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Review: Feeding conserved forage to horses: recent advances and recommendations

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 November 2016

P. A. Harris ,
A. D. Ellis ,
M. J. Fradinho ,
A. Jansson ,
V. Julliand ,
N. Luthersson ,
A. S. Santos  and
I. Vervuert
P. A. Harris*
Affiliation:
Equine Studies Group, WALTHAM Centre for Pet Nutrition, Leics LE14 4RT, UK
A. D. Ellis
Affiliation:
UNEQUI, Research Education Innovation, Southwell, Nottinghamshire, NG25 0DS, UK
M. J. Fradinho
Affiliation:
CIISA, Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária, Universidade de Lisboa, Av. Universidade Técnica, 1300-477 Lisboa, Portugal
A. Jansson
Affiliation:
Department of Anatomy, Physiology and Biochemistry, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, 750 07 Uppsala, Sweden
V. Julliand
Affiliation:
AgroSup Dijon, 21079 Dijon Cedex, France
N. Luthersson
Affiliation:
Hestedoktoren I/S, Bukkerupvej 195, 4360 Kr. Eskilstrup, Denmark
A. S. Santos
Affiliation:
Department of Veterinary Medicine, Escola Universitária Vasco da Gama, 3020-210 Coimbra, Portugal CITAB-UTAD – Center for Research and Technology of Agro-Environmental and Biological Sciences, Vila Real, PO Box 1013, 5001-801 Vila Real, Portugal
I. Vervuert
Affiliation:
Institute of Animal Nutrition, Nutrition Diseases and Dietetics, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Leipzig, An den Tierkliniken 9, D-04103 Leipzig, Germany
*
†E-mail: pat.harris@effem.com
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Abstract

The horse is a non-ruminant herbivore adapted to eating plant-fibre or forage-based diets. Some horses are stabled for most or the majority of the day with limited or no access to fresh pasture and are fed preserved forage typically as hay or haylage and sometimes silage. This raises questions with respect to the quality and suitability of these preserved forages (considering production, nutritional content, digestibility as well as hygiene) and required quantities. Especially for performance horses, forage is often replaced with energy dense feedstuffs which can result in a reduction in the proportion of the diet that is forage based. This may adversely affect the health, welfare, behaviour and even performance of the horse. In the past 20 years a large body of research work has contributed to a better and deeper understanding of equine forage needs and the physiological and behavioural consequences if these are not met. Recent nutrient requirement systems have incorporated some, but not all, of this new knowledge into their recommendations. This review paper amalgamates recommendations based on the latest understanding in forage feeding for horses, defining forage types and preservation methods, hygienic quality, feed intake behaviour, typical nutrient composition, digestion and digestibility as well as health and performance implications. Based on this, consensual applied recommendations for feeding preserved forages are provided.

Keywords

foragehealthhygienebehaviourrequirements
Type
Review Article
Information
animal , Volume 11 , Issue 6 , June 2017 , pp. 958 - 967
Copyright
© The Animal Consortium 2016 

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