Comparative ingestive mastication in domestic horses and cattle: a pilot investigation.
Authors: Janis C M, Constable E C, Houpt K A, Streich W J, Clauss M
Journal: Journal of animal physiology and animal nutrition
Summary
# Editorial Summary The widely held belief that horses masticate more intensively during feeding than cattle—compensating for their inability to regurgitate and re-chew food like ruminants—has never been rigorously tested, yet it underpins much of our understanding of equine jaw anatomy and feeding biomechanics. Researchers compared ingestion times and chewing rates in three horses (338–629 kg) and three cattle (404–786 kg) across four different roughage types, measuring both seconds per gram of dry matter consumed and number of chews per gram. Whilst the data trended toward horses demonstrating longer ingestion times and higher chewing intensities on fibrous forage, the small sample size prevented statistical confirmation of this apparent difference between the species. Body mass emerged as a significant variable within each species, and forage type substantially influenced mastication parameters across both groups, suggesting that feed characteristics and individual animal factors warrant consideration alongside species-level comparisons. This pilot study indicates the need for larger-scale investigations to validate long-standing assumptions about equine feeding behaviour—findings that could have implications for understanding mandibular development, muscle architecture variation, and optimal forage selection in practice.
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Practical Takeaways
- •Individual variation in chewing behaviour is substantial within both equine and bovine species, so forage selection should account for the specific animal's mastication capacity rather than assuming breed-level generalizations
- •Forage type significantly influences ingestion time and chewing intensity, suggesting that roughage characteristics should be matched to individual animals' chewing efficiency
- •While horses may chew more intensively during ingestion than cattle, this pilot study is underpowered; practitioners should await larger comparative studies before making definitive management decisions based on species-level mastication differences
Key Findings
- •Ingestion time and chewing intensity varied significantly among individual animals within species, suggesting body mass influences mastication patterns
- •Ingestion time and chewing intensity differed significantly between different forage types tested
- •Horses demonstrated numerically longer ingestion times and higher chewing intensities on high-fibre roughage compared to cattle, but this difference could not be statistically proven due to small sample size
- •The study provides preliminary evidence supporting the hypothesis that horses masticate more intensively during ingestion than cattle, but larger sample sizes are needed for definitive conclusions