Early life turnout and racing outcome later in life - study

[FieldOrnaments]

Born to run? Associations between gestational and early-life exposures and later-life performance outcomes in Thoroughbreds - PubMed

More extensive early-life turn out practices and later weaning enhanced later-life race performance outcomes. This could be due to increased opportunity for positive musculoskeletal tissue adaptation and optimal growth and development rates during a critical window of developmental plasticity.

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

 

[Clodagh]

I thought it was a great study. I don’t know any thoroughbred studs that don’t have extensive turnout? Although I have always thought it a shame they are all on the level.
Later weaning would be nice but I guess to cover the mare in January you need to get the foal off her sooner.

 

[Darcey69]

I thought it was a great study. I don’t know any thoroughbred studs that don’t have extensive turnout? Although I have always thought it a shame they are all on the level.
Later weaning would be nice but I guess to cover the mare in January you need to get the foal off her sooner.

The foal isn't weaned so that the mare can be covered. It's normal for the mare to still be feeding her foal.

 

[Clodagh]

The foal isn't weaned so that the mare can be covered. It's normal for the mare to still be feeding her foal.

But condition wise it must be easier without? And a lot of foal’s will be getting more handling and possibly off to the sales ?
I always think a lot of what racing does is because it was ever thus.