What helps with a horse’s digestive issues?
Summer pasture season is often the best time of year for many horses’ digestion. But when autumn arrives with wet weather, everyday routines return: set feeding times, long-stem forage, and sandy paddocks — and often, loose piles of manure as well. But what can cause a horse’s loose manure, and what can a horse owner try to do about it?
Loose manure can be the result of many factors
Every horse is an individual, and the reasons behind digestive issues vary — so there is no single and universal treatment formula that would improve every horse’s gut.
“A horse’s loose manure can be caused by many factors — and often by the combined effect of several different factors,” says Eira Ney, nutritional therapist at Edison Equine Nutrition.
Loose manure can be linked to the horse’s environment, such as weather or temperature changes, dirty feed and water containers, or stress caused by, for example, being alone, herd dynamics, competitions, or other changes in circumstances. It can also be caused by feeding-related factors, such as forage that does not suit the horse, a feeding rhythm that doesn’t work, changes in the diet that happen too quickly, an unbalanced feeding plan, deficiencies, too little forage or too little fiber content, or unsuitable feeds — not forgetting the horse’s health status, sand and soil accumulation in the gut, parasites, gastric ulcers, dental condition, and overall pain in the horse and the stress associated with it.
Horses are individuals
There are also individual differences between horses’ digestive systems. While the horse in the neighboring stall produces consistently good manure all year round, your own horse’s manure can turn watery from even small changes.
“Every horse has an individual gut microbiota profile that reacts to different diets and feeding changes in different ways,” says Eira Ney.
For example, if the yard receives a new batch of haylage that one horse handles without any problems but that causes watery issues for another, it may be because the horse is exceptionally sensitive, or because that horse’s gut microbial population is already so out of balance that even a moderate sugar content in the new hay, a bit too much stem, or a small amount of additional microbial activity can be too much for that particular horse’s sensitive gut at that moment — and the result is loose manure or even diarrhea.
The gut can recover — when it is given the chance
The condition of the horse’s digestive tract and any existing illnesses — as well as health history, such as a tendency toward colic, gastric ulcers, or intestinal inflammation — affect gut health and the ability to digest feed.
A horse’s age also affects “gut sensitivity”: the older a horse becomes, the more sensitive it can be to changes, because intestinal activity declines with age and feed is digested and absorbed less efficiently. In addition, temperament can matter: sensitive horses tend to stress more, and often show that stress through digestive symptoms.
“What’s reassuring, however, is that we can influence the health and function of the horse’s digestive tract — and it will improve when it’s given the opportunity. But the process is long, because renewal of the microbiota can take months,” Ney notes.
It’s essential to remember that a horse with diarrhea is in recovery and should be given time to rehabilitate.
“Patience is a key factor in successful recovery. Chronic diarrhea is very hard on the horse and its body. That’s why even mild diarrhea should be taken seriously before it escalates into something truly severe,” Ney says.
Do your horse’s digestive system a favor
It’s worth planning a rehabilitative diet for the horse — one that helps restore balance in the gut microbiota and calms the situation.
“It’s also important to rule out and prevent the causes of diarrhea so the problem doesn’t recur, because every trauma leaves its mark on the digestive tract and issues recur easily unless the horse’s feeding is planned with a long-term approach.”
So do your horse’s digestive system a favor and keep these points in mind when building your horse’s diet:
8 gut-friendly tips
1. Quality long-stem forage is the foundation of everything.
One thing is certain: high-quality long-stem forage is the foundation of all feeding — and even of the horse’s overall wellbeing. It is the most important part of equine feeding, and if the forage is unsuitable, it cannot be fixed with any jar or supplement.
2. Examine what you’re putting into your horse’s mouth.
A forage analysis is important, but staring only at the numbers does not tell the whole truth about whether the feed is suitable. The hygienic quality, cultivation and preservation details, and “hands-on feel” — the level of coarseness — are also key factors in choosing forage,” says Eira Ney.
Good hay smells good. It doesn’t dust, and it doesn’t contain mold, yeast (i.e., white spots), dark or damp areas, and it shouldn’t feel warm. “A sensitive horse can react very quickly and strongly to poor-quality forage,” Eira notes.
3. Dry hay or haylage?
A “cast-iron stomach” horse will likely tolerate both dry hay and different types of preserved forage — and the forage analysis results become the more important factor. For a horse with digestive issues, however, it may be safer to feed low-sugar dry hay until the gut has calmed down.
“Of course, it can also be that a particular horse will never be a haylage eater — for some horses, the preservation method and how it affects the forage’s quality and composition simply doesn’t suit them,” says Eira Ney.
4. Leafy forage is gentler on the gut than very stemmy forage.
For a calm eater and a horse with a strong gut, even a high fiber level in hay is not usually a problem. But if a horse struggles to maintain weight or has dental issues, very stemmy hay should be avoided. “For a sensitive-gut horse, it’s also worth finding soft, leafy forage, to avoid the mechanical irritation that overly stemmy forage can cause,” says Eira Ney.
A general guideline is that the NDF value in the forage analysis should be at most 650. “NDF indicates how stemmy the sample is and gives us an idea of harvest timing, fiber content, and also palatability,” says Ney.
5. Rule of thumb for sensitive guts: sugars under 100.
A hardy horse that happily goes on brisk cart rides and tolerates everything is not easily affected by sugars, but for sensitive horses, the sugar content of hay is critical. “Forage with a high level of soluble carbohydrates negatively affects digestive function and disrupts microbial balance in the gut,” says Eira Ney.
A rule of thumb is that the sugar level of a sensitive horse’s diet should be 10% — including all feeds offered. “Of course, for some horses, such as many draft-type horses, this number needs to be pushed even lower,” says Eira.
6. Enough — and often enough.
A horse should receive 1.5–2 kg of forage dry matter per 100 kg of body weight, because the digestive tract needs enough feed mass for normal passage and flow. Timing also matters: ideally, a horse would receive forage every 3–4 hours. Without the ongoing protection provided by saliva and feed, stomach acid can burn the gastric mucosa, leading over time to issues such as ulcers, pain, stress — and diarrhea.
“When forage feeding is optimized — the horse gets enough and gets it often enough, and the hay is high-quality and suitable — you’re already a long way in feeding,” says Eira. “After that, we can focus on possible supplementary feeding,” she continues.
7. Everything that’s needed, but nothing in excess.
With a feeding plan based on forage analysis, we can ensure the horse gets everything it needs, and nothing too much. “The horse’s diet should be simple — not too many products — but it should guarantee an optimal daily intake of essential nutrients,” Ney says.
Favor gut-friendly products, and if you know your horse’s diet is going to change, support the gut with, for example, a probiotic product such as Chia de Gracia’s Gastro Clay B, Gastro Control, Tummy Saver, dandelion root, or brewer’s yeast.
8. Slow and steady wins in feed changes.
“Any changes to a horse’s feeding should be made as calmly and steadily as possible. It sometimes takes time, but as a rule of thumb I recommend 2–3 week adjustment periods,” says Eira. “Even if your horse has a strong gut, you’re doing its digestive microbiota a favor when you introduce changes gradually,” she continues.
With forage changes, acclimating to the new hay should always be done by replacing the old hay with the new at about one kilogram per week.
“Changes in hay quality or switching forage too often can negatively affect the gut microbiota if the microbial profile can’t keep up with the changes. This predisposes the horse to diarrhea, colic, laminitis, and chronic intestinal inflammation,” says Eira. “A calm transition goes a long way and ensures the horse can also utilize the feed more efficiently,” she adds.
Text produced in collaboration with the writer of the article, hummiajuttuja.fi.
