EFFECT OF PRE-RACE FASTING AND HAY TYPE ON EQUINE GASTRIC ULCERS IN STANDARDBRED AND THOROUGHBRED RACEHORSES

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.