How Do Exercise and Diet Affect Digestibility of Forage and Grain in Horses?

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By Kentucky Equine Research Staff · April 24, 2013

The purpose of this study was 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.

Horses were fed with an all-forage diet (alfalfa cubes and alfalfa-grass hay; FORAGE) or a mixture of forage and grain (grain, alfalfa cubes, and alfalfa-grass hay; MIXED).

Dry matter and nonstructural carbohydrate digestibility of the MIXED diet were significantly higher than those of the FORAGE diet. ADF, NDF, and hemicellulose were significantly higher in the FORAGE diet. Exercise resulted in a small but significant decrease in dry matter digestibility...

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