ABSTRACT
The flavour of food depends on its blend of both smell and taste. As horses can detect only the tastes of salt, sour, bitter and sweet, any other sensation must come from the smell, which contributes to the overall flavour. Whether a food tastes good or mediocre seems to determine digestive efficiency in that it stimulates the production of digestive juices in the gut. Horses, like humans and other animals, note the taste, texture and flavour (smell and taste) of their food; of these, the sense of taste is probably the most important. A horse is what he eats, so a healthy appetite must determine to a large extent whether or not he has a healthy body and, also, mind. ‘Mood food’ is the current buzz phrase in the horse world as clinical nutrition becomes better understood in relation to equine physiology, behaviour and performance.
