Initial acceptance trial of flavours in a standard concentrate diet in horses at pasture.

Description/Abstract

Previous trials have focused on stabled horses in assessing flavour acceptance. In this trial we aimed to investigate flavour acceptance by pastured horses. The hypothesis was that horses would vary in acceptance of diets based on their flavour.
Eight flavours used historically as flavourants were presented to eight horses maintained at pasture, at 1% in standard meals of 100 g cereal by-product. Diet acceptance, selection and consumption times were recorded. A Latin Square design was used to control for order effects. Before data collection, two meals of 100g of base diet (a standard cereal by-product) were offered, at the usual meal times, to approximate standard hunger levels.
For the trial, horses were brought into individual familiar stables. Meals were offered in door mounted mangers, each used exclusively for that flavour to avoid residual effects. A minimum of one hour separated the meals which were terminated following complete consumption or no further interest for two minutes. Times for either; Complete consumption; Partial rejection (food partly consumed but then ignored for 2 minutes) or Total rejection were recorded. Any diet remaining was reweighed.
Mean consumption times were compared using Kendall’s coefficient of concordance. Variation in amount consumed was compared for all eight flavours using Kendall’s coefficient of concordance. This showed a significant difference existed between amount consumed (W = 0.314, n = 8, p < 0.01). Mean time to consumption or rejection was affected by individual variation and were NS for the group overall. The most accepted flavour by weight consumed was Agrimony (mean rank 2.81). The least preferred flavour was Elecampagne (mean rank 6.56).
This trial showed flavour concentrations of 1% in a standard base diet significantly affected diet selection and acceptance, but not consumption times of pastured horses. These results may have practical implications in diet formulation for pastured horses.