Four metabolism assays were carried out to btain information on the nutrient digestibility of horses feeding. Geldings without definite breed, with average of six years of age, were used. In the experiments were tested: (1) sugar cane; (2) a combination of 59.0% of sugar cane and 41.0% of whole corn grain; (3) elephant grass; (4) and sugar cane with 1.5% of urea. The average DM intake was .89, 1.11, 2.02 and 1.03% LW for sugar cane, sugar cane plus whole corn grain, elephant grass, and sugar cane plus urea, respectively. The values of the digestible energy for sugar cane, sugar cane plus whole corn grain, sugar cane plus urea and elephant grass were 2361, 3382, 2060 and 1182 kcal/kg DM, respectively. The sugar cane and sugar cane plus whole corn grain are good alternative sources of feed for equines. The elephant grass and addition of 1.5% of urea in sugar cane showed less potential as forage in the feeding of mature horses.
horse; digestibility; feed
