A Comparison of the Nutrient Composition of European Feeds Used at the 2010 and 2018 FEI World Equestrian Games

Held every four years since 1990, the FEI World Equestrian Games (WEG) are the major international championship for eight equestrian disciplines. Although the 2010 and 2018 editions of WEG took place in the U.S., the majority of the horses competing came from Europe and were fed feeds made by European manufacturers. In 2010, Kentucky Equine Research sampled 90 European feeds fed at WEG, which were manufactured by 26 feed companies from in 7 countries. In 2018, 90 European feeds used at WEG were again sampled and represented 21 manufacturers from 7 countries. These feeds were concentrates (CON) intended for performance horses and did not include high-fat supplements such as rice bran with >15% fat, high-protein balancers or forage-based feeds. Also, 15 feeds described as mashes were sampled in 2010, and 10 mashes were sampled in 2018. The feeds and mashes were analyzed for dry matter (DM), crude protein (CP), crude fat (fat), starch, water soluble carbohydrate (WSC), acid detergent fiber (ADF), neutral detergent fiber (NDF), lignin, ash, calcium (Ca), phosphorus (P), magnesium (Mg), sodium (Na), potassium (K), iron (Fe), copper (Cu), zinc (Zn) and manganese (Mn). Nonstructural carbohydrate (NSC) was calculated as starch + WSC. Digestible energy (DE) was estimated from composition data. Differences in composition between feeds sampled in 2010 and 2018 were determined using an unpaired t-test. In the CON feeds, there were no differences between 2010 and 2018 in DM, fat, WSC, NDF, lignin, Ca, Mg, Na, K, Cu, Zn or Mn. CON sampled in 2018 were higher in CP, ADF, P (P<.01) and Fe (P<.05) and lower in DE, starch and NSC (P<.01). In the mashes, there was no difference in DM, CP, fat, WSC, lignin, Ca, P, Mg, Na, K, Cu, Zn or Mn. Mashes sampled in 2018 were higher in ADF, NDF and Fe (P<.05) and lower in starch, NSC and DE (P<.01). Between 2010 and 2018, European sport horse feeds have followed the global trend of reduced starch and NSC. Interestingly, they also increased fiber with no change in fat, resulting in a significant decrease in DE compared to 2010. The feeds sampled were used across a range of disciplines at WEG and therefore could be considered appropriate for elite sport horses. This study did not evaluate how the feeds and mashes were fed in conjunction with each other and other forages, so it is not possible to accurately determine daily nutrient intake. Compared to sport horse feeds in the U.S., these feeds tended to be fairly low in fat (5.15 ± 0.21%), and high in starch (22.38 ± 1.0) and NSC (30.40 ± 0.95%) (mean ± SEM) (as-fed basis).

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