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Forage-only diets and reduced training distance winning concept for young horses

Sara Muhonen, AgrD

In a 2.5 year long Swedish study 16 young Standardbred trotters were fed forage-only diets and half of them got a training program were the distance for high intensity exercise was reduced by 30%. The study started in September when the horses were 1-year-olds and finished in December as 3-year-olds. During the entire study the horses were fed forage-only diets consisting of early harvested energy rich forage complemented with lucerne, minerals and vitamins. During the study the horses were trained with the aim to participate in a preparation race as 2-year-olds and qualification race and official races as 3-year-olds.

All horses had the same training program from September as 1-year-olds until March as 2-year-olds when they were divided into two groups balanced for parameters known to affect performance (traits, muscle fibre composition, withers height). One group was control group and the other group got a training program where the amount of high intensity exercise were reduced by 30% of the distance (Table 1). Horses in both groups were trained on the same days and at the same speed, it was only the length of the distances for the high intensity exercise that differed. The training consisted of heat training, interval training and interval training uphill. Number of training sessions per month varied with season between 7-20 sessions including the high intensity exercise. Speeds during high intensity exercise varied over time and with type of training but did not differ between the groups. Horses were stable individually for about 14 hours per day Monday to Thursday/Friday and spent the rest of the time in paddock with access to shelters, and always with free access to forage.

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During the entire 2.5 years long study there were no cases of colic, rhabdomyolysis or stereotypic behaviour during normal management conditions. Based on earlier reports with concentrate fed horses one could speculate that in the present study there should have been 3-4 cases of colic, 2-3 cases of rhabdomyolysis and 1 case of stereotypic behaviour. The authors therefore concludes that horses fed forage-only diets suffer from fewer feed-related health problems than concentrate fed horses. Read more about the feeding here and here!

The horses in the group with reduced training distance achieved the performance goals to the same extent as the control group. All horses in both groups passed a preparation race. Eight horses from the control group and 7 horses from the reduced training group qualified for races. Five horses from the control group and 4 horses from the reduced training group raced. From March as 2-year-olds to December as 3-year-olds the horses in the control group lost more days to training due to health problems than the horses with the reduced training program. Also the part of planned training sessions where the exercise was partly reduced was higher for the control group. That the horses in the control group lost more days to training indicates that their training program had greater negative effect on health than the reduced training program. However, horses from both groups were comparable in clinical examinations and evaluation of locomotion symmetry which indicate that the trainer by reducing the amount of training sessions for the control group kept them equally healthy to the group with the beforehand reduced training distance. Although the horses in the control group lost more days to training they still performed high intensity exercise corresponding to 2.5 km longer per month compared to the group with reduced training distance.

In conclusion, a training program where the distance for high intensity exercise is reduced can imply fewer days lost to training due to health problems. In addition, athletic horses with free access to only energy rich high quality forage containing enough protein (complemented with minerals and vitamins) can have fewer feed-related health problems.

Reference:
Ringmark S 2014. A forage-only diet and reduced high intensity training distance in Standardbred horses – growth, health and performance. Doctoral thesis. Acta Universitatis Agriculturae Sueciae 2014:80.