Study: turnout, weaning of foals key to future success

Plenty of turnout and late weaning may increase the likelihood that a young Thoroughbred will have success at the racetrack years later.

Plenty of turnout and late weaning may increase the likelihood that a young Thoroughbred will have success at the racetrack years later, according to a study from the United Kingdom.

**Foals given extensive turnout during their first six months of life were far more likely to make it to the races.** (Getty Images)

To investigate how early-life management practices may affect the performance potential of young Thoroughbreds bred for flat racing, researchers at the Royal Veterinary College in Hatfield collected data on 129 foals from birth through their racing years.

For the study, managers at Thoroughbred stud farms across the United Kingdom recorded the daily management of foals from birth until they left the farm—typically at 18 to 20 months old. The managers documented each youngster’s turnout schedule, diet, history of disease or injury and weaning date.

Four years later, the researchers used statistical modelling to evaluate relationships between the foals’ early-life experiences and their subsequent race performance records at 2 and 3 years of age.

Benefits of turnout

The contrast was striking. Foals given extensive turnout during their first six months of life—spending more hours outdoors in larger paddocks—were far more likely to make it to the races. Those with limited turnout (kept in stalls at night and small paddocks during the day for the entirety of their first six months of life) had only a 24 percent chance of racing by age 3. What’s more, foals that gradually made the transition to 24/7 turnout over the same six-month period had a 70 percent probability of becoming racehorses (racing at least once by age 3, after accounting for any effects of other early-life exposures and the dam and sire).

In addition, those on early turnout that was restricted to spaces of two acres or less during the first six months of life earned under £7,000 (about $9,500) in prize money each, while those turned out on larger spaces (four or more acres on average during the first six months) earned more than £13,000 (about $17,500), after accounting for any effects of other early-life exposures, including musculoskeletal disease, injury, and the sire and dam.

Timing of weaning

The data also indicated that foals weaned later performed better throughout their 2-year-old and 3-year-old season. Those weaned at the age of 8 months competed in an average of 13 races compared to an average of just four races for foals weaned at 4 months of age (after accounting for any effects of other early-life exposures, including month of birth, and the dam and sire).

The researchers conclude that, “the first six months of life are a critical period of development in Thoroughbreds, during which the use of more extensive turnout 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. Breeders are therefore encouraged to maximise [sic] turnout whenever possible, and to consider weaning after this critical period.”

Reference: “Born to run? Associations between gestational and early-life exposures and later-life performance outcomes in Thoroughbreds,” Equine Veterinary Journal, August 2025

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