With countless types of grains and concentrated feed available for performance horses, some horse owners might wish for a simpler approach to feeding their equine athlete. Well here’s some good news for these owners: According to recent study results, a diet devoid of concentrates and entirely based on forage could be suitable for some high-performance equine athletes.

"There is an urgent need for diets that support the natural digestive function and behavior of horses," said Anna Jansson, professor at both the Swedish University of Agricultural and Sciences and Holar University College on Iceland.

"We thought that a high-fiber diet (forage-only) would improve the aerobic energy metabolism and thereby improve V_La4 (velocity when plasma lactate concentration is 4 mmol/l)," reported Jansson.

To test their hypothesis the researchers compared how a high-energy, forage-only diet (F) and a forage-concentrate diet (FC) affected the exercise performance of six Standardbred geldings in race training. The F diet consisted of high-energy haylage fed at 2.2% of horse’s body weight (BW). The FC diet was 50% concentrate (soybean meal, wheat bran, and oats) and 50% haylage. Both diets, estimated to be equivalent in caloric and protein content, also included a mineral/ vitamin supplement to meet the National Research Council’s nutrient requirements