Effect of Diet on Weight Gain, Glucose and Insulin Levels in Young Horses - CRF Horse Nutrition Guide
E UK24 - CRF Equine Research Trials
Effect of Diet on Weight Gain, Glucose and Insulin Levels and Response to Exercise in Young Horses
| CRF Horse Nutrition Guide |
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| CRF Equine Research Trials |
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Six 2 and 3 year old fillies were used in this study to evaluate the effects of the physical form and starch level of the concentrate on weight gain, glucose and insulin levels and response to exercise in young horses.
Horses were fed one of three concentrate feeds, 1) a high-starch (37.2%) textured, sweet feed (THS); 2) a high-starch (36.3%) pelleted concentrate (PHS) and 3) a low- starch (21.3%) pelleted concentrate (PLS) and timothy hay.
All diets were able to adequately maintain the horse’s body weight during the trial. Charts 1 and 2 show horses consuming the lowstarch pelleted concentrate tended to have lower glucose and insulin concentrations after feeding compared to the high starch pelleted concentrate. Horses consuming the high-starch textured concentrate versus the high-starch pellet tended to have decreased glucose and insulin concentrations after feeding. Thus, both starch level and form of the feed tended to affect glucose and insulin concentrations.
Heart rate (Chart 3) was still elevated 15 minutes after the end of exercise when horses received either high-starch concentrate, but was not when they received the low-starch concentrate. These results suggest that horses recovered from exercise more quickly when the low-starch diet was fed. An improvement in post-exercise heart rates for horses on the low starch diet may be due to a calmer disposition and a lower activity rate.
What does this mean for horse owners?
Providing a lower starch feed resulted in lower blood glucose and insulin levels after feeding and allowed the horse to recover more quickly after exercise, which may be due to calmer behavior and less activity. This could result in better long-term health and performance for your horse. Cooperative Research Farms members are actively involved in equine nutrition research to find safer and more effective products for your horse.