ABSTRACT
FEED SPECTRUMAND FEED SELECTION Like all equids, horses are herbivores and live primarily on grasses and herbs. Depending on the habitat’s vegetation and the season, free-roaming horses also consume leaves, bark, twigs, young shoots, swamp and reed grasses, moss, and so on (34). In doing so, they differentiate carefully between the different plants; some are preferred, others rejected. This behavior is not inborn, the foal has to learn it by imitation of its dam. Feedstuffs that have been available to it in its youth leave an especially strong impression. This is also denoted as feed imprinting. In conjunction with an adaptation to certain feedstuffs, it is decisive for future feed preference. Aside from these factors, horses choose their feeds according to taste, structure, and availability rather than nutritional value. If the feed supply is rich, they are very picky. If feed is scarce, they are hungry, or have increased nutritional requirements (e.g. during pregnancy), the quantity of ingested feed becomes more important than its quality and time-consuming selective grazing is abandoned.
