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Read MoreGive the right forage to the right horse
Forage and forage is not the same thing. How well horses can digest forage depends on the forage’s cell wall content. Cell walls are composed of cellulose fibre, hemicellulose, pectins and cell wall protein. The cell wall can be more or less lignified and the later the stage of maturity of a plant the more lignified is the cell wall and the digestibility decreases. When digestibility decreases the...
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Read MoreForage intake in two year old trotters in training
A Swedish study has investigated the forage intake in 13 two year old trotters in heavy training. The forage was a second cut grass haylage with 63% dry matter (DM), 10.8 MJ metabolizable energy/kg DM and 14% crude protein. The diet was supplemented with 150 g mineral feedstuff, 250 g pelleted lucerne and 100 g molassed beet pulp. The horses were trained 2-3 times per week, half of the exercises were done...
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Read MoreGrowth, training and health in yearlings fed a forage-only diet
A Swedish study has examined growth, exercise response and health in 16 Standardbred colts fed a forage-only diet. The forage was grass haylage with > 55% dry matter (DM), > 11.5 MJ metabolizable energy/kg DM and > 13% crude protein. The forage was complemented with 1 kg pelleted lucerne, 100 g molassed beet pulp and minerals. The study lasted from August to December 2010 and the horses were between 400...
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Read MoreWhen horses gets to choose feeding position
In many stables horses are offered forage in hay nets hanging above the ground. This implies that the horse has to eat with the head higher than in its natural feed intake position. Physiologically this leads to the horse using different muscles in the neck and back and the higher head position can impair the ability to clear particles by mucociliary cleaning. But which feeding position do horses prefer...
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Read MoreLate harvested forage takes longer time for horses to eat
The later the maturity stage of a plant when it’s harvested the larger the fibre proportion in the forage. How well horses can digest forage depends on the forages cell wall content. The cell wall can be more or less lignified and the later the stage of maturity of a plant the more lignified are the cell walls and the digestibility decreases. When digestibility decreases the nutritive value of the forage...
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Read MoreFollow up on colourful haylage bales
We got some questions on how much the different colours of the plastic film for haylage/silage bales affect the feed quality. Trioplast have performed measurements of sunlight reflectance on the different colours and here they answer how their own colours reflects sunlight. Background: Today it’s common to see wrapped bales in several different colours and the different colours support different...
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Read MoreHigher masseter muscle activity and chewing frequency with forage
When horses chew forage they have higher saliva production and gets to chew longer time. Low forage intake leads to different health problems like gastric ulcers, hindgut acidosis and stereotypies. When formulating the horse’s feed ration one always have to make sure it will get enough forage. In this study horses chewing frequency and masseter muscle activity were examined when feeding different feeds....
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Read MoreFeed type affects horses’ behaviour
The horse is a large grass eating animal, an herbivore, and free-living horses graze 14-18 hours of the day. Captive animals faced with insoluble problems can develop behavioural disturbances, stereotypies. Examples of behavioural disturbances are weaving, crib-biting, box-walking and wood-chewing. Many factors influence the development of behavioural disturbances but the amount of forage the horse is fed...
Forageforhorses.com
Correct feeding of forage prevents many problems and diseases in horses. It is very important that horses are allowed to eat forage of sufficient amount and frequency to avoid health problems and behavioural disorders. Today we know that better feeding implies better welfare. With this website we want to contribute.
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