The effects of added dietary fat on young exercising horses
<p>Two groups of three horses each were fed either a control diet of ground hay and concentrates or a similar diet with 10.5% added fat. The horses were trotted at 2.9 m/sec to a heart rate (HR) of 160 beats per minute (BPM) 5 d/wk on an equine treadmill set at go for a training period of 12 w...
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| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Others |
| Language: | en |
| Published: |
Virginia Tech
2014
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10919/42212 http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/theses/available/etd-04252009-040632/ |
| Summary: | <p>Two groups of three horses each were fed either a
control diet of ground hay and concentrates or a similar
diet with 10.5% added fat. The horses were trotted at 2.9
m/sec to a heart rate (HR) of 160 beats per minute (BPM) 5
d/wk on an equine treadmill set at go for a training period
of 12 wk. A standard exercise test (SET) was performed at
wk 0, 6, and 12. Blood samples were taken before, during,
and after exercise and analyzed for lactate, glucose,
cholesterol, total serum protein, and free fatty acids
(FFA). Muscle biopsies were taken before and after exercise
during the SETs on wk 1 and wk 12. Differences between wk
0, 6, and 12 in blood levels were found: lactate (P < .01)
and glucose (P < .001) decreased, while cholesterol (P <
.01) and FFA (P < .05) for both groups, indicating a
conditioning response. However, no differences were found
in any of the blood factors between groups. In the final
SET, pre-exercise muscle glycogen levels in the fat-fed
horses were lower (13.61 vs 25.44 mg/g wet tissue). Post-exercise
glycogen levels, however, were higher in the fat-
fed horses (10.95 vs 8.27 mg/g wet tissue), indicating that
there may have been a glycogen-sparing effect. The fat-fed
horses avg .3 kg/d less in daily consumption, and avg .03
kg/d more in ADG (.36 kg/d for control vs .33 kg/d for fatfed).
Differences in trotting times (time to HR 160 BPM)
between groups were seen at the end of four (P < .05) and
eight (P < .05) Wki control horses improved 39% while fatfed
horses only 25% from wk 1 to wk 8. No differences were
seen between groups from wk 9 to 12. Improvement over the
12 wk period was similar for both groups (control 61%, fatfed
67%). These results seem to suggest that although fat
appears to be a reasonable source of energy for the horse,
there may be a long adaptation period for horses fed higher
levels of fat.</p> === Master of Science |
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