Please upgrade your flash player.
Overview of the New Horse NRC Committee: Structure, Function, Timeline
Laurie Lawrence, PhD, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky
Dr. Lawrence has been selected as the Chairman of the New NRC Subcommittee on Horse Nutrition. This committee is charged with revising the Nutrient Requirements of Horses. Dr. Laurence will describe the makeup of the new committee and give an overview of how it will function to craft this new document by next summer.
The Feed Industry's Role in Creating the New Horse NRC
Randy Robbins, PhD, Chairman, Specialty Feed Committee, American Feed Industry Association
The New NRC Subcommittee on Horse Nutrition does not have any representatives from the feed industry. While this may reduce perceived conflicts of interest, it potentially deprives the committee of invaluable input from the industry most involved with developing and managing feeding programs for horses. Fortunately, the AFIA has intervened to create an advisory committee to represent the feed industry's interest in the creation of the new Horse NRC. Dr. Robbins is the chairman of this committee and he will explain how it is designed to liaise with the NRC Horse Subcommittee. He will also explain how individual members of the feed industry can provide input into this process.
Nutrient Requirements: Applying the Science
Joe D. Pagan, Kentucky Equine Research, Versailles, Kentucky
Feeds and feeding programs are based on certain assumptions of required nutrient intakes for a specific class of horse. There is a good deal of confusion among nutritionists and horse feeders of where the NRC requirements fit into the process of ration formulation. This lecture will review the current NRC requirements as they relate to the way in which horse diets are typically fed and revisit the concept of optimal ranges for evaluating nutrient adequacy in equine rations. Also, new research will be presented that challenges the NRC's current method for calculating energy requirments for exercise.
Feed Ingredient Analysis: The Key to Meaningful Ration Evaluation
Paul Sirois, MS, Equi-Analytical Laboratories, Ithaca, New York
A major weakness in the 1989 NRC is its feed composition tables. Paul Sirosis has served as the manager of the DHIA forage and laboratory in Ithaca for many years and has overseen the analysis of thousands of forages and feed ingredients. Recently, this lab has opened a division (Equi-analytical Laboratories) devoted exclusively to horse feeds and forages. This lecture will review what is currently known about feed ingredient composition and will give guidelines for analysis of individual ingredients.
All Ingredients Aren't Alike: The Effect of Processing and Form on Nutrient Availability
Mike Lennox, PAg, Kentucky Equine Research, Versailles, Kentucky
How an ingredient is processed can have a significant effect of its nutrient availability in a horse feed. Also, the source of minerals and vitamins can influence bioavailability. This lecture will review these topics and make recommendations of how to incorporate this information into horse feed formulation.
An International Perspective on Horse Feeding Management
Peter Huntington, BVSc, MACVSc.
Kentucky Equine Research Australasia, Melbourne, Australia
Although American in origin, the NRC is widely regarded as the definitive document for quantifying the nutrient requirements of horses internationally. A criticism of past revisions of the NRC is that its feeding management recommendations were too specific for American conditions. Dr. Huntington has a great deal of experience in developing feeding programs for horses around the world and he will review how feeding management practices vary across Australasia, Asia, Africa and the Middle East.
Pathological Conditions Affected by Feeding
Kathleen Crandell, PhD, Kentucky Equine Research, Versailles, Kentucky
There are a number of pathological conditions in the horse that are affected by feeding. These include a range of muscle disorders such as RER, PSSM and EPSM that are affected by energy source and exercise management. Others such as HYPP and EMND are related to specific mineral and vitamin excesses or deficiencies while the cause of developmental orthopedic disease (DOD) is multifactorial including a host of nutritional interactions. This lecture will review these conditions and give dietary recommendations to prevent or manage their severity.
Feeding the Atypical Horse
Dr. Larry Lawrence Kentucky Equine Research, Versailles, Kentucky
Although the majority of horses can be managed using methods which group them based on age, activity level or stage of production (i.e. pregnant), some horses fall outside of the "norm". For these atypical horses, special consideration must be given to ensure their nutritional needs are adequately met. Senior horses, ailing horses, post-surgical horses, even extremely excitable horses are a few of the animals that may temporarily or perpetually require specialized nutrition management in order to maintain optimal health and productivity given their individual conditions. This presentation will describe the circumstances under which horses are recognized as "atypical" and the best way to nutritionally manage their special needs.
Diagnosis and Management of Equine Food Sensitivity
Dr. Dawn Logas Veterinary Dermatology Center, Maitland, Florida
This lecture will focus on various types of allergic skin diseases in horses and how to differentiate them from food allergy. Diagnosis and control food allergy in the horse will also be discussed.
Rational approaches to equine parasite control.
C.R. REINEMEYER, DVM, PhD, EAST TENNESSEE CLINICAL RESEARCH, INC. KNOXVILLE, TN.
The transmission of gastrointestinal parasites involves complex interactions among the equine host, the environment, and various life cycle stages of the parasites of interest. Despite a substantial body of information regarding these components, many equine parasite control recommendations are based on tradition and commercial promotion rather than on scientific evidence. This presentation will discuss the role of climate and management in parasite transmission, identify the relative seasonal risk of infection in various geoclimatic regions, describe methods to determine the spectrum of effective antiparasitic drugs as well as to identify the most susceptible animals in each herd, and will provide the building blocks for designing rational and effective equine parasite control programs.
Abstract Vitamin E and Beta-Carotene - Essential Nutrients for Horses
Ed Kane, Ph.D. Senior Nutritionist Stuart Products, Inc. Seattle WA
Vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol), a lipid-soluble antioxidant, is an essential nutrient for horses beneficial to combat the multitude of effects of free radical production that can damage membranes and components of cells. The need for supplementation appears to be higher when enhanced immunity is expected. Vitamin E is most beneficial to young rapidly growing foals, pregnant and lactating mares, stallions, and especially equine athletes. The need to supplement with vitamin E is primarily dependent on whether they graze lush pastures, typically adequate in vitamin E, or are kept in confinement and consume roughages and concentrates that have lost most of their natural vitamin E content. Natural and synthetic vitamin E sources, unlike other vitamins, have different chemical structures.
Beta-carotene, an antioxidant, that is also a lipid-soluble precursor of vitamin A, has been shown to be beneficial to reproduction in horses, and may serve other functions besides being a source of vitamin A. It improves ovarian activity and produces stronger heats, improves conception rates, and reduces embryonic mortality. In other species, beta-carotene improves testicular function and enhances immune function. Like vitamin E, natural beta-carotene is readily oxidized and over time is lost in stored roughages. Therefore, beta-carotene supplementation is especially needed for horses kept in confinement without access to lush pasture. Beta-carotene status is directly related to intake. Studies have been conducted with supplemental beta-carotene and it appears that horses utilize water-soluble formulations more readily than oily ones.
Exercise-Induced Pulmonary Hemorrhage In Horses: Causes, Effects, And Treatment
Dr. Ken Hinchcliff Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio
Exercise-induced pulmonary hemorrhage (EIPH) is a disorder of horses that run at high speed, such as Thoroughbred or Standardbred racehorses. Poor athletic performance and/or epistaxis (bleeding from the nostrils) are the most common presenting complaints for horses with EIPH. This presentation will detail the pathology of this ailment as well as the diagnosis and prognosis of horses with EIPH. Additionally, the existence of a relationship between nutrition, management and EIPH will be examined.
Stable Vices and Stereotypies: A Nutritional Link?
Dr. Cindy McCall Auburn University, Auburn, Alabam
Common management practices of confining the horse and feeding it a few large meals daily has been shown to cause digestive irritation. Interestingly, horses typically managed in this manner, such as race and show horses, generally exhibit the highest incidence of behavioral problems. This presentation will describe the more common stereotypies and stable vices associated with the management of these horses and report trial data that may shed light on the origins of and amelioration of these behaviors.