Previous studies in our laboratory demonstrated a marked glycemic response when
horses were fed a fiber mix consisting of equal parts rice bran, soy hulls, wheat bran, and
soaked beet pulp (Pagan et al. 1999). We speculated that, in part, the beet pulp portion of
this fiber mix was responsible for the increase in plasma glucose concentrations after
meal ingestion. We further hypothesized that the magnitude of the glycemic response to
beet pulp would depend on how the beet pulp was prepared.

Performance horses compete in a wide variety of athletic events ranging from high speed racing to 100 mile endurance rides. These types of exercise are known to induce oxidative stress, leading to the generation of free radicals.

An experiment was conducted to evaluate how cracking, grinding or steam processing affects starch digestibility of corn, using glycemic response as an indirect measure of prececal starch digestibility.

A 6 x 6 Latin square design experiment was conducted to determine glycemic response in horses fed six different feeds at 3 different levels of intake. Six Thoroughbred geldings were fed mixed grass hay and one of six diets: cracked corn, whole oats, sweet feed (45% cracked corn, 45% whole oats, and 10% molasses), sweet feed + 10% corn oil, alfalfa forage, or a low starch, high fermentable fiber mix (25% rice bran, 25% soy hulls, 25% wheat bran, and 25% soaked beet pulp).

After water the major constituent of the horse’s body is protein. Eighty percent of the horse’s fat free, moisture free body composition is protein.

Horses have evolved over millions of years as grazers, with specialized digestive tracts to digest and utilize diets containing high levels of plant fiber.

Feeding management can greatly influence the health of the digestive tract for better or worse. A healthy digestive tract is an integral part of the total well-being of the horse.

It has not been clearly established whether exercise affects digestibility. Therefore, it was the purpose of this study to measure the effect of 8 km daily trotting and galloping exercise on the digestibility and rate of passage of either an all-forage or a mixed forage/grain ration in trained Thoroughbred horses.

Pagan, J.D. 1998. Advances in Equine Nutrition. Nottingham University Press, Nottingham, UK. Advances in Equine Nutrition is a compilation of selected papers from past KER nutrition conferences. These papers cover a broad range of topics and contain a wealth of information related to equine nutrition, veterinary medicine, and exercise physiology. Included is a mixture of […]

Many equine nutrient requirements are based on certain assumptions about how well
horses digest and absorb nutrients. Unfortunately, a great many questions remain
unanswered about nutrient digestibility in horses. How well do horses utilize different
sources of nutrients?