Part of the fun of traveling around the country doing horse
research and attending scientific conferences is passing by sights like the
“World’s Largest Pistachio.” We couldn’t
help but stop and take this in on our way to Ruidoso, New Mexico to attend the
Equine Science Society (ESS) Symposium. The little shop there was full of
homemade pistachio mixes from nuts grown on the property, local wine and fun
gifts. I am still enjoying the
lemon-lime pistachios I picked up.
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| What in the world? |
As for the conference, we had a great time at ESS and we
stayed at the Inn of the Mountain Gods which is part of the Apache Indian
reservation just outside of Ruidoso. We
had a busy schedule attending the scientific talks, meeting with colleagues and
supplier companies, and catching up with the conglomerate of equine
nutritionists that we get to see at this conference. If you follow this blog regularly, I posted
some pictures a few weeks back, which were a “teaser” to the talks Purina would
be presenting. Here is some more
information about each one.
As part of the nutrition section of the conference, I
presented data demonstrating how the addition of Purina® HydraSalt® Salt
Supplement to horses’ diets increased water intake versus access to free choice salt
blocks. The use of HydraSalt® supplement
not only balanced horses’ sodium
requirements, but adding 3 or more scoops per day increased water intake and maintained a more
consistent intake of sodium. It was no
surprise to find that the intake of sodium from salt blocks was highly variable
and some horses did not take in enough salt to meet their dietary needs in this
study. Interestingly, throughout the
work we did, we found that weather also affected water intake and increases in
ambient temperature caused horses to drink more water. This makes sense and it’s a good thing-
provide plenty of fresh water to your horses and supplement HydraSalt®
supplement to meet sodium requirements and encourage water intake.
In the Exercise Physiology section of the conference, Dr.
Kelly Vineyard presented data on an amino-acid based supplement- showing how it
supported muscle development and an increase in fitness compared to an alfalfa
protein source. Horses on the “muscle
supplement” had shifts in muscle mass and fat proportions, lower creatine kinase
blood concentrations following strenuous exercise, along with larger
improvements in fitness markers such at VO2 max (measure of oxygen consumption),
top speed on a treadmill test and VLA4 (speed when horses have lactate of 4
mmol/L in the blood). We will continue
to keep you posted on this exciting research, as we see potential benefit for
many sport horses.
We had two presentations in the Production and Management
section of the conference; the first presented by Dr. Mark Edwards of
California Polytechnic University (who we partnered with on this research) and
the second which I presented. These two
talks explained research that provided supplemental additives in horse feeds
(chelated minerals, organic selenium, a direct-fed microbial, Yucca schidigera
extract and a yeast culture) to determine fiber digestibility and the effects
on manure characteristics. This research
was conducted in an effort to develop horse feed that improves nutrient
digestibility and decreases excretion of nutrients via manure and into the
environment. So far, we haven’t found
the magic bullet to make this happen, but we continue to work on feeding
programs that provide optimal, but not excessive nutrients for the horse which
don’t provide a large burden to the environment.
If you would like to read the research presented at the ESS
symposium, the abstracts are printed in the current issue of the Journal of Equine Veterinary Science.
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