tell you when enough is enough.
~Barbara
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Member:
Christos
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Posted on Saturday, May 29, 2004 - 5:29 pm:
Yes, it sounds too much, but this little one is somehow different. He rarely lies down when outside, for instance. He's hyperactive and doesn't seem to get tired no matter what.
During this exercise hour he was overtaking his cantering mother several times, chipping in a couple of bucks and then running off in a circle before following the tempo again. That's not being tired at all, I think.
He's not following out of stress. He does not always follow mom, as a matter of fact he spends most of his day fooling around with his sister and he only goes to mama for milk.
I would have knocked it off with the first sign of fatigue or discomfort, the tiniest one, but he doesn't show any.
I just don't know if all this activity is safe for the future of his joints.
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Member:
Oscarvv
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Posted on Sunday, May 30, 2004 - 10:48 am:
While he sounds like an independent, high energy foal, I still think it is too much for a foal to canter for an hour. He is being put in a position to run more than he may on his own for an extended period. And while he is very independent, if you completely separated him from his dam you may see he really is incredibly attached.
Are you asking about bringing him on a trail ride because you want to work his dam or because you want him to see the world etc...? I would be concerned about having a foal loose on the trail and not having control of him (dogs, other horses etc...).
My foals are handled daily but I don't do forced excerise with them. They run and buck and play in the pasture. Once they are weaned we start with walks around the farm. (Believe me, I don't think it's my way or the highway, just giving an example of what we do here.  )
Any pics of your colt, he sounds really cute?
I'm interested in what DrO has to say about the trauma of forced exercise on growing bones and foal joints.
I hope you don't mind that I butted in.
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Member:
Christos
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Posted on Sunday, May 30, 2004 - 5:31 pm:
You didn't butt in, Barbara, that's why we post our questions here, to hear the opinion of others.
I'm only asking because it seems it would be fun for him, and I have the feeling he can handle it easily. His dam is trail riding anyway, I have actually just returned from a 30 mile trot with her. I'm not thinking of such a trip with the little one, don't get me wrong here.
Trail hazards are not an issue, there are a couple of very safe trails to take him, with nice and friendly footing. There'll be no other horses except his older sister whom he's very familiar with, and the dogs in the area won't even think of it.
Cute? Well, though he displays excellent mannners around humans, he's too much already and nobody seems very thrilled with the idea of riding him when he grows up...
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Member:
Goolsby
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Posted on Tuesday, Jun 1, 2004 - 8:52 am:
Christos
He sounds exceptional! I dont know why a trail ride would be harmful to the foal. In the wild they often have to jump and run for some distances or they are moving for long periods. Personally, I wouldnt have the guts to take one so young out on the trail. We let our foal at that age follow along while riding his dam in the pasture. He petered out after a few laps. If you do take him out, let us know how it went.
Colleen
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Member:
Heidih
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Posted on Tuesday, Jun 1, 2004 - 10:59 am:
When I lived in AZ, I used to ride my broodmare out on trail working up from an hour at a time. I often ponied her babies after they were about a month of age. I'd keep them on a lead until I was away from "civilization", but then let them off the lead to explore on their own as mama and I rode. We had so much fun and the foals ended up being terrific trail horses. One time I even crossed a stream with the baby loose. She was so cute trying to figure out how to get back to mom without getting her feet wet. She did eventually get her feet wet and was so proud of herself for figuring it out.
I never rode for more than an hour at first and I usually started with walking trail rides (mom was out of shape then also), but as the foals got older and mom got back in shape I'd start doing longer and longer trail rides and eventually ended up with an overnight camping trip with the foal along. I never had problems with leg or joint development.
From what I was told by my vet back then, what seems to cause the problems is making young horses go in small circles with enforced excercise. Babies that are mostly working straight and can go at their own speed, rarely have joint development problems.
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Member:
Christos
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Posted on Tuesday, Jun 1, 2004 - 4:11 pm:
It looks like he'll be out soon, Coleen, after he follows a couple more times in the arena to make sure he can handle it.
What Heidi describes is exactly what I'm thinking.
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Member:
Goolsby
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Posted on Tuesday, Jun 1, 2004 - 4:45 pm:
That sounds great. I wish I were in an area where I could do something similar. Have fun.
Colleen
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Thursday, Jun 3, 2004 - 9:08 am:
Essentially we don't know if such exercise is harmful or not but the long bouts of cantering is not natural and therefore foals are not designed for it. I think the trail rides with walking are fine but prolonged vigorous exercise on very young joints sounds like a recipe for arthritis to me.
DrO
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Member:
Christos
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Posted on Thursday, Jun 3, 2004 - 1:57 pm:
Thanks, Doctor,
I'll stick to walking trails. Anyway, it will be a nice chance for this mare to learn that we don't always have to blast our way past the scenery .
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New Member:
Heidim
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Posted on Sunday, May 1, 2005 - 8:15 am:
I'd like one more perspective on this subject. I don't run my mare much, but we do live in a hilly area. Will this be too much of a workout for a foal? Or is it just the running that you foresee as a problem? Also, what about crossing shallow rivers? I'd love to be able to do the hill and rivers, if possible, because I think it would be great experience for the foal.
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New Member:
Heidim
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Posted on Sunday, May 1, 2005 - 8:20 am:
I forgot one more question about trail riding with foals. What is the youngest age that this is possible? Our foal is now two weeks old. I'm in no hurry but neither do I want to wait unnecessarily. I plan to sell the mare shortly after weaning and would like to get her tuned up and in shape early on.
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Member:
Mrose
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Posted on Sunday, May 1, 2005 - 10:39 am:
I would be pretty leary of rivers, shallow or not. I'd be concerned about the foal missing it's footing and falling.
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New Member:
Heidim
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Posted on Sunday, May 1, 2005 - 2:16 pm:
Not sure what you mean Sara. Can you expound?
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Member:
Mrose
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Posted on Sunday, May 1, 2005 - 2:54 pm:
Water movement can be disorientating and confusing to a young horse and cause it to loose it's balance or footing and maybe fall. Also, unless you are certain the river bottom is firm all the way across, the foal could either stumble on a rock, or step in a hole and loose it's footing and fall. Personally, I'd wait until the foal was 6 mos. or so before I took it into rivers and on gallops. Just walking along on the mare and letting the foal follow would be fine, and playing at the edge of a pond or the edge of a calm river would be o.k.
Of course, I don't live where there are any calm streams and rivers. It just seams a bit "iffy" to me.
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Member:
Christos
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Posted on Sunday, May 1, 2005 - 6:42 pm:
Sara is right about water movement, it is very disorienting for some horses. Their eyes say they're moving relative to the "ground" but their sense of balance says they're not. I guess the feeling from this is nausea, just like with humans.
I do not think, however, that this is related to age, I have seen 10yo horses getting very confused and 2mo babies getting the idea immediately.
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