The Impact Of Nutrition On The Health And Welfare Of Horses PDF Download

The nutritional and exercise management of horses can have significant effects on health and welfare. The feed provided to a horse per day should provide enough energy to meet basic metabolic needs as well as additional activities such as exercise. The 2007 National Research Council (NRC) places the digestible energy requirement at 20, 40, 60, and 90% above the maintenance energy requirement for horses in light, moderate, heavy, and very heavy exercise, respectively, in order for the horse to maintain an optimum body condition. Determining which exercise category a horse belongs to is paramount for appropriately developing their diet and can be done by referring to the table put forth the by the 2007 NRC in which the average heart rate, time spent exercising per week, and the disciplines are described (Nutrient Requirements of Horses, 2007). Exercise can have effects on the gastrointestinal (GI) health of horses. For example, gastric ulcers have been found to be most prevalent in racehorses which are in very heavy exercise (Sykes et al., 2015a). In addition, the feeding management can also affect GI health. Horses have evolved to spend up to 18 hours per day grazing and rarely choose to fast for more than 3-4 hours (Harris et al., 1999). In contrast, modern day management practices involve meal feeding rather than providing access to feed throughout the day (ad libitum). Furthermore, horses are often provided concentrate meals that are high in sugar and starch. These nutritional management practices can increase the risk of colic and gastric ulcers developing and can negatively affect a horse's overall health and wellbeing (Tinker et al., 1997; Nadeau et al., 2003a; Nadeau et al., 2003b; Luthersson et al., 2009a; Reese and Andrews, 2009; Sykes et al., 2015a; Andrews et al., 2017; Bass et al., 2018; Blikslager, 2019). Hindgut health is an important aspect to monitor within horses as this is the site of both structural and nonstructural carbohydrate fermentation. Previously, fecal pH has been used to estimate the level of nonstructural carbohydrate fermentation within the hindgut and thus determine if hindgut acidosis is occurring (Hussein et al., 2004; Williamson et al., 2007; Hydock et al., 2014). Having a holistic view on the total nonstructural carbohydrate content, as well as energy, fiber, and protein content, in a horse's diet cannot be done without conducting forage analyses to compliment guaranteed analyses on commercial feeds. Caretaker understanding of this important topic is essential within the equine industry. Overall, several aspects of nutritional and exercise management are interconnected and can have implications on the health and welfare of horses. The current study objective was to characterize several aspects of nutritional and exercise management of horses residing within Pennsylvania (PA) utilizing both an online and in-person survey format. The online survey was open from February 27th to August 1st 2020 and gathered 470 completed responses (470/720 total responses; 65% completion rate) from 60 of the 67 counties in PA and the in-person survey followed up with 75 of these respondents between the months of April and June 2021 from 22 PA counties. The online survey found a low frequency of caretaker reported gastric ulcers (8%). Caretakers reported their horse's exercise levels based on the table put forth by the 2007 NRC and approximately 32% (150/470) of horses were not exercised, 28.7% (135/470) were in light exercise, 24.0% (113/470) were in moderate exercise, and 6.8% (32/470) were in heavy/very heavy exercise. No reported differences in the amounts of hay or concentrate feed fed per day between horses of the different exercise categories were detected (no exercise median, mdn=2.0 scoops, light mdn=2.0 scoops, moderate mdn= 2.0 scoops, heavy/very heavy mdn=3.0 scoops, P=0.765; no exercise mdn=5.2 flakes, light mdn=6.0 flakes, moderate mdn=7.0 flakes, P=0.284, respectively). However, horses were reported to be exercised more often and for longer durations of time per week in the heavy/very heavy (mdn sessions/wk=6.0, mdn min/wk=210.0) and moderate exercise group (mdn sessions/wk=4.0, mdn min/wk=180.0) compared to horses in light exercise (mdn sessions/wk=2.0, mdn min/wk=120.0; P