Rogers Chris W, Gee Erica K, Dittmer Keren E
School of Veterinary Science, Massey University, Private Bag 11-222, Palmerston North 4442, New Zealand.
School of Agriculture and Environment, Massey University, Private Bag 11-222, Palmerston North 4442, New Zealand.
Animals (Basel). 2021 Nov 29;11(12):3402. doi: 10.3390/ani11123402.
Within 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.
在通俗文学，尤其是社交媒体中，关于马开始参与比赛或运动的年龄常常存在争议。为了优化赛马和运动用马的福利与寿命，使运动与肌肉骨骼发育以及肌肉骨骼系统对负荷的反应能力相匹配非常重要。在特定年龄不让马运动的理由往往与科学文献相悖，并且常常错误地与人类生长进行一概而论。这篇综述对马的生长发育与用于定义人类生长发育的描述指标进行了相对比较。骨骺闭合和身体生长的测量表明，马在断奶时（4至6个月大）完成了相当于人类婴儿快速生长阶段的发育。大约在11个月大时，马完成了相当于人类儿童期的生长阶段并进入青春期。到2岁时，马已达到人类文献中使用的大多数成熟指标，包括身高不再增长、生长板闭合以及背部长度与鬐甲高度、肢体长度与鬐甲高度的成年比例。这些数据支持了这样一种假设，即马进化成为一种早熟的奔跑型食草动物，能够在生命早期就进行体育活动并用于运动。
