Fresh forages constitute a majority of the diet for many horses and ponies that graze on pastures during the growing season in many parts of the world. Grasses generally predominate in such pastures, with varying proportions of legumes. Nonstructural carbohydrates (NSC) (simple sugars, starch, and fructan) can induce laminitis experimentally, and NSC can accumulate to >400 g/kg of dry matter (DM) in pasture grasses. In this article we discuss the environmental factors affecting NSC accumulation in pastures and estimate the potential daily intakes of pasture NSC by grazing horses. We also discuss strategies for both reducing the NSC content of pastures and management practices that can help reduce intakes of pasture NSC by equines at risk of developing laminitis. This study reveals the importance of accurate forage analysis in the development of feeding regimens for equines at risk of laminitis.

/pdf/pasture-nonstructural-carbohydrates-and-equine-laminitis-34h9drcr2r.pdf

Pasture nonstructural carbohydrates and equine laminitis.

Starch digestion in horses: The impact of feed processing

Specific quantitative methods for de- termining insulin resistance have been applied to obe- sity, activity/inactivity, reproductive efficiency, and exer- cise in horses, but only nonspecific indications have im- plicated insulin resistance as a risk factor or component of equine diseases. Insulin resistance derives from insu- lin insensitivity at the cell surface, which regulates glu- cose availability inside the cell, or from insulin ineffec- tiveness due to disruption of glucose metabolism inside the cell. Interplay of insensitivity and ineffectiveness should be considered in regard to patterns of disease, such as laminitis. Detection of insulin insensitivity is made weakly on the basis of fasting hyperinsulinemia, more strongly with a statistically validated surrogate, such as the logarithm of the reciprocal of basal insuli- nemia, or best by a specific quantitative method. Sub- jects found to be at risk can be managed to improve their insulin sensitivity by dietetics. Claims for dietetic prevention of a disease should be distinguished from claims for avoidance of a dietary risk factor. The evidence required for a claim of prevention is a controlled inter- vention trial as for a therapeutic drug, according to the U.S. FDA. In contrast, the evidence required for a claim of avoidance is association revealed by population stud- ies plus causation shown by mechanistic experiments, as formulated in the Surgeon General of the Public Health Office's (1988) Report on Nutrition and Health. In this view, no appropriate evidence is available for the preven- tion or treatment of insulin resistance in an equine dis- ease. Evidence is available, however, to justify avoidance of high-glycemic feeds, such as high starch intakes in grains, clover, and alfalfa, and high fructan intakes in grasses, to decrease the risk of acute digestive distur- bances associated with rapid fermentation, and chronic metabolic disorders associated with insulin resistance. During submaximal exercise, high-glycemic meals have been shown to increase glucose utilization immediately. On the other hand, chronic adaptation to feeds that ex- change corn oil and fiber sources for sources of sugar and starch confers benefits to athletic performance that may be due to several aspects of fat adaptation, including the regulation of insulin sensitivity, as well as glycolysis and lipid oxidation by signals from insulin receptors. Information regarding insulin resistance suggests meth- ods for protecting health and promoting horse per- formance.

Insulin resistance in the horse: Definition, detection, and dietetics12

To investigate effects of hay intake and feeding sequence on indicators of the microbial activity within the hindgut, six horses were fed 1.00 kg oats plus 0.50, 0.67, 0.83 or 1.00 kg hay/100 kg body weight (BW) x day, each for 14 days. Oats was offered either 30 min prior to hay (OA) or in the reversed sequence (HA) in a 2 x 8-week crossover design. Because typically exercised horses should be subjected to the study, faeces was used as substrate. Faecal dry matter (DM), the faecal waters' short-chain fatty acids (SCFA, in mmol/1) and molar percentages (mol%) of propionate and iso-butyrate were highest with OA (p < 0.01). Acetate mol%, acetate-propionate quotient (A/P) and buffering capacities 1 and 2 (BC1: current pH to pH 6; BC2: pH 6 to 5) of the faecal water were highest with HA (p < 0.01). While the hay intake rose, faecal pH, acetate mol%, A/P, BC1 and BC2 (the latter with HA only) increased (p < 0.05), but DM, SCFA and propionate mol% declined (p < 0.05). The hay-induced rise in A/P and BC1 was much higher with HA than with OA. L-Lactate and ammonia were unaffected by the feeding sequence and hay intake. In conclusion, hay intake and feeding sequence influence the microbial activity within the hindgut, although the concentrate level remains consistent. In horse rations with 1.00 kg oats/100 kg BW x day amounts of at least 0.83 kg hay/100 kg BW x day and offering the hay first seem to have the potency to protect the hindgut content from acidification. Behavioural abnormality was not observed any longer first with 1.00 kg hay/100 kg BW x day.

Effects of hay intake and feeding sequence on variables in faeces and faecal water (dry matter, pH value, organic acids, ammonia, buffering capacity) of horses

This review concentrates on factors influencing the nutritive value of cereal grains for animals and strategies, in particular processing and storage, which may be used to optimise fermentation and digestion. The main focus is on the utilisation of starch in cereal grains by ruminants. Extensive comparisons have been made between grains and between animals to understand the reasons for differences in pattern of fermentation and/or intestinal digestion in response to a range of processing techniques. In addition, differences between the animal species have been reviewed to understand further the factors critical for maximising post-ruminal starch digestion.

/pdf/processing-cereal-grains-for-animal-feeding-33g7lcb3q3.pdf

Processing cereal grains for animal feeding

In this study preileal starch digestibility of starchy feeds (oats, corn, barley, potatoes, manioc) was determined in seven jejunofistulated horses. The grains were fed whole (oats, corn), rolled (oats, barley), crushed, ground and expanded (corn); the potatoes were fresh, the manioc rolled. Ground corn was also fed in combination with amylase. The feeds were fed partly isolated or in combination with alfalfa meal or hay (Table 1). At least four horses with a cannula in the terminal jejunum were used for each diet. Two meals per day were offered at 12 h intervals. The starch intake was mostly about 2 g/kg bw/meal, except one period with oats (3.9 g starch/kg bw) and with expanded corn (1.4 g/kg bw). Jejunal chyme was postprandially collected 11 times (from 1st to the 11th h after the morning meal for 15 min). Starch was determined polarimetrically. The preileal digestibility of starch was calculated by the marker method (chronic oxide 0.25% DM) and by estimating the total jejunoileal chyme flow during 12 h postprandially extrapolating the sample volume from the 15 min sampling periods. The results of both methods agreed quite well. Preileal digestibility of oat starch (80-90%) was (independent of doses or preparation or of the combination with hay, Table 4) significantly higher than that of whole or crushed corn (30%) or barley (26%). Grinding of corn significantly increased preileal digestibility to 51%, expanding to 90%. The addition of amylase improved digestion of ground corn by 10% (absolute). The preileal digestibility of potato or manioc was less than 10%. Individual factors in the horse (chewing intensity, amylase activity) had also considerable influence on preileal starch digestibility.

Investigations on preileal digestion of starch from grain, potato and manioc in horses

Handle everyday research tasks with reliable, citation-backed results

Your personal Research Agent to handle research tasks with citation-backed results

Popular Tasks used by Researchers

How can I help with your research?

Meet SciSpace

Get more enhanced response by uploading the PDFs you want me to reference.

No relevant PDFs in your library

SciSpace is the AI research assistant for academics. Run systematic literature reviews on 280M+ papers, and write papers with cited sources. Trusted by 1M+ students, PhDs & researchers.

SciSpace | AI for Research

Analyze PDFs

Code & Manuscripts

Funding & Grants

Literature & Patents

Medical & Clinical Data

Systematic Review

Visualize & Present

Web & Data

Build a Google Scholar-like website for your research.

Build a website

Create charts and images for your research

Create a Chart

Write a paper for submission to a journal

Draft a manuscript

Patent Search

Design eye-catching scientific posters in minutes.

Scientific Poster Generation

Systematic Literature Review

One task is running at the moment. Your messages will be shown right after.

Drag and drop or click here to browse

Loved by <highlight>1 million+</highlight> researchers

Extract a list of specific topics and their sources from unstructured text

Topics

Compare and analyze relevant papers that matches with your search

Papers

Get insights from PDFs and bookmarked papers from your library

My library

Recent searches

Try searching for:

Catch AI-generated content in scholarly and non-scholarly content

{ai} Detector

Ai Writer

Get PDF Summaries, highlighted text explanations 

Chat with PDF

Effortlessly create in-text citations and bibliographies in APA and 2,500 other formats

Citation generator

Get explanations, summaries, and answers on academic papers

Ease up your research workflow with {scispace}'s cohort of exciting AI tools

Elevate your academic writing skills and convey your ideas the way you want

Paraphraser

Explore our range of reading and writing tools

Your file is being prepared and should be ready in a few minutes. If it's a large file, it might take a bit longer. You can close this window, and we'll email you the file when it's done.

You have reached a maximum limit of <strong>{limit}</strong> columns in the table. Remove at least <strong>1</strong> column to add or create another one.

D Kleffken

Author Tools

Chat about Author

Papers

Investigations on preileal digestion of starch from grain, potato and manioc in horses