## 3 Results and Discussion
### Effect of Breed and Finishing Diet on Fatty Acids Profile
In the same manner, in fact, the D2 group showed significantly greater (\(p<0.001\)) \(n\)-3 PUFA contents than the D1 group (5.25 _vs._ 3.43 g/100 g of fat, respectively). These outcomes could be justified mostly by the higher (\(p<0.05\)) amounts of C18:3\(n\)-3 and LC \(n\)-3 recorded in the D2 group in comparison to the D1 one. These data are comparable to the values obtained in scientific literature [2; 4], including studies about semi-extensively reared foals. On the contrary, our results were lower than those obtained from foals managed under extensive conditions [9; 49; 50], characterized by a considerable deposition of \(n\)-3 PUFAs. According to studies, C18:3\(n\)-3 is generally found in grass, accounting for between 50-60% of the total fatty acid profile, and its content in meat can be directly correlated to the dietary (pasture and silage) intake of the animal [20]. Moreover, [PERSON] et al. [51] stated that a specific pancreatic enzyme (pancreatic lipase related protein 2), able to hydrolyze the C18:3\(n\)-3 esterified in plant galactolipids, is exclusively present in horses, allowing the deposition of this fatty acid in equine tissues. Recent studies pointed out that while SFAs and MUFAs result mainly from de novo synthesis, PUFAs result principally from the diet [52]. Therefore, and taking into account a previous comment, considering the diets of our groups, the high level of C18:3\(n\)-3 in the D2 group could be expected. In fact, silage contained the greatest amounts (53.71% of total FA) of this valuable fatty acid, as shown in Table 1. Thus, coinciding with the literature [2; 10], our outcomes confirmed that diet could be considered the main source of variation in the fatty acid composition of foal meat, and C18:3\(n\)-3 is principally responsible for higher \(n\)-3 contents. On the other hand, similar \(n\)-6 levels were found among groups (\(p>0.05\)). Overall, these results may be expected, considering the composition and lipid profile of diets showed in Table 1, where D1 recorded higher fat percentage, SFA and MUFA contents and lower PUFA amounts compared with the \"ingredients\" of D2. As a consequence, diet had also a significant impact on nutritional indices, where D2 reported better values than the D1 group. In particular, the D2 group presented a more favorable (_p_ < 0.001) _n_-6/_n_-3 ratio than D1 (2.00 _vs._ 2.97, respectively), albeit both treatments complied with the recommended values for human health, recording values less than 4 [47]. Furthermore, our outcomes reported lower values than those observed in most of the recent studies about foal meat [2; 10; 44; 45]; whereas, D2 reported significantly greater (_p_ < 0.001) PUFA/SFA values than D1 (0.49 _vs._ 0.40, respectively), and in line with the recommendations (>0.4) [48]. Other authors [18; 20; 43] published outcomes higher than ours. However, our data can be considered better than those recorded for beef and sheep meat [46]. Moreover, D2 foals recorded the lowest (_p_ < 0.001) TI (0.83 _vs._ 0.94, respectively) and AI (0.72 _vs._ 0.76, respectively) (_p_ < 0.01) values and the highest h/H ratios (1.54 _vs._ 1.48, respectively) (even not significantly), according to the recommendations [41; 42]. [PERSON] et al. [20] observed higher TI values than our levels, but a similar AI value in female BU foals slaughtered at 24 months of age. As regards the h/H ratio, our results were higher than those described in Catria horses [45]. As a consequence, the results suggest that D2 improved the fatty acid profile and nutritional value of foal meat, confirming that the type of finishing diet has the potential to affect both FA composition and the nutritional properties of meat. Considering the four groups, in line with our outcomes, JN-D2 was suggested to be the group with a promising fatty acid and nutritional profile. Nonetheless, no significant interactions between the main categories (breed \(\times\) finishing diet) were found (_p_ > 0.05), except for cis-vaccenic acid (C18:1_n_-7).