03/27/2024
Shared Post from Equine, PhD
PART ONE: Hay nets and horse teeth, what do you think? Should we use them or forgo them?
Well I am excited to announce we have some research-based answers for you! We set out to evaluate this in a 2-year study and we found out this weekend that our manuscript, titled "Effect of hay nets on horse bodyweight, body condition score, hay use, and dental health in mature adult horses" was accepted by the Journal of Equine Veterinary Science! I am so excited to share the results in a two part post. This one will focus on dental health but stay tuned for part 2 where we will focus on bodyweight, body condition score, and hay usage!
Introduction: Hay nets are a common management practice used in the horse industry. They have been shown to slow down intake rate, so hay is available longer, and they reduce hay waste, which can provide financial benefits and reduce labor at horse farms. While studies have shown 73% of horse owners report using hay nets, there are still some unanswered questions regarding how they can impact the dental health of the horse, which has made some horse owners hesitant to try this management practice.
Materials and Methods: Thirteen mature geldings were used in a 2-year crossover design. During year 1, they were blocked by weight and seven were on the no hay net control (CON) and six were on the hay net (NET) treatment. These horses lived in identical neighboring pens with the only difference being NET horses had their hay placed in hay nets with 1.75”/4.45 cm openings (graciously provided by Hay Chix) while CON horses did not. At the beginning of the trial, blinded equine dentists (blind meaning they did not know which treatment each horse was on to prevent any bias) performed dental examinations on the horses where abnormalities and conditions were documented, followed by dental correction (horse teeth were floated). Incisor tooth length and the presence of bevels (slants on the incisors) were recorded before and after dental correction as well. Horses remained on these treatments for one year and digital images were taken of their mouth monthly and provided to two equine dentists so they could assess and assign a rostral oral cavity score. After the first year, horses had their dental examination and correction with the same measurements taken and they switched to the other treatment for an entire year before their teeth were evaluated a final time at the end of the study. We chose our timing so horses could be used as their own control and one year is often the recommended length between dental corrections for horses.
Results: Incisor length, the presence of bevels, dental abnormalities and conditions were the same regardless of hay net use after one year. Additionally, rostral oral cavity scores that were assessed based on factors including gingiva color and margin, chips, cracks, abrasions, feed stasis, among other things, were the same for both treatments at 47%.
Discussion: These findings suggest hay nets do not impact dental health in the horse when evaluated over the course of a year. While I have spoken with equine dentists who have reported the same anecdotal evidence to support these findings, it is important to monitor your horse's dental health regularly as there are some rare instances in which horses may eat aggressively and should be monitored with any type of feed restriction.
Conclusions: These results demonstrated that hay net use does not result in negative impacts to dental health in horses.
Funding: This research would not have been possible without funding from Hay Chix and we are so grateful for their support!
Wishing you all the best!
Dr. DeBoer
