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Topic:Nutrition
Nutrition in horses encompasses the study of dietary requirements and feeding practices that support equine health, growth, and performance. It involves the analysis of nutrients such as carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins, and minerals, and their roles in equine physiology. Proper nutrition is essential for maintaining optimal body condition, supporting metabolic processes, and preventing dietary-related disorders. Research in this field examines the nutritional needs of horses at different life stages and activity levels, as well as the effects of various feed types and supplements. This page compiles peer-reviewed research studies and scholarly articles that explore the composition, digestion, and impact of different dietary components on equine health and performance.
[New drugs for horses and production animals in 2019]. In 2019, one novel pharmaceutical agent for horses or food-producing animals was released on the German market: An injection suspension for horses containing chondrogenic-induced equine allogeneic peripheral blood-derived mesenchymal stem cells as the active ingredient (ArtiCell Forte) is now available. Two established veterinary active pharmaceutical ingredients became accessible for additional species: a salicylanilide anthelmintic oxyclozanide (Distocur) for the treatment and control of fascioliasis in sheep as well as a type-I synthetic pyrethroid permethrin (Z-Itch), which now has additio...
Effect of oral urea supplementation on the endometrial transcriptome of mares. An intravenous large dose of protein led to an increased blood urea nitrogen (BUN), resulting in a lesser uterine pH and altered uterine gene expression in mares. The objective of the present study was to evaluate effects of a more physiological methodology to increase BUN on the endometrium of mares. Mares were fed hay and a treatment or control diet (n = 11 mares/treatment) in a crossover design starting at time of ovulation detection (D0) and continuing until D7. Mares of the treated group were fed urea (0.4 g/kg BW) with sweet feed and molasses, and those of the control group were fe...
Undenatured Type II Collagen (UC-II) in Joint Health and Disease: A Review on the Current Knowledge of Companion Animals. OA is quite common in companion animals, especially in large breed dogs and horses. Collagen, the most abundant protein of mammals, has specific connective tissue types for skin, bones, reticulate, basal lamina, bones, cell surfaces, while type II collagen (UC-II) forms the main structure of cartilage tissue. Even at the smaller dosages, UC-II has also been reported to be more effective than the glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate supplements, which are the supplements most frequently used in the market. In this review, we summarize the effects of UC-II on joint health and function in health a...
A Field Study of Serum, Colostrum, Milk Iodine, and Thyroid Hormone Concentrations in Postpartum Draft Mares and Foals. Iodine, thyroxine (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3) are required for normal fetal growth, maturation, and neonatal survival. There is a lack of robust information on iodine levels found in colostrum, milk, and serum of mares and foals after a healthy pregnancy. Our objective was to characterize colostrum, milk, and serum iodine levels in healthy postpartum mares and foals (n = 10) and explore relationships with thyroid hormone concentrations. Colostrum, milk, and jugular blood samples from draft breed mares and foals with an estimated average iodine daily intake of 39 mg per mare during pregnan...
The Influence of Topically Applied Oil-Based Palatants on Eating Behavior in Horses. Palatants may be added to equine feed and medication either during or after manufacturing to enhance product acceptance. Prior studies have examined a variety of palatants but results have been limited and inconsistent. Therefore, the objective of this research was to evaluate topically applied oil-based palatants on feeding preferences in horses. Stock-type horses (n = 10) were used in this paired preference test across a two-phase study. Phase one compared six palatants (banana, anise, peppermint, apple, spearmint, and orange) to a control (corn oil), whereas phase two compared preference a...
In Vitro Gas Production from Batch Cultures of Stomach and Hindgut Digesta of Horses Adapted to a Prebiotic Dose of Fructooligosaccharides and Inulin. Fructooligosaccharides (FOS) and inulin may modulate hindgut fermentation. It was tested if digesta batch cultures taken from horses adapted to FOS and inulin show different fermentation compared with such taken from nonsupplemented horses. Six horses received 0.15 g FOS and inulin/kg body weight/d via Jerusalem artichoke meal (JAM) upon a hay-based diet; six horses received corncob meal without grains (CMG) as placebo. The horses were euthanized after 20 days. Digesta samples were taken from stomach, cecum, ventral colon ascendens (VCA), and colon transversum (CT). Digesta batch cultures we...
Water-Soluble Carbohydrates of Cool-Season Grasses: Prediction of Concentrations by Near-Infrared Reflectance Spectroscopy and Evaluation of Effects of Genetics, Management, and Environment. An excess of water-soluble carbohydrates (WSCs) can present a risk for horses prone to pasture-associated laminitis or some other metabolic conditions. Determining WSC concentrations in commonly grazed cool-season grasses, at different times of day and under different fertilization treatments, can help optimize grazing times and management strategies. The goals of this study were to develop a near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy (NIRS) calibration curve for WSC and to apply it to four cool-season grass species. Tall fescue, Kentucky bluegrass, orchardgrass, and perennial ryegrass (10 cultiva...
A case series highlighting the role of different gamma-herpesviruses in Equine Multinodular Pulmonary Fibrosis. This case series describes three cases of equine multinodular pulmonary fibrosis (EMPF) diagnosed at the Clinic for Equine Internal Medicine at the University of Zurich between 2012 and 2017. Current information on etiology and treatment options are presented. Two horses showed mild signs of chronic lower respiratory tract disease and one horse was presented with acute signs of disease including recurrent fever spikes and tachypnea. Diagnosis was achieved by physical examination, radiographic findings, and PCR testing for equine herpesviruses (EHV) of bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid or lung...
Sequence characterization and N-glycoproteomics of secretory immunoglobulin A from donkey milk. Secretory immunoglobulin A (sIgA) is the major antibody present in the human milk where it confers passive immunity to neonates. Other than human, non-ruminants such as equine, swine etc., also possess sIgA in milk but detailed characterization is limited. In the present study, we characterized sIgA from donkey milk for amino acid sequence and N-glycosylation through LC-MS/MS analysis. The complete amino acid sequence of alpha chain constant region (C) was elucidated. The sequence analysis of variable regions (V and V) and light chain constant region (C) showed several amino acid substitutions...
Preliminary Notes on Equine Tissue Transglutaminase Serology and A Case of Equine Gluten-Sensitive Enteropathy and Dermatitis in an 11-Year-Old Dutch Warmblood Horse. It has been suggested that gluten may play a role in equine inflammatory small bowel disease (ISBD). Previous work showed an association between equine gluten-sensitive enteropathy and IgA antibodies to tissue transglutaminase (TGA) in serum. The purpose of this study is to investigate the prevalence of IgA antibodies to TGA in a group of healthy non-gluten-free sport ponies and to present a case of tentative gluten-sensitive enteropathy and dermatitis in a horse. Blood samples were obtained from 40 healthy jumping ponies. The ponies comprised 12 mares, 8 stallions, and 20 geldings with an ave...
The effect of diet change and insulin dysregulation on the faecal microbiome of ponies. The equine microbiome can change in response to dietary alteration and may play a role in insulin dysregulation. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of adding pasture to a hay diet on the faecal bacterial microbiome of both healthy and insulin-dysregulated ponies. Faecal samples were collected from 16 ponies before and after dietary change to enable bacterial 16S rRNA sequencing of the V3-V4 region. The dominant phyla in all samples were the Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes. The evenness of the bacterial populations decreased after grazing pasture, and when a pony was moderately insu...
Investigation of plasma concentrations of paracetamol, metacetamol, and orthocetamol in Japanese racehorses using liquid chromatography-electrospray ionisation-tandem mass spectrometry. Paracetamol is used widely as an over-the-counter analgesic and antipyretic medication for humans, but not for Japanese racehorses. Paracetamol can be an environmental substance, and is found together with its two isomers, metacetamol and orthocetamol, in equine urine. However, the sources and routes of paracetamol exposure remain unclear. To control the misuse of paracetamol, it is appropriate to establish residue limits for paracetamol to differentiate the administration of paracetamol from its environmental levels. In this study, we developed and validated a quantitative method for paraceta...
Effect of feed deprivation on daily water consumption in healthy horses. Measurements of water consumed by fed healthy horses might not apply to horses that are unwilling or unable to drink or are not fed for any reason. Objective: To examine the effects of feed deprivation on voluntary water consumption compared with fed conditions. Methods: In vivo experiment. Methods: Eight healthy adult Thoroughbred geldings were used in a randomised crossover design so that each horse served as its own control for fed vs feed-deprived conditions. Water intake, bodyweight, physical findings and vital signs were measured during 4 days of feeding and 4 days of feed deprivation....
Chromium propionate increases insulin sensitivity in horses following oral and intravenous carbohydrate administration. Forty-eight Quarter Horse geldings (3 to 8 yr of age) were used to determine the effects of dietary chromium (Cr), in the form of Cr propionate (Cr Prop) on insulin sensitivity. Horses were blocked by age, body condition score, and glucose response to concentrate feeding on day 0 and randomly assigned to treatments. Treatments consisted of 0, 2, 4, or 8 mg Cr/d from Cr Prop. Horses were fed daily a concentrate mix at a rate of 0.2 kg/100 kg body weight (BW) and grass hay at 1.75 to 2.0 kg/100 kg BW. All horses were fed the control diet for 7 d prior to the initiation of the study. After an ove...
The effects of a nutritional supplement containing salacinol in neonatal Thoroughbred foals. A nutritional supplement containing salacinol (NSS) was administered to Thoroughbred foals daily beginning 21 days after birth, and clinical signs and intestinal microbiota were analyzed. The average number of days for which foals exhibited a fever between 21 and 110 days after birth was determined. The number of days was significantly reduced, by approximately 1/3, in the NSS group compared with the control group. Furthermore, improved weight gain was observed in the NSS group compared with the control group. By analyzing the intestinal microbiota, it was determined that the ratio of Clostrid...
Furosemide administration results in a transient alteration in calcium balance in mature horses. Previous research documented that furosemide negatively impacted calcium balance for 3 days but did not determine when calcium balance returned to baseline. This study hypothesized that furosemide's impact on calcium would return to control values before 7 days post-administration. Ten mature geldings were assigned to either control (CON, n = 5) or treatment (FUR, n = 5) for the first of two 8-day total collections in crossover design. Treatment horses received one administration of furosemide (1 mg/kg, IV). A 10% sample of pooled faeces and urine from each day was kept. Calcium concent...
Antimicrobial susceptibility patterns of bacterial isolates cultured from synovial fluid samples from horses with suspected septic synovitis: 108 cases (2008-2017). To describe the antimicrobial susceptibility patterns of the most commonly isolated bacteria cultured from synovial fluid samples from horses with suspected septic synovitis treated at an equine referral hospital between May 1, 2008, and September 24, 2017. Methods: 131 synovial fluid samples from 108 client-owned horses. Methods: A retrospective medical record search was conducted to identify horses with suspected septic synovitis and results of synovial fluid bacterial culture and antimicrobial susceptibility testing. Data collected included signalment, known or suspected origin of synovial ...
The energy requirements of performance horses in training. The aim of this study was to estimate the energy requirements of performance horses in active, variable training in the field. Sixty horses in England and Switzerland were measured over 2-wk periods and, for 15 of these, the measurement period was extended, ranging from 21 to 42 wk. Energy intake was estimated by measuring daily feed consumption. Energy output was measured using heart rate (HR) monitors during 608 training sessions, relating HR to volume of oxygen (VO₂) and converting VO₂ to energy. Field maintenance requirements were calculated by deducting the marginal energy cost of tra...
Domesticated equine species and their derived hybrids differ in their fecal microbiota. Compared to horses and ponies, donkeys have increased degradation of dietary fiber. The longer total mean retention time of feed in the donkey gut has been proposed to be the basis of this, because of the increased time available for feed to be acted upon by enzymes and the gut microbiota. However, differences in terms of microbial concentrations and/or community composition in the hindgut may also underpin the increased degradation of fiber in donkeys. Therefore, a study was conducted to assess if differences existed between the fecal microbiota of pony, donkey and hybrids derived from them (...
Amino acid requirements in horses. Evaluating amino acid requirements, specifically threonine requirements, in horses will enable better feed formulation and result in economic production, improved animal health, and reduced environmental pollution. However, the current knowledge of protein and amino acid requirements in horses is still limited. Because horses have a unique digestive system and consume a variety of feed ingredients, their protein digestibility may be affected than other species by different feed composition, and thus amino acid requirements are susceptible to vary between situations. Therefore, a careful evalua...
Fecal microbiota in horses with asthma. Gastrointestinal microbiota can be influenced by several factors, including diet and systemic inflammation, and in turn could act as a modulator of the allergic response. Fecal microbiota of horses with asthma has not been described. Objective: Analyze the bacterial fecal microbiota of horses with and without asthma under different environment and diet conditions, during both remission and exacerbation. Methods: Prospective observational study. Feces from 6 asthmatic and 6 healthy horses were collected under 3 different conditions: on pasture, housed indoors receiving good quality hay ("good h...
The equine gastrointestinal microbiome: impacts of weight-loss. Obesity is an important equine welfare issue. Whilst dietary restriction is the most effective weight-loss tool, individual animals range in their weight-loss propensity. Gastrointestinal-derived bacteria play a fundamental role in host-health and have been associated with obesity and weight-loss in other species. This study evaluated the faecal microbiome (next-generation sequencing of 16S rRNA genes) of 15 obese Welsh Mountain pony mares, in the same 11-week period across 2 years (n = 8 Year 1; n = 7 Year 2). Following a 4-week acclimation period (pre-diet phase) during which t...
Common Feeding Practices Pose A Risk to the Welfare of Horses When Kept on Non-Edible Bedding. During the evolution of the horse, an extended period of feed intake, spread over the entire 24-h period, determined the horses' behaviour and physiology. Horses will not interrupt their feed intake for more than 4 hours, if they have a choice. The aim of the present study was to investigate in what way restrictive feeding practices (non ad libitum) affect the horses' natural feed intake behaviour. We observed the feed intake behaviour of 104 horses on edible (n = 30) and non-edible bedding (n = 74) on ten different farms. We assessed the duration of the forced nocturnal feed intake interrupti...
Evaluation of Fecal Sand Clearance in Horses With Naturally Acquired Colonic Sand Accumulation With a Product Containing Probiotics, Prebiotics, and Psyllium. Consumption of sand and dirt in horses can cause chronic diarrhea and colic because of irritation and obstruction of the gastrointestinal tract of horses. Prevention has primarily focused on changes in management to reduce the intake of sand and feeding of psyllium products. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of a product containing probiotics, prebiotics, and psyllium in the clearance of colonic sand in horses with naturally acquired sand accumulation using a randomized, placebo-controlled, blinded clinical trial format. After identification of 10 horses with sand accumula...
Dairy pastoralism sustained eastern Eurasian steppe populations for 5,000 years. Dairy pastoralism is integral to contemporary and past lifeways on the eastern Eurasian steppe, facilitating survival in agriculturally challenging environments. While previous research has indicated that ruminant dairy pastoralism was practiced in the region by circa 1300 BC, the origin, extent and diversity of this custom remain poorly understood. Here, we analyse ancient proteins from human dental calculus recovered from geographically diverse locations across Mongolia and spanning 5,000 years. We present the earliest evidence for dairy consumption on the eastern Eurasian steppe by circ...
Validation and Implementation of an Automated Chew Sensor-Based Remote Monitoring Device as Tool for Equine Grazing Research. Field studies characterizing equine grazing activity primarily rely on observational protocols, limiting the quantity and accuracy of collected data. The objectives of this study were to validate an automated chew sensor technology, the EquiWatch System (EWS), for detecting grazing behaviors and to demonstrate potential applications of the EWS in equine grazing research. Eight mature standardbred mares were used in this study. EquiWatch System validation was completed in two phases: grazing time was evaluated in experiment 1 and chew counts in experiment 2. The correlation between visual obser...
Answers to the Frequently Asked Questions Regarding Horse Feeding and Management Practices to Reduce the Risk of Atypical Myopathy. In 2014, atypical myopathy (AM) was linked to Acer pseudoplatanus (sycamore maple) in Europe. The emergence of this seasonal intoxication caused by a native tree has raised many questions. This manuscript aims at answering the five most frequently asked questions (FAQs) regarding (1) identification of toxic trees; reduction of risk at the level of (2) pastures and (3) equids; (4) the risk associated with pastures with sycamores that have always been used without horses being poisoned and (5) the length of the risk periods. Answers were found in a literature review and data gathered by AM surve...
Evaluation of equine rectal inoculum as representative of the microbial activities within the horse hindgut using a fully automated in vitro gas production technique system. The in vitro gas production technique (IVGPT) has been a valuable tool in ruminant nutrition research for decades and has more recently been used in horse nutrition studies to investigate fermentation activities of the equine hindgut though primarily using feces as inoculum. This study was conducted to evaluate the use of equine rectal content in the IVGPT system as a viable inoculum that can be considered representative of the activities throughout the equine hindgut. Additionally, the study was conducted to measure the effects on fermentation kinetics and end-product production using inoculu...
Equine Milk Production and Valorization of Marginal Areas-A Review. The equine dairy chain is renewing the interest toward horse and donkey breeding for the production of milk with potential health promoting properties. The dairy equine chain for human consumption could contribute to the rural eco-sustainable development for the micro-economies of those areas threatened by marginalization. As a part of the whole equine industry, and its possible impact in the modern and future society, the main traits of the equine dairy enterprise are reviewed with a special focus on management of animals and milk. Equine milk compositional and nutritional peculiarities are d...
Models Based on the Mitscherlich Equation for Describing Typical and Atypical Gas Production Profiles Obtained from In Vitro Digestibility Studies Using Equine Faecal Inoculum. Two models are proposed to describe atypical biphasic gas production profiles obtained from in vitro digestibility studies. The models are extensions of the standard Mitscherlich equation, comprising either two Mitscherlich terms or one Mitscherlich and one linear term. Two models that describe typical monophasic gas production curves, the standard Mitscherlich and the France model [a generalised Mitscherlich (root-) equation], were assessed for comparison. Models were fitted to 25 gas production profiles resulting from incubating feedstuffs with faecal from equines. Seventeen profiles displa...
