“Your Feeding Program Can Make a Difference” Horse Trainer Makes a Call After a Major Study in Equine Wellness

The equestrian industry has evolved over the years and continues to do so, thanks to continuous research and the application of technology for the better. With the need of the present time, every sport has to innovate ways to solve growing problems. One such problem was equine airway issues.

The result of research conducted by Purdue University brought a solution to the equine airway issue in horses. The research was done by Dr. Laurent Couetil and was funded by the Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation.

Trainer feeds steamed hay to equestrian horses

Trainer Joe Davis at Horseshoe, Indianapolis, feeds his equestrian horses freshly steamed hay every day. Every afternoon he or one of his employees takes out a bale of steamed hay from the HayGain machine situated at the end of the shed row and feeds the horses. According to him, there is much dust in regular hays and after steaming they are fresh and dust, and germ-free.

Davis was influenced to change the feed after the research finding on equine airway issues in which he assisted. In the research, it was found that the major dust that horses inhale comes from eating regular hay. It contains a high percentage of neutrophil cells that cause inflammation in the lungs of the horse. According to Paulick Report, Dr. Laurent Couetil says, “A lot of people think that the bedding or track surface are the culprits for dust exposure, but we showed your feeding program can make a difference.”

Impressed by the findings Joe Davis got the steaming machine and started feeding horses steamed hay. It requires extra manpower for the work but he thinks it’s worth it and has appointed a person to specially take on this task. It takes an hour for a bale of hay to steam and is good for three days.

Researchers’ findings on equestrian horse airway issues

Dr. Laurent Couetil began his study with a special scope that passes into the lungs of the horse, rinses it with fluid and that fluid is later extracted for analysis.  His research team learned that horses are exposed to dust mostly in the stall after finding more neutrophils in the fluid. Neutrophils cause inflammation, thus affecting horse performance. It was also found that most problematic particles in horse lungs were so small that they cannot be seen through the human eye and there was an increased quantity of mast cells. These two findings pointed to the hay as the main culprit.

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With the help of trainer Joe he started feeding horses three types of feed normal hay, steamed hay, and haylage. He studied the extracted fluid after feeding and found that horses who were fed steamed hay or haylage had less neutrophil percentage which declined to normal limits after a few weeks as compared to normal hay which had a substantial percentage.

Research on the equestrian horse airway issue is a positive development and the successful implementation by trainers is good news for the equestrian industry.

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