Effect of grass species and cutting time on in vivo digestibility of silage by horses and sheep

Using the digestibility determined by sheep led to overestimation of the energy value of forages in horse feeding. However, since the relationship between these two animals was fairly linear, sheep can be used to determine the energy value of forages for horses. Based on, the level difference in digestibilities, higher nutrient recommendations for horses have been used in some feed evaluation systems. Tall fescue silage seemed to be a suitable feed for both sheep and horses.