The benefits of play behavior in the development of foals

Chris Rogers is an Associate Professor in the School of Veterinary Science at Massey University in Palmerston North, New Zealand.

These are some of the conclusions of his studies:

• By building up strong, resistant tissues through natural play, horses have a better chance of becoming “sustainable” athletes later in life.
• Spontaneous play optimizes bone development and reduces the risk of future injury to both muscles and bones.
• Early exercise (in the form of play) provides a positive platform for good metabolic programming, that is, it helps reduce the risk of Equine Metabolic Syndrome, specifically diseases such as diabetes.

Rogers and his colleague Keren Dittmer, PhD, conducted several studies on juvenile play in mammals, in particular horses.

A common theme they noted was that the play activity had a direct relationship to a healthy mechanostat.

Bone mechanostat refers to the way mechanical loading on bone affects its structural mass and architecture, creating, essentially, more sustainable bone over the long term.

In the case of vertebrate animals, bone mechanostat is a feedback mechanism that regulates the stiffness of their trabecular and cortical structure. In this way, the accumulation of minerals and physical activity are essential for bone structure, and in the form of play it can be reinforced.

In play, foals have bursts of intense, high-energy movement with various bodily positions placing particular kinds of strain on the musculoskeletal system that they wouldn’t get from just normal locomotion.

In natural settings, this would allow them to be prepared for immediate needs to flee predators, but also to sustain the strains of physical activity related to reproduction.

While that need for play appears critical in early life, it seems that even adult horses could benefit from play. Once they are adults, the type of play varies between males and mares.

And, most importantly, we must avoid confining the foal as much as possible, if we want it to be healthy.

Rogers concludes that play allows horses to develop social skills, as we have discussed in the previous section. All this contributes to their welfare.

According to Rogers: