History of equine nutrition research

In the first half of the 19th century research on the nutrition of horses startet. It grew slowly up to 1900, than moderate - except for war decades - and made important progress after 1970 (fig. 1). Up to 1965 60-80 % of all publications on horse nutrition originated from Europe, up to 1940 mainly from Germany. After 1965 the main research shifted to North America. In other non-europeon countries research in this field started more intensively since 1970. Nearly up to the middle of the 20th century research on digestive physiology was based on post mortem analysis. After introduction of the fistula technique (1950-70) rapid progress took place, supported by models known from ruminant research. Up to 1950 important knowledge had been accumulated about the metabolism of energy, calcium, phosphorus, magnesium and iodine, partly induced by deficiency diseases. The research on these topics continued in the second half of the 20th century and was extended to proteins, electrolytes, trace elements (Se, Cu) and vitamins. The improved understanding of the intestinal metabolism deepened the understanding of the metabism of proteins and B-vitamins. Since the early beginning the specific investigations on digestive physiology and the metabolism of the nutrients were accompanied by feeding experiments, which tested feedstuffs, rations, feeding techniques as well as recommendations about nutrient requirements in various horse groups.