Digestive and energy utilisation of two diets by ponies and horses

Six adult castrated ponies and five standardbred geldings were fed at near maintenance a natural grassland hay (H) and a mixed diet (HM) composed of 70% of the same hay and 30% of pelleted maize. Faeces were collected over 6-day periods after adaptation to the diets. Organic matter, energy and cell...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Livestock production science 1997-11, Vol.51 (1), p.13-19
Main Authors: Vermorel, M., Vernet, J., Martin-Rosset, W.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Agricultural sciences
Digestibility
Energy value
Equines
Horse
Life Sciences
Maintenance requirement
Pony
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Summary:Six adult castrated ponies and five standardbred geldings were fed at near maintenance a natural grassland hay (H) and a mixed diet (HM) composed of 70% of the same hay and 30% of pelleted maize. Faeces were collected over 6-day periods after adaptation to the diets. Organic matter, energy and cell wall component digestibility was not significantly different between ponies and horses. Methane production, energy expenditure and energy balances of ponies were determined by indirect calorimetry over 4-day periods. The results were compared with those obtained using the same conditions with six sport horses fed similar diets (H3 and H3M1) one year before. Methane energy losses related to energy intake were 33 and 47% higher in ponies than in horses for the hay and the mixed diet, respectively ( P < 0.05). Maintenance energy requirements (MEm) of ponies were 16% lower than those of horses ( P < 0.05). However, differences in MEm between the two diets were greater in ponies than in sport horses, which could be related to differences in the energy cost of eating.
ISSN:0301-6226
1872-6070
DOI:10.1016/S0301-6226(97)00108-5