Weanlings & Young Horses
Guidelines for feeding weanlings & young horses
A young horse goes through several different phases of growth and development, and in this regard he has different vitamin and mineral requirements to adult horses.
Table 1:
The daily weight gain in foals and young horses in grams relative to finished body mass
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Please find on the table 1 the possible finished body weight of the fully grown horse as a reference point.
Weight at birth:
Birth weight is necessary in order to calculate the daily / monthly weight gain according to the guide lines mentioned here.
The foal can be weighed for this purpose or one can use "a rule of thumb". As a rule the foal weighs at birth, about 10% of its possible adult weight.
A foal aged 3 months will weigh about 3 times what it did at birth. This calculated weight can then be used as a reference point.
For example, adult horse (600 kg) x 10% = 60 kg x 3 = 180 kg is the foals calculated weight at 3 months of age.
Thereafter at the end of the 6th month the horse weighs approx 180 kg + (90 days x 984 gram) (average weight gain per day) = 268.56 kg.
After 7 months the calculation would be 180 kg + (90 days x 984 gram) + (30 days x 560 gram) = 285.36 kg.
We would like to emphasise that this is an approximate calculation, to be used as rule of thumb, and that the actual weight of your young horse / foal could
differ according to genetic tendency or other developmental circumstances like diet, housing, etc.
If in doubt, weigh the horse.
Basic feeding:
Table 2,
FTS High Performance Balancer, recommended daily ration for young horses per 25 kg body weight from time of weaning, pre-weaning half dosage:
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When a foal is born, people are often led astray and they try to make "a finished horse" out of the growing and developing FOAL.
Inspired by advertising, breeders often try to "pump their foal up" with all sorts of concoctions, the foal starter food, the foal muesli, and whatever else they can find.
Such feedstuffs could make some sense in certain circumstances, but not necessarily so, and especially not in large quantities when the young horse has natural feed like good hay or grass, oats and / or beet pulp.
"Do not stuff your horse like a Christmas turkey", and beware that it is more important to have a balanced diet.
Before we "stuff" the young horse, we should remember that the bones and the joints are not fully developed.
For every kg overweight the horse may be, be consequences are that it hammers the joints and could later lead to restricted mobility in adult life.
A horse should be well muscled, as the musculature supports and protects the horse from illness and injury of the musculoskeletal system, but beware of over feeding.
When a young horse in growth phases, with a healthy musculature, looks a bit thin, then that is fine. Fat is not a functional mass and excess weight, if needed at all, could be needed in winter.
Much more important than surplus dietary energy is a balanced supply of vitamins, minerals and trace elements, which develop and stabilize the sensitive musculoskeletal system.
In most cases it is sufficient for a young horse to have turnout facilities (grass), hay ad lib, a proper mineral balancer, plenty of daylight, and space to exercise with others of his own kind.
It could be sensible to analyse the grass and / or the hay in relation to calcium, phosphorus and magnesium content. If there is a problem in this area, we could mix a suitable
supplement especially for you. All you have to do is ask, it doesn't cost a fortune but it could make a massive difference.