Dietary Transitions Toward Sustainable Horse Feeding.

The research article presents a review of how sustainability can be implemented in the horse feeding and management practices within the equine industry by optimizing the use of resources, reducing environmental pollution and managing waste effectively.

Introduction to Sustainable Horse Feeding

• The article starts by defining sustainability as a balancing act that involves making the most of the available resources without causing any harm to the current and future environment.
• It emphasizes that in the agriculture sector, the main goal of sustainability is to reduce environmental pollution, particularly emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG), nitrogen emissions, and leakage of harmful substances into the ecosystem.

The Equine Industry and Sustainability

• For the equine industry, achieving sustainability starts with carefully examining and critiquing current feeding and management practices. This is necessary for identifying areas that require changes to meet the industry’s social and legislative obligations.
• Being a monogastric hindgut fermenter, a horse emits relatively lower GHGs on a per kilogram body weight basis as compared to ruminant animals.

Opportunities to Reduce Environmental Impact

• The research article presents several opportunities to further lessen the equine industry’s environmental impact.
• Many of these opportunities involve introducing minor changes to or giving more consideration to improving feed conversion, using alternative ingredients, and managing fecal material associated with intensive animal husbandry.
• These changes are essential for achieving sustainability in the equine industry and reducing its environmental impacts.

Conclusion

• The review concludes by stressing the need to take the initial steps towards sustainability and offering a documentation of the opportunities which current equine feeding and management practices present to minimize the environmental impact of the equine industry.