Researchers have completed the new National Research Council (NRC) report that describes nutritional requirements of the horse. The report is expected to be released this fall to update the previous publication, which was distributed in 1989. This new information will be used to predict the daily nutrient requirements of horses in various physiologic states, i.e., pregnancy, exercise, or growth.

“The committee has reviewed the available literature and addressed a number of current issues in documenting nutrient recommendations and feeding management of the horse,” said Robert J. Van Saun, DVM, MS, PhD, Dipl. ACT, Dipl. ACVN, of University Park, Penn., in his presentation at the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine Forum on June 2 in Louisville, Ky.

Van Saun further described the guidelines to The Horse on Sept. 13, as the NRC report has been approved since the Forum.

The cattle industry is years ahead of the horse world in its understanding of nutritional requirements, and better mechanistic models have been developed for cattle. Equine researchers are working hard to catch up. Until this report, mineral and vitamin requirements for the horse were defined on a dietary nutrient basis (percent of dry matter or parts per million). In the new report, the authors have moved to describing equine nutrient requirements on a body weight basis (mg or g/kg BW) as well as dietary concentration.

“In the previous NRC, dietary energy and protein were defined as a proportion of total diet (Mcal/lb or %),” explained Van Saun. “In the new NRC, dietary requirements will only be defined as total amounts required and there will be flexibility by the user to choose a level of dry matter intake. This means that diets with differing percents of protein might be equally sufficient due to different expected intake levels