Not more than 4-6 hours without access to food

[flying_high]

Hi,

Can anyone find me a vet backed reference to how long as a maximum it is ideal for a horse to go without access to forage.

I understand it to be 4 hours daytime max without forage, and potentially slightly longer at night, as new studies show they produce less stomach acid over night.

But ideal is access to forage 24-7 if they dont gorge / need to be calorie controlled.

My yard owner today, said that is nonsense and no studies back this up. And that as it takes 16 hours of starvation to fully clear horse's stomach for a scope, horses can go 16 hours without more food, as it takes them 16 hours to fully digest food.

I'd like a vet backed article to send him!

I hasten to add he is not stopping my horse's access to hay, just telling me I am ignorant!

 

[[153312]]

Risk factors associated with equine gastric ulceration syndrome (EGUS) in 201 horses in Denmark - LUTHERSSON - 2009 - Equine Veterinary Journal - Wiley Online Library

Evidence-Based Equine Nutrition - ScienceDirect

High intake of sugars and starch, low number of meals and low roughage intake are associated with Equine Gastric Ulcer Syndrome in a Belgian cohort - Galinelli - 2021 - Journal of Animal Physiology and Animal Nutrition - Wiley Online Library

Effects of exercise on gastrointestinal function - ScienceDirect

Gastrointestinal Transit - an overview | ScienceDirect Topics

Equine Digestion and the Healthy Horse Digestive System (succeed-equine.com)

there's loooooooooooads out there

 

[j1ffy]

There was a good article (admittedly written by a food company) on risk factors for gastric ulcers in the last GB PRE magazine, which references a study:

 

[flying_high]

Risk factors associated with equine gastric ulceration syndrome (EGUS) in 201 horses in Denmark - LUTHERSSON - 2009 - Equine Veterinary Journal - Wiley Online Library

Evidence-Based Equine Nutrition - ScienceDirect

High intake of sugars and starch, low number of meals and low roughage intake are associated with Equine Gastric Ulcer Syndrome in a Belgian cohort - Galinelli - 2021 - Journal of Animal Physiology and Animal Nutrition - Wiley Online Library

Effects of exercise on gastrointestinal function - ScienceDirect

Gastrointestinal Transit - an overview | ScienceDirect Topics

Equine Digestion and the Healthy Horse Digestive System (succeed-equine.com)

there's loooooooooooads out there

Thanks, none of those specifically reference that amount of time in hours without access to forage as an increased risk factor to ulcers.

They talk about starch / amount of hay / sugar / removing water / feeding straw.

 

[flying_high]

thanks

this sounds good does anyone have access to the original journal article

 

[[153312]]

Thanks, none of those specifically reference that amount of time in hours without access to forage as an increased risk factor to ulcers.

They talk about starch / amount of hay / sugar / removing water / feeding straw.

have you read them!? they all mentioned time between meals .....

 

[Gamebird]

thanks View attachment 85623

this sounds good does anyone have access to the original journal article

It's not actually a study, it's a Consensus Statement from the ECEIM. They have done them for a number of conditions, but basically it's a bunch of experts (top equine medicine specialists) who have pulled together the evidence from hundreds of studies and produced a collaborative breakdown of the main science behind particular conditions, with emphasis on diagnosis, management and treatment. Sorry if that sounds nit-picky, but academically it's a very different beast to a study! However it's basically the gospel for equine vets, and I consult the various Consensus Statements very regularly.

European College of Equine Internal Medicine Consensus Statement—Equine Gastric Ulcer Syndrome in Adult Horses - Sykes - 2015 - Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine - Wiley Online Library

The actual study referenced (ref 24) for the 6 hour recommendation is in the EVJ, which you are unlikely to be able to access without a subscription, but if it's good enough for the ECEIM, then you can take it as correct.

 

[flying_high]

have you read them!? they all mentioned time between meals .....

have you read them!? they all mentioned time between meals .....

I dont know if you have access to the full articles? When I clicked on the links, I got extracts, and didnt provide the relevant information.

I am specifically looking for how long is okay to leave without access to forage in the daytime. None of the extracts I read in your links stated this. Some said feed frequently or 4-6 times a day.

I am looking for a vet backed article that says going more that six hours without access to forage in the day time increases risk of developing ulcers. I cant see that in your links.

 

[j1ffy]

I dont know if you have access to the full articles? When I clicked on the links, I got extracts, and didnt provide the relevant information.

I am specifically looking for how long is okay to leave without access to forage in the daytime. None of the extracts I read in your links stated this. Some said feed frequently or 4-6 times a day.

I am looking for a vet backed article that says going more that six hours without access to forage in the day time increases risk of developing ulcers. I cant see that in your links.

It's very clearly stated in the first link, based on a quick scan through:

Results: In this population, 53% (107/201) of horses were graded as having EGUS §2 with 95 (47%) horses having NG §2. Three variables were significantly (P<0.05) associated with EGUS §2: straw being the only forage available; exceeding 2 g/kg bwt of starch intake/day or §1 g/kg bwt/meal; and water not being available in the turn out paddock. Risk of NG §2 significantly increased when straw was the only forage available, 1 g/kg bwt of starch/meal was exceeded, water was not available in the turnout paddock and the interval between forage feeding was <6 h.

 

[[153312]]

Yes, I do have access to the full articles, but it was mentioned in the links, too, which you don't need institution access for.
For instance from High intake of sugars and starch, low number of meals and low roughage intake are associated with Equine Gastric Ulcer Syndrome in a Belgian cohort - Galinelli - 2021 - Journal of Animal Physiology and Animal Nutrition - Wiley Online Library (emphasis my own) -

"It is well known that a prolonged mucosal exposure to a low pH environment (driven by high amounts of hydrochloric acid and volatile fatty acids) is the most common cause of gastric ulceration in the squamous mucosa (Andrews et al., 2017). As horses have a continuous gastric acid secretion (Luthersson & Nadeau, 2013), without a proper feeding management (empty stomach for longer time), the stomach pH drops reaching strong acid values. This was shown in a study where equines with 24 hr access to timothy hay had a pH of 3.1 compared with fasted horses where the pH was as low as 1.5 (Murray and Schusser, 1993). Lack of forage intake is also linked with the “splash effect” (Lorenzo-Figueras and Merritt, 2002), commonly observed during training when acid fluid is freely available in the stomach and comes into contact with the non-glandular mucosa. It was demonstrated that forage content in the stomach may buffer a part of the free gastric juice preventing the “splash effect”. Based on those two observations, it has been recommend to ensure a minimum amount (1.5% daily forage DM/BW) (Sykes et al., 2015) of forage in the stomach and to provide small meals as frequently as possible. Nonetheless, there is lack of strong evidence showing that free access to fibrous feed or frequent forage feeding reduces the risk of gastric ulceration (Sykes et al., 2015). "

And if you look at the citations, they back it up too (obviously).

 

[PurBee]

“…. An increased time between forage meals (>6 hours between meals), compared with more frequent forage feeding (<6 hours between meals) increases the likelihood of ESGD.24”

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4858038/


The above link is talking about and referring to various studies about esgd.
I quickly scanned the first part before ‘clinical signs’. Youll find the quoted part a couple of paragraphs just above ‘clinical signs.

Heres the link to the actual study referenced as study 24 in the above literature:

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19927579/

 

[PurBee]

It's very clearly stated in the first link, based on a quick scan through:

Results: In this population, 53% (107/201) of horses were graded as having EGUS §2 with 95 (47%) horses having NG §2. Three variables were significantly (P<0.05) associated with EGUS §2: straw being the only forage available; exceeding 2 g/kg bwt of starch intake/day or §1 g/kg bwt/meal; and water not being available in the turn out paddock. Risk of NG §2 significantly increased when straw was the only forage available, 1 g/kg bwt of starch/meal was exceeded, water was not available in the turnout paddock and the interval between forage feeding was <6 h.

ah fab - thats what i linked too…i didnt click the first set of links didnt realise it was in there!

Its interesting also that the more fibrous the food given, like straw, the more chance of ulcers.

 

[Auslander]

Not a "proper" article, but a good facebook post from a vet who si also a dentist https://www.facebook.com/Veterinaryequinedentaltechnician/photos/a.488380221554943/1324291451297145