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.
Effects of storage-handling methods on nutrient analysis of fresh-forage samples. Forage low in nonstructural carbohydrates (NSC) is recommended for insulin dysregulated (ID) horses, indicating the importance of an accurate forage analysis. However, it remains to be fully understood how handling forage samples pre-analysis impacts nutrient values. The objective of this study was to compare the effect of fresh-forage storage-handling methods: microwave-oven (MO; 9kw; 70s then stored at -20℃), room temperature (20℃), 3℃, -20℃, and -80℃. Subsamples collected from a mixed-grass pasture and a ryegrass plot were analyzed for crude protein (CP), water soluble carbohydrat...
Straight from the horse’s mouth: The effect of different feedstuffs on oral pH in horses and ponies. Feedstuffs, especially ensiled forage, may be detrimental to equid oral health by exposing the oral cavity to low pH. This study aimed to identify if salivary pH was altered by 1) a range of different feedstuffs and (2) specifically by feeding haylages with differing nutrient profiles. Two studies were conducted. The first measured oral pH following five feedstuffs, (hay, haylage, unmolassed sugarbeet pulp, unmolassed alfalfa chaff and rolled oats), tested individually over five days. Saliva (≥1 ml) was collected in triplicate, prior to feeding, directly after ingesting 500 g of each feedstu...
Fibrobacter sp. HC4, a newly isolated strain, demonstrates a high cellulolytic activity as revealed by enzymatic measurements and in vitro assay. Despite their low quantity and abundance, the cellulolytic bacteria that inhabit the equine large intestine are vital to their host, as they enable the crucial use of forage-based diets. Fibrobacter succinogenes is one of the most important intestinal cellulolytic bacteria. In this study, Fibrobacter sp. HC4, one cellulolytic strain newly isolated from the horse cecum, was characterized for its ability to utilize plant cell wall fibers. Fibrobacter sp. HC4 consumed only cellulose, cellobiose, and glucose and produced succinate and acetate in equal amounts. Among genes coding for CAZymes, 26% o...
Carbohydrate digestion in the stomach of horses grazed on pasture, fed hay or hay and oats. Concentrations of starch, mono- and disaccharides, fructans, hemicellulose and cellulose were analysed in feed and gastric digesta of horses in relation to acid insoluble ash as a marker indigestible in the stomach. Twenty-four horses were allocated to pasture 24 h/d (PST; n = 4), hay ad libitum (HAY; n = 8), hay ad lib. and oats at 1 g starch/kg body weight (BWT)/meal (OS1; n = 6) and hay ad lib. and oats at 2 g starch/kg BWT/meal (OS2; n = 5). One horse was excluded from the analysis. The horses were fed the ration a minimum of 34 days. Following euthanasia and dissection, digesta was sample...
Natural grazing by horses and cattle promotes bird diversity in a restored European alluvial grassland. A challenge in grassland conservation is to maintain both the openness and the heterogeneity of the habitat to support the diversity of their animal communities, including birds-a taxon that is known to be sensitive to disturbance. An increasingly used management tool in European grassland conservation, especially in rewilding projects, is grazing by large herbivores such as horses and cattle. These grazers are believed to create and maintain patchy landscapes that promote diversity and richness of other species, but their influence on birds is often debated by conservationists, who raise conc...
What the hay: predicting equine voluntary forage intake using a meta-analysis approach. To properly formulate diets, the ability to accurately estimate feed intake is critical as the amount of feed consumed will influence the amount of nutrients delivered to the animal. Inaccurate intake estimates may lead to under- or over-feeding of nutrients to the animal. Individual differences in equine forage intake are well-known, but predictive equations based on animal and nutritional factors are not comprehensive. The objective of the present study was to consolidate the current body of knowledge in the published literature on voluntary forage DM intake (VFDMI) in equines and conduct a ...
Characterizing hay buying and feeding practices and attitudes among Pennsylvania horse owners. Existing data on the equine hay market and buying preferences in Pennsylvania (PA) is outdated and more recent data is needed. The objective of this project was to characterize the practices and attitudes of PA horse hay buyers. An online survey was created and distributed. It received 435 total responses (of these, 346 were complete responses) from PA horse hay buyers from October 2021 to February 2022. Data presented (descriptive statistics) represents the percentage of respondents answering that question. Most (76%) respondents were in the recreational sector of the horse industry and the m...
Application of remote sensing to understand the role of Galician feral horses in the biomass reduction of a shrub-grassland-dominated landscape. Galician forests in northwestern Spain are subject to frequent wildfires with high environmental and economic costs. In addition, due to the consequences of climate change, these fires are becoming more virulent, occurring throughout the year, and taking place in populated areas, in some cases involving the loss of human life. Therefore, forest fire prevention is even more relevant than mitigating its consequences. Given the costs involved in forestry work, alternative measures to reduce fuel load and create vegetation gaps are needed. One involves grazing by an endemic species of feral horses...
Hair loss and endocrine dermatosis on horses raised in a Mimosa pudica var. unijuga-invaded area. A Mimosa pudica var. unijuga-associated toxicity affecting horses occurred in Araguari, Triângulo Mineiro, Southeast Brazil. Affected horses had gradual hair loss of the mane and tail and endocrine dermatosis after grazing for three months during the dry season on a paddock invaded by the plant. The main histological lesions include compact ortho-keratotic hyperkeratosis and numerous flame follicles. Toxicological analysis by HPLC-UV demonstrated 0.8 mg/g of mimosine in the leaves.
A review on mycotoxins and mycotoxicoses in ruminants and Equidae in South America. Of the mycotoxicoses caused by molds contaminating grains or their byproducts, leukoencephalomalacia of horses and less frequently aflatoxicosis in cattle have been reported in South America. However, the most important group of mycotoxins in the region are those caused by fungi that infect forages and other types of plants and have regional distribution. In this group, ergotism is important, both caused by Claviceps purpurea infecting grains or by Epichloë coenophiala infecting Schedonorus arundinaceus. Other important mycotoxicoses are those caused by indole-diterpenes produced by Clavicipi...
Chewing analysis of horses consuming bermudagrass hay in different styles of slow feeders as compared to loose hay. Mastication is the initial phase of digestion and is crucial to equine health due to its role in saliva production and food particle reduction. Hay nets have been promoted to slow the rate of hay consumption, with many styles of slow feeders available. Limited research has shown that nets may slow consumption, but no research has examined their effect on the horse's chewing frequency and patterns. The objective of this study was to compare chew frequency (CF, total number of chews/kg consumed) and chew duration (CD, total minutes chewed/kg consumed), as well as distribution of chews over a fee...
Time budgets differ in horses during continuous and space-restricted rotational grazing. Horses can become obese and develop related health issues such as laminitis from excessive grazing on high-quality pasture grass; limiting pasture intake can allow weight loss to occur. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of space-restricted rotational grazing on body weight (BW) and time budgets in horses. Eight mature geldings and mares with maintenance-only requirements were randomly assigned to either a space-restricted rotational grazing group (SRG; BW 512 ± 6 kg; n = 4) or a continuous grazing group (CG; BW 517 ± 49 kg; n = 4) for 42 d SRG horses grazed an area with...
Tropical grass digestibility assessed by the mobile bag and in vitro methods in horses. This study aimed to compare the digestibility of tropical grasses by horses by the in vivo method using mobile nylon bags with the in vitro digestibility method using horse feces as a source of inoculum. Five horses were used in a 2 × 5 factorial design with randomized blocks featuring two methods (in vivo and in vitro) and five grasses: Tifton 85 hay (Cynodon spp.), sixweeks threeawn grass (Aristida adsencionis, Linn), Alexandergrass (Brachiaria plantaginea (Link) Hitchc.), capim-de-raiz (Chloris orthonoton, Doell), and Sabi grass (Urochloa mosambicensis). No difference (P>0.05) was f...
Pony feeding management: the role of morphology and hay feeding methods on intake rate, ingestive behaviors and mouth shaping. In the last decade, haynets and slow feeders have been promoted as sustainable tools to improve the feeding management of horses and reduce forage waste, but little is known about their effects on ponies. Therefore, the aim of this study was to analyze the effects of different hay feeding methods on the ingestive behaviors, intake rate and mouth shaping of ponies belonging to two breed types, which are characterized by different head morphologies. Shetland type (SH, n = 5) and Welsh/Cob type (WC, n = 4) ponies were fed hay using four feeding methods: on the ground (G), a fully filled h...
Nutrient Composition and Feed Hygiene of Alfalfa, Comparison of Feed Intake and Selected Metabolic Parameters in Horses Fed Alfalfa Haylage, Alfalfa Hay or Meadow Hay. The aim of this study was to examine the nutrient composition and feed hygiene of alfalfa as well as investigate the feed intake, blood, urine and faecal parameters of horses fed alfalfa haylage (AS) compared with alfalfa hay (AH) and meadow hay (MH). A total of 11 geldings were fed ad libitum (2.1% dry matter (DM) of body weight (BW)) with alfalfa haylage, alfalfa hay and meadow hay (MH) in a Latin square design. On days 0 and 21 of the feeding period, blood samples were analysed for kidney and liver parameters. Faecal samples were analysed for pH, DM and short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs). Spon...
Characteristics of potential adopters of wild horses and their willingness-to-pay for wild horses. An overabundance of wild horses and burros on federal lands can lead to suboptimal welfare when there are insufficient forage and water resources. Placing some of these animals in private homes has been identified as a key part of the solution. A nationwide online survey completed by 2,247 current and former horse owners is used to assess the feasibility of accommodating this strategy. The survey tool addressed basic horse ownership and demographic information, previous experience with wild horses, and hypothetical wild horse adoption scenarios. Results suggest that most respondents are recept...
Environmental Management of Equine Asthma. Environmental practices related to the inhalation of airborne dust have been identified as the main cause of equine asthma (EA) and reasonably, they are truly relevant in its treatment and control, especially for horses with its severe form. Vast research regarding environmental recommendations has been conducted in recent years. However, no recent exhaustive reviews exist that gather all this new evidence. The aim of this review is to report and compare the most pertinent information concerning the environmental management of EA. The main findings highlight the importance of the type of forag...
Insulin dysregulated horses metabolic responses to forage pellets. Hyperinsulinemia-associated laminitis (HAL) is the primary concern for insulin dysregulated (ID) equids and their insulin response to the consumption of oral, nonstructural carbohydrates (NSC) has been shown to be a risk predictor for HAL development. This randomized, crossover study's objective was to examine the insulinemic responses to 3 forage pellets (1 g/kg BW) (timothy hay, TH, 9.5 % CP & 10 % NSC DM; alfalfa hay, AH, 16.3 % CP & 9.8 % NSC DM; timothy-alfalfa hay; TAH, 17.2 % CP & 9.8 % NSC DM) along with a positive (dehulled oats; OG, 14.7 % CP & 59.7 % NSC DM) and nega...
Do Poisonous Plants in Pastures Communicate Their Toxicity? Meta-Study and Evaluation of Poisoning Cases in Central Europe. One of the possible roles of secondary plant metabolites, including toxins, is facilitating plant-animal communication. Lethal cases of pasture poisoning show that the message is not always successfully conveyed. As the focus of poisoning lies in the clinical aspects, the external circumstances of pasture poisoning are widely unknown. To document poisoning conditions in cattle, sheep, goats, and horses on pastures and to compile a checklist of plants involved in either poisoning or co-existence (zero poisoning), published case reports were evaluated as primary sources. The number of affected a...
Plants that Contaminate Feed and Forage and Poison Horses: Equine Ttxicology. Many toxic plants are unpalatable to horses and are not eaten when alternative forage is available. However, when such plants contaminate prepared or baled feed and forage, herd competition and improved palatability can alter acceptance and thereby cause equine plant poisonings. Dehydropyrrolizidine alkaloid-containing plants; cocklebur; Salvia reflexa; kleingrass, switchgrass, and other saponin-containing grasses; jimson weed, black henbane, and other tropane alkaloid-containing plants; lantana; Cassia spp and other myotoxic plants; castor bean; cyanogenic glycoside-containing plants; thiamin...
A national survey of anthelmintic resistance in ascarid and strongylid nematodes in Australian Thoroughbred horses. This study quantified the extent of anthelmintic resistance (AR) in ascarid and strongylid nematodes against commonly used anthelmintics in Australian Thoroughbred horses. Faecal egg count reduction tests (FECRTs, n = 86) and egg reappearance period (ERP) tests were conducted on 22 farms across Australia. Faecal egg counts (FECs) were determined using the modified McMaster technique, and percent faecal egg count reduction (%FECR) was calculated using the Bayesian hierarchical model and hybrid Frequentist/Bayesian analysis method. The results were interpreted using old (published in 1992) and...
Industrial and Agricultural Toxicants. This article provides an overview of several agricultural and industrial toxicants that are most likely to be encountered by horses. Overviews include brief backgrounds of the agents in question, potential sources of intoxication, mechanisms of action, clinical signs, lesions, diagnostic considerations, and treatment options.
Changes in the nutrient profile and the load of mycotoxins, phytoestrogens, and pesticides in horse pastures during spring and summer in Austria. Pastures are used for grazing and the production of conserved roughage in horses. Yet, the nutritional profile of the forage varies from spring to late summer, affecting equine nutrient supply and health. In addition, environmental factors may also favor plant contaminants such as mycotoxins. This study aimed to determine the nutritional profile and contaminant load of selected horse pastures from early spring till late summer. The nutrient composition (main macronutrients, macro elements and trace elements), as well as mycotoxins, metabolites, pesticides, and plant-derived compounds of seven ...
Arsenic Levels and Seasonal Variation in Pasture Soil, Forage and Horse Blood Plasma in Central Punjab, Pakistan. The present study aimed to determine the accumulation levels of arsenic in pasture soil, forage and animals. An atomic absorption spectrophotometer was used to determine the concentration of metals in the samples of soil, forage and blood plasma of horses. The level of arsenic ranged between 4.26 mg/kg (summer) and 4.66 mg/kg (winter) in soil samples and 2.67 mg/kg (summer) and 2.94 mg/kg (winter) in forage samples. In blood plasma samples, the mean arsenic (As) values varied between 1.38 and 1.52 mg/L. In the blood plasma samples, the mean As values varied between 1.38 and 1.52 mg/L. No...
Confidence does not mediate a relationship between owner experience and likelihood of using weight management approaches for native ponies. Native ponies are at increased risk of obesity and metabolic perturbations, such as insulin dysregulation (ID), a key risk factor for endocrinopathic laminitis. Management and feeding practices can be adapted to maintain healthy body condition and support metabolic health, but owners may inadvertently provide their ponies with inappropriate management leading to obesity and exacerbating risk of metabolic disease. Adoption of preventative weight management approaches (WMAs), including regular monitoring of body condition, providing appropriate preserved forage, promoting seasonal weight loss, a...
Potential impact of natural conditions on the rostral oral health: a study of horses in Iceland. In the context of a study of Equine Odontoclastic Tooth Resorption and Hypercementosis (EOTRH), elderly Icelandic horses were examined in their originating country. The subject of this survey was the impact of dental treatment and keeping and feeding management on the health of the rostral oral cavity. A total of 170 horses (aged ≥ 15) located in different areas of Northwest, West, and South Iceland. The horse owners completed a questionnaire about keeping, feeding, and preventative dental care. The horses were clinically examined with particular attention to gingival and dental disorders of...
Effects of Different Hay Feeders, Availability of Roughage on Abnormal Behaviors and Cortisol Circadian Rhythm in Horses Kept in Dry Lots. Free choice forage could be the best option regarding horses' welfare but can lead to increased body weight (BW), and waste of hay. Automatic box feeders (BF) and slow feeders (SF) decrease food waste, but it is unknown how these affect the horses' time-budget (TB). This study compared the effects of feeding free choice hay (FC), to a SF and an automated BF on the horses' cortisol circadian rhythm (CCR) and behavior by 24-hours continuous behavioral sampling (CBS). The study was designed as a 3 × 3 Latin square design with 15 polo horses divided into 3 groups, for 15 days on each treatment....
Protein Evaluation of Feedstuffs for Horses. The German Society of Nutrition Physiology has proposed a new protein evaluation system for horse feeds to estimate pre-cecally digestible crude protein (pcdCP) and amino acids (pcdAA) from chemical properties. A total of 71 feeds for horses were chemically tested and evaluated according to the new protein evaluation system. A feeding trial with eight horses tested whether differences in estimated pcdAA and neutral detergent soluble CP (NDSCP) in the diet were reflected by post-prandial (ppr) kinetics of plasma lysine (Lys) by feeding a complementary feed (control = CTRL) with 1.02 g Lys/100 k...
Forage:Concentrate Ratio Effects on In Vivo Digestibility and In Vitro Degradability of Horse’s Diet. Determination of digestibility represents the first step for the evaluation of the net energy content of feed for livestock animals. The aim of this study was to evaluate the in vivo digestibility and in vitro degradability of five diets characterized by different forage/concentrate ratios (F:C) in horses. The in vitro degradability was determined by the Gas Production Technique (GPT), using as an inoculum source the feces of the same subjects used for the in vivo test. Five diets consisting of poliphyte hay, straw and grains of barley and oats with a different F:C ratio [90/10 (Diet 1); 78/22...
Effect of pony morphology and hay feeding methods on back and neck postures. The application of hay feeding devices, such as the use of hay nets or slow feeders, can help with the management of weight in ponies; however, there is still a lack of knowledge regarding their effect on equine posture. Therefore, the aim of the study was to assess the effect of different feeding devices on the posture of ponies using morphometric analysis. Two different breed types, Shetland type (SH, n = 5) versus Welsh Cob type (WC, n = 4), were fed the same forage in four different ways: on the ground (G), using a fully filled haynet (HF), using a partially filled haynet (HL) and...
