USE OF FLAVORS IN HORSE FEED (SECOND TRIAL)

Derived from the previous test, a second aroma test was carried out. The main interest of this test is to know if the horses have any other aroma preferences in feed.

For the trial, a group of 26 horses of different breeds, sexes and ages were used.

The flavors tested were the following: Orange, banana, fenugreek (manufactured by Norel) Mint, cherry (another manufacturer) Control (without aroma) The different feeds were offered in this order:

Horse 1: 1^st Feed: Control, 2^nd Feed: orange, 3^rd Feed: banana, 4^th Feed: fenogreek, 5^th Feed: mint, 6^th Feed: cherry.

Horse 2: 1^st Feed: orange, 2^nd Feed: banana, 3^rd Feed: fenogreek, 4^th Feed: mint, 5^th Feed: cherry, 6^th Feed: Control.

Horse 3: 1^st Feed: banana, 2^nd Feed: fenogreek, 3^rd Feed: mint, 4^th Feed: cherry, 5^th Feed: Control, 6^th Feed: orange

And so on.

All the horses were fasting when they were presented to the 1st feed, the aromas were presented to the horses randomly so that they all had the same opportunities. Upon consumption of the 2nd feed, the horses were no longer fasting.

In this trial, both for the pelleted feed and for the extruded feed, 150 g/t of dulcoapetente 1-500 were added to the formula to improve palatability.

They were presented to the same amount of feed 675 grams per aroma, for 3 minutes; weighing immediately to obtain the actual consumption, taking care that the handling conditions were adequate to avoid waste and contamination of the feed.

The parameters that were measured were: sniffing time (seconds), feed consumption time (seconds), feed consumption during the three minutes of exposure (grams).

The results can be seen in the following graphs:

SMELLING AND INTAKE TIME IN SECONDS  

FEED INTAKE IN GRAMS

As a conclusion we can say that: The feeds with the longest sniffing time were those that were consumed the least, the feeds that were most consumed were those with the least or no sniffing time, consumption began immediately. The aromas with the longest consumption time were orange and banana. The aromas with the highest consumption in volume were also orange and banana, although orange was the aroma most accepted by the horses. The use of a sweetener in the feed is recommended to increase its attractiveness, also confirming that liquid aromas are the best application option in a mixed feed: pelleted and extruded.