Quality of tifton and alfalfa hays on corporal biometry and performance of athletic horses of three barrels

• Grant number: 13/20683-5
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: April 01, 2014
• End date: July 31, 2015
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Animal Husbandry - Pastures and Forage Crops
• Principal Investigator: Ciniro Costa
• Grantee: Denise Tsuzukibashi
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia (FMVZ). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Botucatu. Botucatu , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The amount of energy required for the horse run is directly related to the weight being moved. Thus, it is common for coaches adopt food-restricted strategy of hay supply, aiming at reducing body weight (BW) of horses, to improve sport performance. However, this practice has caused an increase in the occurrence of digestive disorders and behavior. Further investigations have suggested that the quality of forage offered can cause a reduction in the weight of the horses. In this sense, the research will aim to study the effect of quality of alfalfa and tifton hay, in isoenergetic and isonitrogenous diets, on corporal biometry of horses and verify if sport performance of athletic horses, in modality of three barrels, is influenced by variation in body weight and abdominal circumference, as a result of hay ingesting with different qualities. The research will consist of two trials, that the trial 1 will aim to verify the effect of the quality of tifton and alfalfa hay on corporal biometry (body weight and abdominal circumference) and the experiment 2, will study the effects of hays qualities on sport performance of athletic horses, in modality of three barrels. For each test 1 and 2, will be used six horses, crossbred, aged 6-7 years and average BW of 400 kg. The treatments will have six diets consist of concentrated and forage and the experimental design will be the latin square 6x6 (six horses and six periods). Each period will be 21 days, resulting in 126 days to perform each test. At six treatments, the forage diet will consist of combinations of hay in 2x3 factorial, that is two forage (alfalfa and tifton) and three qualities of hay (A, B and C). The variables measured in horses for tests 1 will be body weight, abdominal circumference, water intake, fecal output, digestibility of diets DM, moisture and indigestible fiber content in feces and total plasma protein concentration. The variable of assay 2 will consist of the performance test, speed, heart rate, body temperature and blood lactate. Variables related to corporal biometry and those relating to sport performance in athletic horses will be submitted to analysis of variance on software Statistical Analysis System (SAS, 2000). Comparisons between means will be made by Tukey test at 5% significance level. For the variables obtained before and after in the same horse will be compared using the paired "t" test.

Academic Publications

(References retrieved automatically from State of São Paulo Research Institutions)

TSUZUKIBASHI, Denise. Quality of Tifton 85 Bermudagrass and Alfalfa Hay on Equine Corporal Biometry. 2015. Master's Dissertation - Universidade Estadual Paulista (Unesp). Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia. Botucatu Botucatu.