Improvement Strategies for Dietary Energy Supply of Racehorses

  • REN Wanlu ,
  • MENG Jun ,
  • WANG Chuankun ,
  • YAO Xinkui
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  • College of Animal Science, Xinjiang Agriculture University, Urumqi 830052, China

Received date: 2019-05-28

  Online published: 2019-12-13

Abstract

The proper adjustment of feed formula, and supply of adequate energy is the guarantee of high performance of racehorses. The two principal energy sources of racehorses are starch of grain feed and structural polysaccharides (such as cellulose) of roughage. The nutrient density, as well as the efficiency of digestion and utilization of roughage are not high enough to meet the energy requirement of racehorse. Whereas, high-fiber feedstuffs, such as hay and straw, could effectively relieve the grain feed induced metabolic disorder. As to grain feed, it contents high concentrations of nutrients, however, high grain diet could cause health problems of the gastrointestinal tract and metabolism. And so, there is a big conflict between energy supply and metabolic health in the process of racehorses breeding. Some effective measures, such as proper processing technology of roughage, the application of alternatives of grain, non-nutritive feed additive, and the feeding methods of roughage, could highly improve metabolic imbalance induced by high grain feed. In this review, we summarized the advantages and shortages of high-fiber and high grain feed of racehorses, and put forward some targeted improve measures.

Cite this article

REN Wanlu , MENG Jun , WANG Chuankun , YAO Xinkui . Improvement Strategies for Dietary Energy Supply of Racehorses[J]. Chinese Journal of Animal Nutrition, 2019 , 31(12) : 5446 -5453 . DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.1006-267x.2019.12.008

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