Growth and Bone Development in the Horse: When Is a Horse Skeletally Mature?

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dc.citation.issue12
dc.citation.volume11
dc.contributor.authorRogers CW
dc.contributor.authorGee EK
dc.contributor.authorDittmer KE
dc.contributor.editorArfuso F
dc.coverage.spatialSwitzerland
dc.date.accessioned2024-01-23T01:44:26Z
dc.date.accessioned2024-07-25T06:36:45Z
dc.date.available2021-11-29
dc.date.available2024-01-23T01:44:26Z
dc.date.available2024-07-25T06:36:45Z
dc.date.issued2021-11-29
dc.description.abstractWithin the lay literature, and social media in particular, there is often debate about the age at which a horse should be started and introduced to racing or sport. To optimize the welfare and longevity of horses in racing and sport, it is important to match exercise with musculoskeletal development and the ability of the musculoskeletal system to respond to loading. The justification for not exercising horses at a certain age is often in contrast to the scientific literature and framed, with incorrect generalizations, with human growth. This review provides a relative comparison of the growth and development of the horse to the descriptors used to define growth and development in humans. Measures of physeal closure and somatic growth demonstrate that the horse completes the equivalent of rapid infant growth by weaning (4-6 months old). At approximately 11 months old, the horse completes the equivalent of the childhood phase of growth and enters puberty. At 2 years old, the horse has achieved most measures of maturity used within the human literature, including the plateauing of vertical height, closure of growth plates, and adult ratios of back length:wither height and limb length:wither height. These data support the hypothesis that the horse evolved to be a precocious cursorial grazer and is capable of athletic activity, and use in sport, relatively early in life.
dc.description.confidentialfalse
dc.edition.editionDecember 2021
dc.format.pagination3402-
dc.identifier.author-urlhttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34944179
dc.identifier.citationRogers CW, Gee EK, Dittmer KE. (2021). Growth and Bone Development in the Horse: When Is a Horse Skeletally Mature?. Animals (Basel). 11. 12. (pp. 3402-).
dc.identifier.doi10.3390/ani11123402
dc.identifier.eissn2076-2615
dc.identifier.elements-typejournal-article
dc.identifier.issn2076-2615
dc.identifier.numberARTN 3402
dc.identifier.piiani11123402
dc.identifier.urihttps://mro.massey.ac.nz/handle/10179/70538
dc.languageeng
dc.publisherMDPI (Basel, Switzerland)
dc.publisher.urihttps://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/11/12/3402
dc.relation.isPartOfAnimals (Basel)
dc.rights(c) 2021 The Author/s
dc.rightsCC BY 4.0
dc.rights.urihttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
dc.subjectepiphyseal cartilage
dc.subjectfoal
dc.subjecthorse
dc.subjectmaturity
dc.subjectphysis
dc.subjectracing
dc.subjectshow jumping
dc.subjectsport
dc.titleGrowth and Bone Development in the Horse: When Is a Horse Skeletally Mature?
dc.typeJournal article
pubs.elements-id449989
pubs.organisational-groupOther
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