Effect of forage intake on bodyweight and performance.

This study investigates how varying levels of forage intake affects the body weight and performance of thoroughbred horses. The research finds that high forage intake can affect both the horse’s weight and performance negatively, but also notes that reducing forage to improve performance can have harmful effects on the horse’s wellbeing.

Study Design

• Four thoroughbred geldings were involved in the study. The horses were in light to moderate work and were given four different diets which varied in forage to concentrate ratios, including 100% forage (100H), 80% forage and 20% concentrate (80H), 60% forage and 40% concentrate (60H) and 50% forage and 50% concentrate (50H).
• The feeding method was a 4 x 4 Latin-square design which is a method used in experiments to remove the influence of two nuisance variables.
• A standardized exercise test (SET) was also performed on each diet. Parameters such as rate of passage, water intake, body weight, maximum, recovery heart rates and postexercise rectal temperatures were recorded and analyzed.

Findings

• Results showed that horses on a 100% forage diet had a significantly higher bodyweight (556.89kg) compared to those who were on the 50H diet (546.28kg).
• The rate of passage (digestion) was slower for horses receiving the 100H diet as compared to the 50H diet.
• The research also indicated that water intake along with SET maximum and 1 min recovery heart rates increased significantly for horses on the 100% forage diet as compared to the 50H diet.
• Post-exercise rectal temperatures exhibited a trend of increasing with an increase in forage intake. However, this was not deemed significant.

Conclusion

• The study concludes that the level of forage intake significantly influences a horse’s body weight and its performance during submaximal activities. There observed an increase in body weight and performance with higher forage intake which implies that a high forage diet can have a detrimental effect on a horse’s performance.
• However, before reducing forage intake to improve performance, consideration must be given to the adverse impacts it can have on the horse’s physiological and psychological well-being, indicating a need for a balanced approach.