New Zealand Horse Feeding Practices Studied

In New Zealand, many horses are primarily kept on pasture. Evidence exists to suggest that pastured horses are less stressed and more willing to perform than stabled horses; however, it can be challenging for owners to estimate pasture intake and balance rations when the nutritional value of the pasture is unknown.

“Not knowing the nutritional content of a horse’s diet and whether it is balanced or not can be detrimental for many horses, including athletic horses,” explains Bryan M. Waldridge, D.V.M., head veterinarian for Kentucky Equine Research.

Currently there is limited availability of scientific data on the nutritional needs of competitive nonracing horses in New Zealand. To build momentum toward making recommendations for improved feeding practices in equine athletes, Nicole Verhaar, D.V.M. and colleagues* collected data on feeding, management, and training schedules in the week leading up to competition.

The authors obtained information from 158 riders at four different shows (show jumping, dressage, and eventing), including the following:

• A description of feed offered (brand/type, volume/weight offered, frequency of feeding);
• Management of horses (e.g., access to pasture, size of pasture, number of horses sharing the pasture); and
• The body condition score of each horse was measured.

Key findings of the study were that 68% of horses were at pasture and almost all horses (96%) were fed supplementary feed once or twice daily. Most of that supplementary feed was a premix feed plus either alfalfa chaff or ensiled chopped alfalfa. The surveyed horses worked 6 days/week for a total of 200 minutes and participated in approximately two competitions/month, which was considered typical of horses at the reported competition level.

Some of these findings contrasted data collected on racehorses in New Zealand in that the included horses were offered mixed feeds whereas racehorses were typically offered cereal grain. Further, racehorses were fed more concentrate, which likely reflected the lower workload of competition horses than racehorses.

“This study provides important basic information that, with more research, can ultimately help owners ensure the nutritional needs of competitive horses in New Zealand are being met,” concludes Waldridge.

Verhaar, N., Rogers, C.W., Gee, E.K., et al. The feeding practices and estimated workload in a cohort of New Zealand competition horses. J Eq Vet Sci 2014;34:1257–62.