EFFECT OF PRE-RACE FASTING AND HAY TYPE ON EQUINE GASTRIC ULCERS IN STANDARDBRED AND THOROUGHBRED RACEHORSES
Date
2024-05
Authors
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Publisher
University of Delaware
Abstract
The goal of this study is to analyze the effects of pre-race fasting and hay type
on gastric ulcer risk in Standardbred and Thoroughbred racehorses. Data was
collected for 51 horses from 8 different trainers using REDCap survey software, and
mosaic plots and contingency tables were created using JMP software. Chi-Square,
Pearson, and Fisher’s Exact tests were run using JMP. However, the necessity of
combining horses on reduced race-day diets with horses that were completely fasted in
order to have adequate statistical power may have obscured the impact of completely
fasting. Neither pre-race fasting nor hay type exhibited a significant effect on ulcer
risk. Both of those outcomes contradicted the expectations that pre-race fasting and a
lower concentration of alfalfa in the diet would be associated with a higher risk for
gastric ulcers. The impact of alfalfa concentration was difficult to test because not
enough horses consumed non-alfalfa forage to have a control group against the alfalfa
mixture and 100% alfalfa groups. Future studies should explore grain formulation
with respect to feeding time and racing time, as well as how alfalfa concentration
affects gastric ulcer formation.