AQHA January / February Magazine AQHA JAN-FEB 2020 PRINT | Page 20

PG.18
HORSE HEALTH
striped umbrellas suddenly opening or being lowered
from the ceiling in front of the weanling while it’s
eating. By measuring the time it took to approach and
investigate the ‘novel’ objects, the distance the foals
fled upon being confronted with a ‘surprise’, time taken
to walk across an unfamiliar tarpaulin and the amount
of time taken to return to their feedbin, researchers
assess calmness and reactivity. Fearful animals shift
their attention away from the task (resulting in poor
performance), while less reactive weanlings learn
faster and completed handling tests in a shorter time
because they were less nervous and distracted. These
results persisted when measured again at 9-10 months
of age.
Another study assessed temperament and tractability
of 17 foals from the age of 2 to 40 weeks and on a
grain-starch feed or an oil-fibre diet. The differences
were apparent within hours after weaning. The foals
on the oil-fibre diet were less distressed, calmer and
more inquisitive immediately after weaning.
At 2 months after weaning, they were less flighty; less
reactive to pressure, noise and visual stimuli, more
likely to approach humans they didn’t know; quicker to
walk across an unfamiliar tarpaulin and had increased
willingness to perform. Interestingly, when mares
were fed in their last 4 months of pregnancy a fibre-
oil supplement instead of grain-based starchy-sugary
supplements (and this includes grain by-products
such as bran, pollard, millrun and hominy meal),
their unweaned foals showed similar investigative
behaviour, less reactivity and fearfulness. The foals of
mares fed grain-starch supplements during pregnancy
had high blood glucose and insulin levels for up to
6 months after birth – and this has been linked to
developmental orthopaedic conditions.
The connection between orthopaedic disease and
insulin has been known since late last century. Sweet
feeds and high grain-starch-sugar feeds increase the
incidence of DOD through their effect on insulin,
growth and thyroid hormones. There is thought to be
a correlation between OCD and glucose intolerance
in foals that are genetically predisposed and this is a
current area of research.
When mares and foals are fed oil-fibre enriched diets
instead of starchy grain-based feeds and supplements,
the incidence of DOD is much lower.
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