Omneity® Pellets
All-In-One Vitamin & Mineral Pellet
Topic:Forage
Forage is a primary component of the equine diet, consisting mainly of grasses, hay, and legumes that provide essential nutrients and fiber. It plays a significant role in maintaining digestive health and supporting the overall well-being of horses. The nutritional composition of forage can vary based on factors such as plant species, maturity at harvest, and environmental conditions. Proper management and selection of forage are important for meeting the dietary needs of horses and preventing issues such as colic or laminitis. This page compiles peer-reviewed research studies and scholarly articles that explore the nutritional value, management practices, and impact of forage on equine health and performance.
Comparison of mandibular motion in horses chewing hay and pellets. Previous studies have suggested that temporomandibular joint (TMJ) kinematics depend on the type of food being masticated, but accurate measurements of TMJ motion in horses chewing different feeds have not been published. Objective: The temporomandibular joint has a larger range of motion when horses chew hay compared to pellets. Methods: An optical motion capture system was used to track skin markers on the skull and mandible of 7 horses as they chewed hay and pellets. A virtual marker was created on the midline between the mandibles at the level of the 4th premolar teeth to represent the ove...
Respirable dust concentrations in equine stables. Part 2: the benefits of soaking hay and optimising the environment in a neighbouring stable. The effect of soaking hay to minimise equine breathing zone respirable dust concentration (RDC) is unknown, as is the duration of soaking required. Additionally, the influence of the bedding and forage used in one stable on the mean and maximum RDC in a neighbouring stable within a common airspace is unknown. Consequently, in the management of equine environmental respiratory disease uncertainty remains about the necessity for optimising conditions in neighbouring stables. Investigations using a real-time continuous particle monitor revealed that when feeding hay, horses' mean breathing zone R...
Responses of horses offered a choice between stables containing single or multiple forages. To investigate the choices of foraging location of horses, 10 to 12 horses were introduced for five minutes into each of two similar stables containing a single forage or six forages, in four replicated trials. The horses were then removed and released into the gangway between the stables, and allowed five minutes to choose between the stables. Their initial and final choices, mean duration in each stable and proportional frequency of change of location were compared. Most of the horses initially entered the closest stable on release (P<0.05); if the closest stable contained a single hay, m...
[Nutrient content and adequacy of roughage for horse nutrition: an investigation under Swiss conditions]. For horses no special tables related to nutrients for Swiss roughage exist. For this reason samples of hay, straw, silage/haylage and green forage were taken from 46 horse keeping farms in 22 cantons. The samples were judged by sense and following the nutrient--and macromineral--content as well as the content of fructans were analysed. Regarding its quality no sample was totally inadequate for horses. The mean contents of crude protein in Swiss hay for horses were clearly lower than in hay for ruminants and in German hay for horses. The mineral contents (calcium, magnesium, phosphorus) showed ...
Exercise response, metabolism at rest and digestibility in athletic horses fed high-fat oats. High starch intakes increase the risk for metabolic disorders and therefore alternative feedstuffs are of interest. High-fat oat varieties have a lower starch and higher energy content than regular oats and may therefore be useful in this context. Objective: Feeding high fat oats causes no adverse effects on the response to exercise and that the total amount of oats offered could be reduced compared to feeding with regular oats. Methods: Twelve Standardbred trotters were fed regular oats (diet C), high-fat oats (F), and a mixture (50:50) of C and F (M), together with haylage (30:70), in a Lati...
Effects on exercise response, fluid and acid-base balance of protein intake from forage-only diets in standardbred horses. High-energy forage might be an alternative to concentrates for performance horses and such forage can be produced by an early cut. However, early cut forage is high in crude protein (CP), which may result in an excessive CP intake. Objective: To investigate how CP intake affects nitrogen (N), fluid and acid-base balance, and exercise response in horses fed high-energy forage diets. The hypothesis was that high CP intake causes acidosis, and alters fluid balance and response to intensive exercise. Methods: Two forage-only diets based on high-energy grass forage were fed for 23 days in a crossov...
Analysis of Canadian and Irish forage, oats and commercially available equine concentrate feed for pathogenic fungi and mycotoxins. Respiratory infections, recurrent airway obstruction (RAO) and exercise induced pulmonary haemorrhage (EIPH) are major causes of poor performance in horses. Fungi and mycotoxins are now recognised as a major cause of these conditions. The most notable fungi are Aspergillus and Fusarium. Fungal spores can originate from forage, bedding and feed and, in turn, these fungal spores can produce a series of mycotoxins as secondary metabolites.This study set out to ascertain the degree of fungal and mycotoxin contamination in feed and fodder used in Irish racing yards over a one-year period. Weather c...
The mycobiota and toxicity of equine feeds. Feed contamination can lead to nutrient losses and detrimental effects on animal health and production. The purposes of this study were to investigate the mycobiota in equine mixed feeds and to determine natural contamination with aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) and fumonisin B1 (FB1). Fungal enumeration of equine feed samples was done. A commercially available enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kit was applied to quantify AFB1 and FB1. A comparison between ELISA and HPLC was carried out. Feed mould counts ranged from <1 x 10(2) to 1 x 10(5) cfu/g. The most frequent genus isolated was Aspergillus (40.54...
Uneven feet in a foal may develop as a consequence of lateral grazing behaviour induced by conformational traits. Conformational traits are important in breeding, since they may be indicative for performance ability and susceptibility to injuries. Objective: To study whether certain desired conformational traits of foals are related to lateralised behaviour while foraging and to the development of uneven feet. Methods: Twenty-four Warmblood foals, born and raised at the same location, were studied for a year. Foraging behaviour was observed by means of weekly 10 min scan-sampling for 8 h. A preference test (PT) was developed to serve as a standardised tool to determine laterality. The foals were evaluated...
Models for estimating digesta passage kinetics in the gastrointestinal tract of the horse. Fecal samples were collected to evaluate mathematical models to describe the kinetics of digesta passage in the segments of the equine gastrointestinal tract and to compare the passage kinetics of hay and oats. Four Norwegian Cold-blooded trotters (cecally cannulated, approximately 500 kg of BW) were fed Cr-mordanted hay and Yb-marked oats with their morning meal. The meal consisted of 2 kg of hay and 1 kg of oats processed as ground, pelleted, extruded, or micronized. Each horse was fed each type of oats on different days of collection, after a 5-d adaptation period, in a 4 x 4 Latin square d...
Seasonal adjustment of energy budget in a large wild mammal, the Przewalski horse (Equus ferus przewalskii) I. Energy intake. Large ruminants respond to changing plant phenology during winter by decreasing voluntary food intake, increasing gut passage time and utilizing body fat reserves. It is uncertain, however, how other large mammals with a non-ruminant digestive physiology cope with winter forage conditions. Therefore, we investigated seasonality of energy intake in a large herbivorous wild mammal, the Przewalski horse (Equus ferus przewalskii). Throughout all seasons we used the n-alkane method to measure daily dry matter intake (DMI), diet composition and digestion, and determined an index of gut passage time ...
Effect of rostrocaudal mobility of the mandible on feed digestibility and fecal particle size in horses. To evaluate the effect of rostrocaudal mobility (RCM) of the mandible during extension and flexion of the atlanto-occipital joint on weight gain, feed digestibility, and fecal particle size in horses. Methods: Randomized controlled trial. Methods: 34 pregnant mares housed in 1 barn. Methods: Horses were randomized into a treatment (n = 17) or control (17) group. All horses were sedated, and the distance between the rostral portions of the upper and lower incisor arcades was determined during extension and flexion of the atlanto-occipital joint; mandibular RCM was calculated as the difference b...
Voluntary intake and digestibility of reed canarygrass and timothy hay fed to horses. Thousands of hectares of timothy (Phleum pretense L.) grown in the Mid-Atlantic region are infected by cereal rust mite (Abacarus hysterix) that causes discoloration and curling of leaves, decreased nutritional quality, and substantial decreases in yield. A decline in production of timothy hay can lower income for hay producers and cause horse owners to search for alternative hays. Low alkaloid reed canarygrass (Phalaris arundinacea L.) hay has potential as an alternative to timothy hay because it grows well in the Mid-Atlantic region, is believed to have a similar nutrient quality to timothy,...
The effects of diet on blood glucose, insulin, gastrin and the serum tryptophan: large neutral amino acid ratio in foals. High carbohydrate diets can affect the health and behaviour of foals, but the mechanisms are not always fully understood. The objective of this study was to compare the effects of feeding a starch and sugar (SS), or a fat (oil) and fibre (FF) rich diet to two groups of eight foals. Diets were fed from 4 to 42 weeks of age, alongside ad libitum forage. Faecal pH levels did not differ significantly between groups and endoscopic examination showed that the gastric mucosa was healthy in both groups at 25 and 42 weeks of age. At 40 weeks of age, SS foals had significantly higher total blood glucose...
Countermeasures for pasture-associated laminitis in ponies and horses. Laminitis occurs throughout the world in horses and ponies and has major welfare implications. It is obviously important to be able to recognize and treat the condition in its early stages so that pain and suffering are kept to a minimum. However, ideally it would be preferred to be able to recommend certain interventions/countermeasures that avoid or prevent the condition from occurring in the first place. Because pasture-associated laminitis occurs with grass consumption, one obvious way to avoid the condition is to prevent access to pasture and to feed forage alternatives that are known to ...
Pasture nonstructural carbohydrates and equine laminitis. Fresh forages constitute a majority of the diet for many horses and ponies that graze on pastures during the growing season in many parts of the world. Grasses generally predominate in such pastures, with varying proportions of legumes. Nonstructural carbohydrates (NSC) (simple sugars, starch, and fructan) can induce laminitis experimentally, and NSC can accumulate to >400 g/kg of dry matter (DM) in pasture grasses. In this article we discuss the environmental factors affecting NSC accumulation in pastures and estimate the potential daily intakes of pasture NSC by grazing horses. We also di...
Modulation of leptin, insulin, and growth hormone in obese pony mares under chronic nutritional restriction and supplementation with ractopamine hydrochloride. Horses fed beyond their nutritional requirement and that are physically inactive will develop obesity, which is often accompanied by insulin resistance and heightened risk of laminitis. The use of pharmacologic agents in combination with nutritional restriction may promote weight loss in obese horses unable to exercise because of laminitic pain. This study shows that reducing feed intake of brome grass hay to 75% of ad libitum intake in obese pony mares reduces body weight without induced exercise. Additional supplementation of ractopamine hydrochloride for 6 weeks resulted in a tendency for i...
A comparison of the effect of forage type and level of feeding on the digestibility and gastrointestinal mean retention time of dry forages given to cattle, sheep, ponies and donkeys. Four cattle, sheep, ponies and donkeys were fed dehydrated lucerne, early-cut hay, later-cut hay or barley straw in a Latin square-based design for four periods of 35 d. In the first sub-period animals were fed the diets ad libitum (1-21 d) and in the second sub-period they were fed the same diet restricted to 0.75 of ad libitum intake (days 22-35). Measurements of forage intake, apparent digestibilities and gastrointestinal mean retention times (MRT) were made in the last 7 d of each sub-period. Differences between species in voluntary DM intake (VDMI; g/kg live weight (LW)(0.75) and g/LW) we...
The effect of enzyme treatment on the in vitro fermentation of lucerne incubated with equine faecal inocula. A series of experiments was conducted to determine the effects of a fibrolytic enzyme preparation (enzyme 1; E1) on the in vitro fermentation of lucerne incubated with equine faecal inocula. In experiment 1, high-temperature-dried (HT) lucerne was treated with five levels of E1 (0 to 2.4 ml/g DM) and incubated at 50 degrees C for 20 h. Samples then received a simulated foregut digestion (SFD) treatment before DM and NSP analysis. In experiment 2, HT lucerne was treated with the same enzyme levels used in experiment 1. Samples were then split into two groups; plus or minus an SFD treatment befo...
Dynamic averaging and foraging decisions in horses (Equus callabus). The variability of most environments taxes foraging decisions by increasing the uncertainty of the information available. One solution to the problem is to use dynamic averaging, as do some granivores and carnivores. Arguably, the same strategy could be useful for grazing herbivores, even though their food renews and is more homogeneously distributed. Horses (Equus callabus) were given choices between variable patches after short or long delays. When patch information was current, horses returned to the patch that was recently best, whereas those without current information matched choices to ...
Influence of starch intake on growth and skeletal development of weanling horses. Forty-four weanling horses were used in two experiments to evaluate the effect of starch intake on growth and skeletal development. In Exp. 1, the weanlings were fed either a grain-based, high-starch (31.1%, DM basis) concentrate or a by-product-based, low-starch (0.0%) concentrate with coastal bermudagrass (Cynodon dactylon) hay. Corn oil was used to equalize the energy concentration of the concentrates. The concentrate:hay ratio was 64:36 (as-fed basis), and intake was the same for both diets. Body weight gains were greater by the weanlings consuming the high-starch concentrate (0.81 vs. 0.6...
Feeding value of pastures for horses. The feeding value of fresh pasture grazed in situ is determined by animal performance or productivity and could be relatively easily established for growing and lactating horses. Despite this, there is a lack of published information on the relative feeding value of different pastures and forages grazed by horses in New Zealand and the world. In addition, for adult breeding or non-breeding and young or adult sport or performance horses, the definition of feeding value and its determination remain problematic. Limited information suggests that the feeding value of perennial ryegrass-based pastu...
Endocrine alterations associated with ergopeptine alkaloid exposure during equine pregnancy. Ergopeptine alkaloid exposure is common in pregnant mares. Many mares live in geographic areas where Neotyphodium coenophialum-infected tall fescue is the dominant grass in pastures and hay. A variety of grasses and cereal grains can be infected by Claviceps purpurea, and fungal sclerotia can contaminate forage and especially ground and pelleted feed. An understanding of the endocrine alterations associated with ergopeptine alkaloid exposure during pregnancy is necessary for the diagnosis of potential exposure to these compounds and for eective prophylaxis and therapy.
Effects of cereal grain supplementation on apparent digestibility of nutrients and concentrations of fermentation end-products in the feces and serum of horses consuming alfalfa cubes. Twenty geldings (five groups; similar age and BW) were used in a completely randomized design experiment to determine effects of grain supplementation of an alfalfa-cube diet on apparent nutrient digestibility and hindgut fermentation. The geldings were housed individually, fed their diets in two equal meals (0600 and 1800), and adapted to five dietary treatments over 6 wk. The treatments were alfalfa cubes (1% of BW; DM basis) without (control) or with one of four rolled cereal grains (i.e., barley, corn, naked oats, or oats) to provide a target level of 0.4% of BW as total nonstructural carb...
Lead in blood of urban Indian horses. A cross sectional study recorded the Lead (Pb) concentrations in blood from 288 horses in urban areas. Mean blood Pb concentration was estimated as 0.47 +/- 0.02 and 0.55 +/- 0.02 ppm in horses for industrial and highway-adjacent localities respectively. Mean blood Pb in horses from rural areas was 0.38 +/- 0.03 ppm. The mean Pb in forage samples from these horses was 36.96 +/- 6.23, 52.08 +/- 9.86 and 11.72 +/- 1.34 ppm in industrial, highway-adjacent and rural localities respectively. No overt signs of Pb toxicosis were seen in these animals
Fat digestibility in Equus caballus follows increasing first-order kinetics. The digestibility of ether extract varies greatly from forages to grains and further to added fats consisting mainly of triglycerides. This variation has been attributed to two main factors, the presence of nonhydrolyzable substances in the ether extract, especially in leafy foods, and the dilution of endogenous fecal fat. A compilation of results from 188 equine digestion balance observations on five basal feeds and 18 test feeds with added fats demonstrated a true digestibility of fat approaching 100% and an endogenous fecal fat of 0.22 g x d(-1) x kg BW(-1). The results revealed that nonhyd...
