Research Alternative Forages for Horses

In 2012 I started my PhD project at the University of New England. The main focus of my study is patch foraging behaviour, particular browsing behaviour, in horses and the use of fodder trees and shrubs as forage enrichment for domesticated horses in Australia. This research will help the horse industry to better understand the potential use of alternative and suitable forage sources and the affect of forage enrichment on the behaviour of horses in intensive equine management systems.

Patch foraging behaviour and animal welfare

Why this interest in patch foraging behaviour? I believe that the ability to browse on a range of trees, shrubs, herbaceous plants, roots and mosses might be important for the health and well-being of horses.

In 2009, I moved to Australia from The Netherlands and founded MB Equine Services, which provides specialised equine nutrition and horse property design and pasture management. “Designing pasture systems is part of the business,” I started to investigate the role of alternative forage sources as a drought reserve. And a bit of research made me realise that, in nature, horses browse a lot.

This raised the question: ‘How do domesticated horses cope with an enclosed environment in which there is no – or limited – access to browsing?’ Is there something in browsing that might be important for their nutrient balance or gut and dental health?”

I hope to provide some answers to these questions in my research towards a doctoral degree at UNE. “We don’t often provide our horses with the alternative foods that – in nature – are a large part of their diet,” Variety is the spice of life for herbivores – whether they are confined, or foraging on pastures or rangelands – as well as for people. Like us, they are periodically satiated by familiarity and thrive on variety.

We keep horses in a stable or a paddock without feeling obliged to enrich their lives – and edible enrichment has been shown to be the best sort. Such enrichment could address problems of abnormal behaviour and help to avoid ulcers and dental problems.”

Farmers know that planting shrubs and trees on their properties has a range of environmental and agricultural benefits, and this possible advantage for their horses could add to that list of benefits.

Research

The first stage of the research program was a survey. You may have seen it advertised or may have even participated! If so, thank you for your contribution. This survey allowed us to collect data on how horses are managed and identify if browsing is a common behaviour in domesticated horses in Australia. I am currently conducting the data analysis and writing it up for a journal publication.

The next step is to investigate some of the questions why horses select a variety of foods and when they are more likely to ingest  novel and familiar foods. The novel foods will be browse fodder. To be able to answer these questions we will conduct non-invasive preference tests with horses. We will record their behaviour by video recording. The first experiment will hopefully run later this year.

So for now I am working with novel forages, collecting browse from a variety of trees and shrubs and drying them. We need a lot of fresh browse to make a chaff. So over the coming months we will collect these forages so we can dry and chaff them for our testing. I am very curious how the horses will respond.

Keep checking our website and FB page for updates! I hope later this year to give you more information about the publication of the survey and progress of the research.