What Would Be Good for All Veterinarians to Know About Equine Nutrition

Harris, Patricia A.; Shepherd, Megan

doi:10.1016/j.cveq.2020.11.001

Cited by 6 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 77 publications

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“…The present study looked for variations in the gut microbiota along the length of the digestive tract of healthy horses according to two diets. We compared the effects of a high starch diet (HS), which exceeds the safe recommended level of 1 gram of starch/kg BW/meal ( 8 ), and a high fiber diet (HF), which satisfies the nutritional requirements of the horse.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In fact, the horse's capacity to digest starch is highly limited due to their low production of pancreatic α-amylase (4,5). Accordingly, several authors agree that starch consumption should be limited to not more than 1 gram of starch/kg bodyweight (BW)/meal (6)(7)(8)(9). Despite this recommendation, horses are commonly fed diets characterized by much higher amounts of starch (10)(11)(12).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Microbiota characterization throughout the digestive tract of horses fed a high-fiber vs. a high-starch diet

Raspa,

Chessa,

Bergero

et al. 2024

Front. Vet. Sci.

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IntroductionDiet is one of the main factors influencing the intestinal microbiota in horses, yet a systematic characterization of the microbiota along the length of the digestive tract in clinically healthy horses, homogenous for age and breed and receiving a specific diet is lacking.MethodsThe study used 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing to characterize the microbiota of the intestinal tracts of 19 healthy Bardigiano horses of 14.3 ± 0.7 months of age fed one of two diets. Nine horses received a high-starch diet (HS), and ten horses received a high-fiber diet (HF). After 129 days, the horses were slaughtered, and samples were collected from the different intestinal tract compartments.Results and discussionThe microbiota alpha diversity indices were lower in the caecum, pelvic flexure and right dorsal colon of the horses fed the HS diet (False Discovery Rate, FDR < 0.05). The values of beta diversity indicated significant compositional differences between the studied intestinal tract compartments according to the diet received (FDR < 0.05). At the lower taxonomic level (genus or family), the HS diet was associated with a higher relative frequency of Enterobacteriaceae within the small intestine (jejunum and duodenum) (FDR < 0.05). Within the hindgut (caecum and sternal flexure), the HS diet was associated with lower relative frequencies (i.e., a smaller core community) of bacteria belonging to Fibrobacteraceae and Prevotellaceae (FDR < 0.05). Moreover, horses fed the HS diet displayed a higher relative abundance of Streptococcus in the caecum (FDR < 0.05) and Fusobacterium in the sternal flexure (FDR < 0.05), both of which are pathogenic bacteria responsible for inflammation diseases. Samples collected from the pelvic flexure and rectum of horses fed the HS diet showed significantly higher relative frequencies of Succinivibrionaceae (FDR < 0.05) – amylolytic bacteria associated with acidosis. The relative frequencies of the Lachnospiraceae and Ruminococcaceae were lower in the feces collected from the rectum of horses receiving the HS diet vs. HF diet, indicating smaller core communities of these bacteria (FDR < 0.05). Fibrous diets should be promoted to prevent dysbiosis of the microbiota associated with high-starch diet.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Microbiota characterization throughout the digestive tract of horses fed a high-fiber vs. a high-starch diet

Raspa,

Chessa,

Bergero

et al. 2024

Front. Vet. Sci.

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“…The higher amounts of the time spent feeding in HFG was due to the provision of larger quantities of hay in slow-feeding hay nets. This point is particularly important from the welfare point of view since, according to the latest recommendations on forage feeding for horses, forage should be offered ad libitum or supplied throughout the day in order to avoid more than 4–5 h without foraging opportunity [ 29 ]. In particular, the lower limit of daily forage intake should be 15 g DM/kg BW in addition to complementary feeding [ 30 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Does Feeding Management Make a Difference to Behavioural Activities and Welfare of Horses Reared for Meat Production?

Raspa

Tarantola

Muca

et al. 2022

Animals

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Horses reared for meat production are generally fed a diet rich in starch with the aim of maximizing production performances. This study evaluated the effects of two feeding management systems on horse welfare by analysing the relative time spent engaged in different behavioural activities. Nineteen Bardigiano horses aged 14.3 ± 0.7 months were randomly assigned to one of two group pens: one group was fed high amounts of starch-rich concentrates (HCG; n = 10), the other was fed a fibre-based diet (HFG; n = 9). Behavioural activities performed by each horse were video-recorded over a 96-h period. A scan sampling process (n = 144 scans/horse/day; total n of scans sampled = 10,368) was used, and the scans were analysed according to a specific ethogram. The mean frequency (%/24 h) spent exhibiting each behavioural activity was calculated to obtain the time budget. After checking for normality (Shapiro–Wilk test), Student’s t tests (normally distributed data) and Mann–Whitney tests (not normally distributed data) were used to compare the time budgets of the two groups of horses (HCG vs. HFG). Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was applied to identify the components explaining the variability in behavioural activities between the two groups. K-means cluster analysis subsequently confirmed the PCA results. The behavioural activities associated with feeding horses a fibre-based diet correlated with better horse welfare compared with feeding horses a starch-based diet. Feeding horses a fibre-based diet resulted advantageous from both the welfare and economic perspective; it allowed horses to spend more time expressing feeding behaviours and reduced energy expenditure in the form of excitable, or “fizzy”, behaviours.

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