Effects of Fat Content and Source on Consumption Time in Two-Year-Old Quarter Horses

Abstract

Twelve two-year-old quarter horses were used in this study to determine if the amount and source of fat supplement influenced consumption of grain. The experiment took place at Sam Houston State University’s Equine Center in Huntsville, Texas. Horses were allotted into one of three treatment groups. All horses received 1.5% BW in hay and 1% BW in grain twice per day throughout the study. Treatment group one received no additional top-dressed fat to the diet and was considered the no added oil (NO) treatment group. Treatment group two received 0.099 kg of additional top-dressed soybean oil (SO) to the diet. Treatment group three received 0.099 kg of additional top-dressed fish oil (FO) to the diet. Elapsed time for horses to consume the treatment rations was recorded at each feeding from d1 to d21. Results of this study indicate that over the entire 21-day treatment period, horses in the SO and FO treatment groups took longer (P < 0.001) to consume their rations than horses in the NO treatment group. Further, SO and FO were consumed at a similar rate (P > 0.05) over the entire study. Similar trends were observed when comparing mean daily and weekly consumption times between treatments.