Oral Presentation Fourth Biennial Australian Industrial Hemp Conference 2024

Feeding industrial hemp flour to horses results in non-detectable concentrations of tetrahydrocannabinol and cannabidiol in plasma (#42)

Mark C Barnett 1
  1. MTB Equine Consultancy Services, Willow Tree, NSW, Australia

Introduction

There are two main active chemical compounds in hemp, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD). Both compounds are currently banned under racing and FEI regulations. Industrial hemp is naturally extremely low in THC and CBDs. With the known nutritional and health benefits of fibre (Raspa 2022) and Omega 3 oils in horse diets, industrial hemp has become a popular feed choice but, with THC and CBD being banned substances for competition horses, there is hesitation in using hemp as a horse feed. We, therefore, tested to see if feeding horses over a medium term at realistic quantities expected in a performing horse’s daily diet, would present any levels of THC and CBD concentrations in the blood.

Methods

  • 10 horses (Thoroughbred & Arabian)
  • Fed a commercial pelleted hemp flour feed at a rate of 600g/100kg body weight
  • Balance of daily diet being grass pasture and lucerne/alfalfa hay to meet recommended daily energy intake in accordance with NRC (2007)
    • Pasture intake estimated (Siciliano 2012).
  • Weights measured start and end of experiment
  • 10mL venous (jugular) blood sample taken 5 different times over four weeks
    • T-1, T1, T7, T14 and T28 days
    • Minimum levels of THC and CBD detectible was 50 µg/L blood

Results and discussion

All horses gained weight over the trial period (6.2 ± 1.6 kg). There were no detectable levels of THC or CBD in any of the samples for any of the horses involved in the study at any stage.

Industrial hemp has the potential to become another high quality, highly fermentable fibre with great nutritional benefits for horses. Far too many health issues in horses relate specifically around the overfeeding of grains and grain-based feeds to horses who are not physiologically developed to each of these types of feeds in such high volumes (often up to 5 to 7kg a day). Zero detectible levels of the banned substances, THC and CBD, opens the potential for industrial hemp to be fed to performance horses, enhancing potential health benefits with sustainable performance and energy.

Conclusion

Non-detectable levels of both THC and CBD in the plasma of horses fed realistic concentrations of industrial hemp flour feed suggests that industrial hemp potentially could be included in the diets of performance horses without the risk of suspension. This opens up the potential for enhancing performance and health in high performing equine athletes with the daily inclusion of a high-fibre industrial hemp feed

  1. 1. Raspa F, et al (2022) A high-starch vs. high-fibre diet: effects on the gut environment of the different intestinal compartments of the horse digestive tract. BMC Veterinary Research 18 (187), https://bmcvetres.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12917-022-03289-2
  2. 2. Siciliano PD (2012) Estimation of pasture dry matter intake and its practical application in grazing management for horses. In: Proc 10th Atl. Nutr. Conf., (eds. Timonium MA, Zimmermann NG)