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.
Hansen TL, Rankins EM, Bobel JM, McKinney M, Hackmann TJ, Warren LK.In humans, the consumption of soluble fibers reduces glycemic response after a meal. We hypothesized high soluble fiber diets would reduce and delay postprandial glucose and insulin responses in horses. In a 4 × 4 Latin square design experiment, four Quarter Horse geldings were adapted to diets containing orchardgrass hay (ORCH) or ORCH with 1 of 3 treatment ingredients: molassed sugar beet pulp (BEET), almond hulls (HULL), or steam-crimped oats (OATS). Blood was serially sampled for 6 hours after feeding 0.15% body weight (BW) of the treatment ingredient (meal test) or 1.1 g starch/kg BW ...
Saastamoinen M, Särkijärvi S.Linseed (Linum usitatissimum) and its by-products are common supplements used in equine diets and are claimed to have beneficial health effects. In this study, the effect of linseed groat-based fibrous feed supplements on diet digestibility was studied. Also, possible detrimental health effects due to continuous feeding of supplemental feeds containing linseed were examined by evaluating blood parameters. The experimental design was arranged as two balanced 3 × 3 Latin Squares. The horses were individually fed at the maintenance energy level, the forage-to-concentrate ratio being 70:30, with ...
Zhao K, Chi Y, Shen X.As a consequence of contracted and fenced grassland, the incidence of edema pathema in the Hequ horse is rising. The main pathological symptoms are edema, emaciation, anemia, heterophilia, inappetence, and dyskinesia. To study the cause of edema disease in Hequ horse, the Hequ horse farm with a high incidence was chosen as the experimental pasture, and the Azi husbandry experimental station without edema disorder was the control pasture. The research methods in this paper are included: (1) The mineral contents in soil, forage, blood, and liver were analyzed. (2) Routine parameters and biochemi...
Saastamoinen M, Särkijärvi S, Valtonen E.The main horse phosphorus excretion pathway is through the dung. Phosphorus originating from animal dung and manure has harmful environmental effects on waters. The number of horses has increased in many countries, and several studies have pointed that leaching of P from horse paddocks and pastures are hotspots for high P leaching losses. The hypothesis was that feeding regimes might influence phosphorus digestibility and excretion in feces, and therefore the environmental impact of horse husbandry. A digestibility experiment was conducted with six horses fed six forage-based diets to study ph...
Fehlberg LK, Lattimer JM, Vahl CI, Drouillard JS, Douthit TL.Calcium salts of fatty acids (CSFAs) frequently are fed to ruminants, but their fate in the equine digestive system is unknown. The purpose of this study was to compare Enertia s/f, a proprietary CSFAs, and soybean (SB) oil with respect to impact on apparent total tract nutrient digestion and cecal fermentation parameters in horses. Eight cecally cannulated Quarter Horses were used in a crossover design in which horses consumed a diet for 32 d consisting of 1.5% body weight (BW) (as-fed) smooth bromegrass hay and 0.5% BW (as-fed) pelleted concentrate containing 4.9% CSFAs or 4.1% SB oil. Fecal...
Lindroth KM, Johansen A, Båverud V, Dicksved J, Lindberg JE, Müller CE.Free faecal liquid (FFL) is a condition in horses where faeces are voided in one solid and one liquid phase. The liquid phase contaminates the tail, hindlegs and area around the anus of the horse, resulting in management problems and potentially contributing to impaired equine welfare. The underlying causes are not known, but anecdotal suggestions include feeding wrapped forages or other feed- or management-related factors. Individual horse factors may also be associated with the presence of FFL. This study, therefore, aimed to characterize horses showing FFL particularly when fed wrapped fora...
Martin-Rosset W, Andueza D, Vermorel M.The accuracy and precision of the National Research Council (NRC), Gesellschaft für Ernährungsphysiologie (GfE) and Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA) systems for predicting the digestible energy (DE) value of hays were determined from the results of 15 digestibility trials with natural grassland hays and 9 digestibility trials with lucerne hays that all met strict experimental and a tight corpus of methods. The hays were harvested in the temperate zone. They covered broad ranges of chemical composition and DE value. The INRA system was more accurate than the other two syst...
Hansen TL, Chizek EL, Zugay OK, Miller JM, Bobel JM, Chouinard JW, Adkin AM, Skurupey LA, Warren LK.Bermudagrass (Cynodon dactylon) and other warm-season grasses are known for their increased fiber concentrations and reduced digestibility relative to cool-season grasses and legumes. This study investigated the digestive characteristics and passage kinetics of three maturities of Coastal bermudagrass hay. A 5 × 5 Latin square design experiment was used to compare the digestion of five hays: alfalfa (Medicago sativa, ALF), orchardgrass (Dactylis glomerata, ORCH), and Coastal bermudagrass harvested at 4 (CB 4), 6 (CB 6), and 8 weeks of regrowth (CB 8). Horses were fed cobalt-ethylenediaminetet...
Campbell TE, Doughty H, Harris PA, de Laat MA, Sillence MN.The rapid intake of high-cereal, low-roughage meals may cause gastrointestinal and behavioral disorders. We investigated some of the factors that can affect the rate of intake (ROI) in four separate studies. Study 1 investigated the effect of chaff length and addition rate on the ROI of oats. The ROI decreased as more chaff was added to the diet, attaining significance (P < .05, n = 6) at levels above 15% addition and reaching a plateau at ∼50%. This was independent of stalk length (1.4 cm vs. 4.1 cm). Study 2 showed that meal size (varying from 0.5 to 4 g/kg BW) did not affect the RO...
Connysson M, Rhodin M, Jansson A.This study examined the effects of two housing systems (free-range and box stalls) on recovery of energy balance after competition-like exercise in Standardbred horses. Eight adult geldings (mean age 11 years) were used. The study had a change-over design, with the box stall (BOX) and free-range group housing (FreeR) treatments each run for 21 days. The horses were fed forage ad libitum and performed two similar race-like exercise tests (ET), on day 7 and day 14 in each treatment. Forage intake was recorded during the last 6-7 days in each period. Blood samples were collected before, during, a...
Galinelli N, Wambacq W, Broeckx BJG, Hesta M.Equine gastric ulcer syndrome (EGUS) is a pathological condition affecting the glandular and squamous regions of the stomach. It is characterized by non-specific clinical signs, behavioural changes or can also be found without any overt clinical manifestations. Nutritional factors such as intermittent feeding, high sugars and starch intake, large amounts of straw as forage and prolonged time without access to forage have all been associated with an increased risk of equine squamous gastric disease (ESGD). The aim of this study was to investigate which nutritional practices are commonly seen in...
Fitzgerald DM, Pollitt CC, Walsh DM, Sillence MN, de Laat MA.The oral glucose test (OGT) is a useful tool for diagnosing insulin dysregulation (ID) and is somewhat repeatable in ponies under consistent management. This study aimed to determine whether the insulin and incretin responses to an OGT in ponies differed after short-term access to fertilised pasture, compared to unfertilised pasture, by using a randomised, repeated measures study design. Sixteen mixed-breed ponies were classified as severely insulin-dysregulated (SD; post-prandial insulin ≥80 μIU/mL) or not severely insulin-dysregulated (NSD; post-prandial insulin < 80 μIU/mL) using an O...
Much ML, Leatherwood JL, Zoller JL, Bradbery AN, Martinez RE, Keegan AD, Lamprecht ED, Wickersham TA.Stock-type mares (498 ± 9 kg BW; 12 ± 7 yr) were used in a completely randomized design for 56 d to test the hypothesis that concentrate fortification improves apparent digestion and enhances lean mass over the topline. Horses were stratified by age, BW, and BCS and randomly assigned to either a custom pelleted concentrate (CON; = 13), or an iso-caloric, iso-nitrogenous pellet that included amino acid fortification, complexed trace minerals, and fermentation metabolites (FORT; = 10). Concentrate was offered at a total 0.75% BW/d (as-fed) twice daily, and diets were designed to meet or exce...
Owens TG, Barnes M, Gargano VM, Julien L, Mansilla WD, Devries TJ, Mcbride BW, Merkies K, Shoveller AK.Soaking hay and steaming hay are strategies that are used to reduce respirable dust particles for horses but may result in variable nutrient losses, including nonstructural carbohydrates (NSC) and minerals. Since these losses have not been quantified in Canadian hay yet, the first aim of this study was to identify nutrient losses from first-cut timothy-alfalfa hay grown in southern Ontario, Canada, after soaking for 30 min or steaming for 60 min. It is uncertain whether horses prefer hay when it is dry, soaked, or steamed. To address this, 13 Standardbred racehorses were offered 2 of these hay...
Glatter M, Borewicz K, van den Bogert B, Wensch-Dorendorf M, Bochnia M, Greef JM, Bachmann M, Smidt H, Breves G, Zeyner A.The objective of this study was to investigate the impact of natural prebiotic active compounds on the microbial composition in different regions of the equine gastrointestinal tract. Twelve adult horses (body weight [bwt] 534 ± 64.5 kg; age 14 ± 7.5 years) were randomly divided into two feeding groups. Six horses received a basal diet consisting of 1.5 kg hay/100 kg bwt x d-1 and oat grains equal to 1.19 g starch/kg bwt x d-1, supplemented with Jerusalem artichoke meal providing prebiotic fructooligosaccharides + inulin in a quantity of 0.15 g/kg bwt x d-1. The remaining horses received a p...
Ringmark S, Skarin A, Jansson A.Horse grazing may benefit biodiversity, but the impact of year-round grazing on nutrient dynamics has not been evaluated previously. This study compared pasture quality in a forest-grassland landscape grazed year-round by horses with that in exclosed mown areas. Twelve Gotlandsruss stallions were kept without supplementary feeding in three enclosures (~0.35 horse/ha) outside Uppsala, Sweden, from May 2014 to September 2016. Each enclosure contained three mown exclosures, where grass sward samples were collected monthly and analyzed for chemical composition and vegetation density. Fecal grab sa...
Bochnia M, Goetz F, Wensch-Dorendorf M, Koelln M, Zeyner A.Pelleted feeds (PF) are popular in horse nutrition because of high palatability and improved feeding hygiene, but ingestion is faster for PF than for cereals or muesli feed. The aim of the study was to evaluate whether variable amounts of two PFs produced with different physical properties from the same batch of feed can affect feed intake patterns in horses. Chewing patterns were measured in six warmblood mares (519 ± 36.3 kg) on two PFs (small-sized PF1: ø 5 mm, length 21.9 ± 4.97 mm, large-sized PF2: edge length 15.6 ± 0.14 × 15.6 ± 0.08 mm, length 54.4 Â...
Shakarami MH, Mohammadabadi T, Motamedi H, Sari M, Teimouri Yansari A.This study was conducted to isolate and identify the cellulolytic bacteria from gastrointestinal tract of Arabian horse and investigate their effect on the nutritional value of wheat straw (WS). Results: Fresh faeces were collected from four Arabian horses. The cellulose-hydrolytic bacteria were isolated by using a medium amended with carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC). The activity of CMC was determined by measuring the release of reducing sugars from CMC. Among the isolates, four isolates (L11, L12, L2 and Z2) showed maximum hydrolysis capacity. 16S rRNA sequence analysis showed that these isolat...
Kagan IA, Goodman JP, Seman DH, Lawrence LM, Smith SR.Grasses are a source of nutrients for grazing horses. However, water-soluble carbohydrates (WSCs) of grasses have been implicated in some equine health issues. Grasses also contain phenolic compounds, whose sensory and antimicrobial properties may affect forage intake by horses and horse health. The goals of this study were to assess factors affecting phenolic and WSC concentrations in selected cultivars of cool-season grasses and profile the phenolic compounds. Total phenolics and WSC were quantified in "Linn" and "Calibra" perennial ryegrass (PRG), "Cajun II" tall fescue (Cajun TF), "Persist...
De La Torre U, Henderson JD, Furtado KL, Pedroja M, Elenamarie O, Mora A, Pechanec MY, Maga EA, Mienaltowski MJ.A healthy gastrointestinal (GI) tract with a properly established microbiota is necessary for a foal to develop into a healthy weanling. A foal's health can be critically impacted by aberrations in the microbiome such as with diarrhea which can cause great morbidity and mortality in foals. In this study, we hypothesized that gut establishment in the foal transitioning from a diet of milk to a diet of grain, forage, and pasture would be detectable through analyses of the fecal microbiotas. Fecal samples from 37 sets of foals and mares were collected at multiple time points ranging from birth to...
Jaqueth AL, Turner TR, Iwaniuk ME, McIntosh BJ, Burk AO.Unlike traditional forage grasses, turfgrasses, which were developed to be tolerant of foot traffic and close mowing, may be suitable as alternative ground cover in areas of high hoof traffic such as dry lots. The objective of this study was to evaluate the potential of eight cool-season turfgrasses as alternative ground cover in heavy use areas. Cultivars were established via seeding in four replicated plots. To simulate horse traffic at a trot, a Baldree traffic simulator was driven over a section of the plot, either 0 (CON), 1 (LOW), or 2 (HIGH) times per week for 6 weeks followed by 4 week...
Wolford AN, Coverdale JA, Leatherwood JL, Pinchak WE, Anderson RC, Wickersham TA.Eight previously cecally cannulated Quarter Horse geldings were utilized in a crossover design with two 28-d periods with a 21-d washout period between to evaluate the influence of housing on the cecal environment and dry matter intake (DMI). Horses were adapted to diet and housing from day 1 to 19, DMI was determined from day 20 to 24, and cecal fluid was collected on day 28. Horses were paired by age and body weight (BW) and randomly assigned to treatment. Treatments consisted of housing horses individually in stalls or group housed in a pen. Regardless of treatment, all horses were individu...
Williams CA, Kenny LB, Burk AO.Rotational grazing is a recommended practice for grazing livestock, but little is known about its benefits with respect to grazing horses. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of continuous (CON) and rotational (ROT) grazing on forage nutrient composition and whether those concentrations influenced circulating glucose and insulin concentrations in the grazing horse. Twelve mature Standardbred mares were paired by age and weight and randomly assigned to 1 replicate of either a 1.5 ha cool-season grass CON or ROT system for a total of 3 mares in each system. Mares on CON we...
Fehlberg LK, Lattimer JM, Drouillard JS, Douthit TL.Effects of Co on fiber digestibility in horses are largely unknown. Our objective was to evaluate effects of Co chloride on in vitro gas production, VFA production, and dry matter (DM) disappearance (IVDMD) using cecal fluid from 4 cannulated Quarter Horses. Five grams DM of alfalfa or smooth bromegrass hay were provided as substrate with Co added at 0.0, 0.5, 5.0, 25.0, or 50.0 mg/kg substrate DM. Ten milliliters cecal fluid and 140 mL McDougall's buffer were incubated in duplicate, and pH, VFA concentrations, and IVDMD were measured after 48 hours. Gas production, used as an indicator of...
Tassone S, Renna M, Barbera S, Valle E, Fortina R.Successful studies on in vitro digestibility measurement of feedstuffs with fecal inoculum have been reported for horses, whereas data on donkeys are currently lacking. In this study, we evaluated the use of the Daisy Incubator for in vitro digestibility measurement of feedstuffs using donkey feces as source of microbial inoculum. The method was tested using seven feedstuffs commonly used in donkey diets (alfalfa, bromegrass, ryegrass, and timothy hays; wheat bran and wheat straw; barley grains). Feces were obtained from four female donkeys, and incubations were carried out at 1-week interva...
Prado Silva RH, Carneiro de Rezende AS, Felipe da Silva Inácio D, Norberto F, Saraiva de Melo Queiroz JN, Melo MM, Colares de Araújo Moreira D....Mangalarga Marchador foals in Minas Gerais, Brazil, are usually weaned during the dry season, when there is a scarcity of forage. Although sorghum silage has been used to feed weanlings, the effect on their feeding behavior in comparison with grass hay has not been reported. Twelve Mangalarga Marchador weanlings were randomly assigned to two groups of six animals: SS: sorghum silage; VH: Vaquero hay. Both groups received commercial concentrate in the proportion of 1.2 kg.100 kg of the live weight and forage ad libitum. The animals were filmed for 48 hours, being timed: forage intake time, wate...
Julliand S, Dacremont C, Omphalius C, Villot C, Julliand V.Although hay is the foundation of most equine diets, horse owners rarely ask for biochemical analysis and the routine practice is to choose hay based on its 'perceived' nutritional value. The present study aimed at exploring the relationship between sensory properties as perceived by sight, touch and smell, and the nutritional value of hay measured by biochemical analysis using a 'free sorting task' method. Fifty-four non-expert participants were asked individually to: (1) observe 21 hays samples, (2) group together hays that they perceived as similar for each of the three modalities (hay appe...
Dickson EC, Kayser WC, Latham CM, Leatherwood JL, Daigle CL, White SH.Equine research and management is limited to single-housing systems if individual animal intake is to be precisely recorded. Even then, dry forage intake is difficult to quantify accurately due to stomping or mixing hay with fecal matter and bedding. In cattle management, GrowSafe Systems (GrowSafe) is a commonly used tool to closely monitor individual animal feeding data using radio frequency identification (RFID) tag technology. Animals are equipped with a unique RFID tag that is read by the feed bunks each time the animal lowers its head into the bunk to consume feed. The objectives of this...
Pyles MB, Fowler AL, Bill VT, Harlow BE, Crum AD, Hayes SH, Flythe MD, Lawrence LM.Adult horses depend on the microbial community in the hindgut to digest fiber and produce short-chain fatty acids that are use for energy. Colonization of the foal gastrointestinal tract is essential to develop this symbiosis. However, factors affecting colonization are not well understood. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the age-related changes and effects of maternal diet on select fecal bacterial groups in foals from 1 to 28 d of age. Thoroughbred foals ( = 18) were from dams fed forage and one of two concentrates: an oat-based (OB) or corn and wheat middlings-based (CWB) pell...
Van Weyenberg S, Buyse J, Kalmar ID, Swennen Q, Janssens GP.The relation between plasma leptin and daily ad libitum roughage intake was evaluated during a 14-day period in eight obese Shetland ponies. When the feeding strategy was changed from maintenance feeding to ad libitum feeding, feed intake increased the first day, decreased the second day and increased again during the following days to reach a constant level after 8 days. Plasma leptin concentration increased during the first 2 days, but remained constant afterwards. Although the same pattern was found in all ponies, the magnitude of the increase in leptin on day 1 and the resulting decrease i...
Hanche-Olsen S, Teige J, Skaar I, Ihler CF.Cases of hindlimb digital extensor weakness of unknown etiology have been observed in Norway since 1995. Objective: We hypothesized that the observed bilateral extensor weakness was attributable to neuropathy of the distal nerves and that this was related to environmental factors, possibly dietary. Methods: Seventy-five horses with digital extensor weakness occurring from 1995 to 2004 are described. Methods: Eleven horses were examined at The Norwegian School of Veterinary Science, and the medical records of 64 horses seen in ambulatory practice were reviewed. Results: There was no apparent se...
Saastamoinen M, Särkijärvi S, Suomala H.Six Finnhorse mares were used in a digestibility trial, in which six typical horse diets were compared. The diets were: (A) haylage 100%; (B) hay 100%; (C) hay 70% and oats 30%; (D) hay 70% and soybean meal + oats 30%; (E) hay 70%, rapeseed meal + oats 30% and (F) hay 70 %, linseed meal + oats 30%. The trial was conducted according to an unbalanced 6 × 4 Latin square design with four 3-week experimental periods. The experimental period consisted of 17-day preliminary feeding which was followed by a 4-day total faecal and urine collection periods to evaluate N excretion. The digestibilities of...
Ostrowski SR, Kubiski SV, Palmero J, Reilly CM, Higgins JK, Cook-Cronin S, Tawde SN, Crossley BM, Yant P, Cazarez R, Uzal FA.In September 2010, an outbreak of type A botulism involved 4 horses in northern California that were fed grass clippings obtained from a nearby park. All 4 animals developed a progressive flaccid paralysis syndrome clinically consistent with exposure to preformed Clostridium botulinum neurotoxin (BoNT). Within 48 hr of consuming the grass clippings, all 4 horses showed marked cervical weakness (inability to raise their heads to a normal position) and died or were euthanized within 96 hr. One horse was submitted for diagnostic examination and subsequent necropsy. At necropsy, extensive edema wa...
Kenny LB, Ward D, Robson MG, Williams CA.Many methods exist for estimating species composition, but few studies compare those useful in improved horse pastures. The objective of this study was to examine 4 techniques for estimating desirable forage species composition in 2 cool-season horse pastures based on prevalence estimates, repeatability, bias, and practicality, and to select a method for use in a subsequent grazing study. The techniques included Equine Pasture Evaluation Disc (EPED), Line-Point Intercept with 3 transects of 50 observations each (LPI 3-50), LPI with 5 transects of 30 observations each (LPI 5-30), and Step Point...
McGorum BC, Fry SC, Wallace G, Coenen K, Robb J, Williamson G, Aruoma OI.To investigate the etiology of equine dysautonomia (ED), a degenerative polyneuropathy affecting grazing horses, the biochemical composition and antioxidant/prooxidant activities of aqueous extracts of plants collected from ED pastures were determined. Plants collected immediately after an outbreak of ED had reduced antioxidant and weak prooxidant activities when compared with control plants (plants collected from ED pastures out of ED season and control plants from ED pastures that were grown under favorable conditions). ED plants also had significantly increased concentrations of fructose an...
Wichert B, Nater S, Wittenbrink MM, Wolf P, Meyer K, Wanner M.In 46 horse farms all over Switzerland, the hygienic quality of the roughage (including silages) was investigated. Therefore, a macroscopic examination as well as the microbial counts (bacteria, yeasts and moulds) was carried out. Further, the contents of lipopolysaccharides (LPS) and the contamination with deoxynivalenol (DON) were determined. In all roughages, the dry matter (DM) content was measured and in silages additionally the pH was measured. Predominantly, the straw showed a lower hygienic quality than hay and silages. The LPS contents were significantly higher in straw than those in ...
Kirschvink N, Di Silvestro F, Sbaï I, Vandenput S, Art T, Roberts C, Lekeux P.This study aimed to test whether shredded cardboard is an appropriate minimum-dust bedding material for heaves-affected horses. Results of standardized in vitro measurement of airborne dust and aeroallergen concentrations of cardboard bedding were significantly lower than those of common bedding materials. Six heaves-affected horses in clinical remission after pasturing were stabled for two months on cardboard bedding and fed grass silage. Pulmonary function tests (PFT: ventilatory mechanics, arterial blood gases, airway inflammation scoring, bronchoalveolar cytology) were performed before, du...
Lindåse S, Müller C, Nostell K, Bröjer J.Information about the effect of nonstructural carbohydrates (NSCs) in forage on the postprandial glucose and insulin response in horses is scarce. This is of interest as postprandial hyperinsulinemia in horses is a risk factor for laminitis. In addition, insulin sensitivity (IS) differs between breeds. The aim was to evaluate the postprandial glucose and insulin response to haylage diets with different NSC content in horses of 2 different breeds and to evaluate the relationship between the postprandial insulin response and measures of IS derived from a frequently sampled intravenous glucose to...
Girard TL, Bork EW, Nielsen SE, Alexander MJ.Public lands occupied by feral horses in North America are frequently managed for multiple uses with land use conflict occurring among feral horses, livestock, wildlife, and native grassland conservation. The factors affecting habitat use by horses is critical to understand where conflict may be greatest. We related horse presence and abundance to landscape attributes in a GIS to examine habitat preferences using 98 field plots sampled within a portion of the Rocky Mountain Forest Reserve of SW Alberta, Canada. Horse abundance was greatest in grassland and cut block habitats, and lowest in con...
Kjellberg L, Morgan K.Interest in the use of open barns on Swedish horse farms is increasing as an alternative to keeping horses in box stalls and as a 2007 law requires phasing out of tie stalls. To provide adequate forage to satisfy welfare requirements for nutrition, gut health and behavioural needs, the use of automated feeding is also increasing. Studies on forage intake rate report wide variation but provide little information on how to introduce horses to an automatic forage station and on how forage intake rate varies in individual horses fed using an automatic forage station. This study documented the proc...
Giles SL, Harris P, Rands SA, Nicol CJ.Individual animals experience different costs and benefits associated with group living, which may impact on their foraging efficiency in ways not yet well specified. This study investigated associations between social dominance, body condition and interruptions to foraging behaviour in a cross-sectional study of 116 domestic horses and ponies, kept in 20 discrete herds. Social dominance was measured for each individual alongside observations of winter foraging behaviour. During bouts of foraging, the duration, frequency and category (vigilance, movement, social displacements given and receive...
Lindberg JE, Karlsson CP.The objective of the present work was to assess the influence of partial replacement of oats with dried unmolassed sugar beet pulp (SBP) and/or maize oil on nutrient utilisation in horses fed a traditional hay and concentrate diet. The total tract digestibility of nutrients, urinary excretion and plasma parameters were studied in a 4 x 4 Latin-square design experiment with purebred Arabian geldings. Horses fed the SBP diets responded with a reduced (P<0.05) apparent digestibility of crude protein and feeding of maize oil resulted in an increased (P<0.05) apparent digestibility of crude f...
Patkowski K, Pluta M, Lipiec A, Greguła-Kania M, Gruszecki TM.The research objective was to assess the behavior patterns of the Polish Konik horse breed and the Uhruska variety of the Polish Lowland Sheep breed under a mixed-grazing system, and their relationship with climatic factors. The observation included 4 adult horses, 27 ewes with lambs and 10 primiparous ewes. The behavior of the animals and the weather conditions were recorded at 60-min intervals. Horses and sheep displayed similarities in both species-specific behavioral patterns and timing of grazing activity, and the duration of foraging sessions was mostly influenced by time of day, lower t...
Much ML, Leatherwood JL, Zoller JL, Bradbery AN, Martinez RE, Keegan AD, Lamprecht ED, Wickersham TA.Stock-type mares (498 ± 9 kg BW; 12 ± 7 yr) were used in a completely randomized design for 56 d to test the hypothesis that concentrate fortification improves apparent digestion and enhances lean mass over the topline. Horses were stratified by age, BW, and BCS and randomly assigned to either a custom pelleted concentrate (CON; = 13), or an iso-caloric, iso-nitrogenous pellet that included amino acid fortification, complexed trace minerals, and fermentation metabolites (FORT; = 10). Concentrate was offered at a total 0.75% BW/d (as-fed) twice daily, and diets were designed to meet or exce...
Castellaro G, Orellana CL, Escanilla JP.For an adequate management of natural grasslands, the knowledge and understanding of the dietary habits of herbivores and their trophic interactions are fundamental. During two summer seasons, in a mountain range of a sector of the Coquimbo Region, Chile, the botanical composition, diversity, and similarity of the diets of horses, European brown hares, and guanacos were studied, as was the selectivity of the main grassland plant species, using feces microhistology. The contribution of hydromorphic grasses was similar in the diets of guanacos (35.90 ± 7.27%) and horses (32.25 ± 4.50%), differ...
Fleurance G, Duncan P, Fritz H, Gordon IJ, Grenier-Loustalot MF.The spatial heterogeneity of grasslands determines the abundance and quality of food resources for grazing animals. As plants mature, they increase in mass, which allows greater instantaneous intake rates, but the cell wall concentrations increase too, reducing diet quality. In ruminants, daily intake rates are often constrained by the time needed for the ingesta to pass through the rumen, which is influenced by the rate of digestion. It has been suggested that the digestive constraint should have much less effect on hindgut fermenters such as equids. Horses play an increasing role in the mana...
Kuchler M, Zeyner A, Susenbeth A, Kienzle E.Renal energy losses of horses are high in comparison with other species. In the present study, more data were obtained on this parameter to improve predictive equations for renal energy losses. Four adult ponies (247-344 kg body weight [BW]) were fed with eight different diets based on first cut hay, second cut hay, early first cut fresh grass, late cut herbs-grass mix, early cut clover-grass mix, sugar beet pulp, rice bran and straw. Feed intake was measured, and urine and faeces were quantitatively collected for 3 × 12 hr at daytime and afterwards 3 × 12 hr at nighttime. Feed was an...
Aboling S.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...
Sroka L, Müller C, Hass ML, These A, Aboling S, Vervuert I.Senecio jacobaea contains pyrrolizidine alkaloids that can induce severe hepatic intoxication in horses, either acute when ingested in high amounts or chronic when consumed over a long period. The aim of this study was to determine horses' rejection behaviour towards the presence of Senecio jacobaea in hay when fed ad libitum. We hypothesized that adult horses can sort Senecio jacobaea out of the contaminated hay when hay is fed ad libitum. Six warmblood geldings with a mean (±SD) age of 15 ± 2 years were included. In a randomized study, Senecio jacobaea contaminated hay (5% or 10% con...
Miyaji M, Ueda K, Hata H, Kondo S.Eight Thoroughbred horses were used to examine the effects of grass hay intake on the fiber digestion and the retention time of digesta in the total gastrointestinal tract and the hindgut segments. The horses were randomly assigned to 2 groups and offered 2.0 (high intake [HI]) or 1.3 kg DM/(100 kg BW • d; low intake [LI]) of timothy hay in equal amounts every 3 h for 17 d. The digestibility and total tract mean retention time of digesta (tMRT) in the total gastrointestinal tract were measured from d 11 to d 15. To measure the mean retention time of digesta in each hindgut segment (sMRT), th...
Hipp B, Südekum KH, Zeyner A, Goren G, Kienzle E.The prediction of renal energy excretion is crucial in a metabolizable energy system for horses. Phenolic acids from forage cell walls may affect renal energy losses by increasing hippuric acid excretion. Therefore, the relationships were investigated between renal energy, nitrogen (N) and hippuric acid excretion of four adult ponies (230-384 kg body weight (BW)) consuming diets based on fresh grass, grass silage, grass cobs (heat-dried, finely chopped, pressed grass), alfalfa hay, straw, extruded straw and soybean meal. Feed intake was measured; urine and faeces were quantitatively collected...
Richards N, Nielsen BD, Finno CJ.Many forage types are available, typically divided into cool or warm season grasses and legumes, which can be fed as fresh pasture or after preservation. Testing for nutrient content confirms what should be supplemented to make up shortfalls. Although testing is recommended, it is not always practical. Typical values for the forage type are available; however, they cannot be relied on for actual content. Non-nutritional aspects must also be taken into account. The provision of complementary feeds to ensure adequate vitamin and mineral intake is recommended. Additional supplementary high-qualit...
Miyazaki S, Fukumura M, Yoshioka M, Yamanaka N.From 1997 to 1999, 29 cases of disorders were detected in cattle and horses that had been fed ryegrass straw imported from the U.S.A. These animals showed symptoms resembling ryegrass staggers and the clinical signs disappeared after removal of the straw. Endophytic hyphae were detected in the seeds of all straw samples that were responsible for the clinical cases. Lolitrem B concentrations in the straw ranged between 972 and 3740 ppb. Ergovaline concentrations were between 355 and 1300 ppb. Even though the concentrations of lolitrem B were lower than the toxic threshold proposed by Oregon Sta...
Saastamoinen M, Särkijärvi S, Valtonen E.The main horse phosphorus excretion pathway is through the dung. Phosphorus originating from animal dung and manure has harmful environmental effects on waters. The number of horses has increased in many countries, and several studies have pointed that leaching of P from horse paddocks and pastures are hotspots for high P leaching losses. The hypothesis was that feeding regimes might influence phosphorus digestibility and excretion in feces, and therefore the environmental impact of horse husbandry. A digestibility experiment was conducted with six horses fed six forage-based diets to study ph...
Cymbaluk NF, Christison GI.The effects of diet and climate were assessed in 42 light horse weanlings over 30 wk. Horses were fed diets varying in energy and phosphorus content. Diets were predominantly forage (73 to 77.5%) or concentrate (62 to 62.25%) and had 2.65 or 3.09 Mcal DE/kg DM, respectively. Horses were weighed every 14 d. Group feed intakes and climatic variables were recorded daily. Dietary phosphorus content did not affect intake or gain. Horses fed forage diets ate 18% more (P less than .001) DM than horses fed concentrate, but DE intakes did not differ. Average DE intakes, 21.5 Mcal daily, were 33% more t...
