ASK THE EXPERT.
HAPPY GUT, HAPPY HORSE GUT ISSUES IN HORSES CAN HAVE WIDE RANGING SYMPTOMS FROM LOSS OF PERFORMANCE TO DIARRHOEA AND COLIC. WE SPOKE WITH INDEPENDENT NUTRITIONIST DR LUCY WILLIAMSON TO UNDERSTAND MORE ABOUT HOW USING FIBRE AND PRE-BIOTICS CORRECTLY CAN HELP YOUR HORSE COPE WITH THE STRESS OF TRAINING AND COMPETITION.
“T
he signi cance of gut health and its impact on well eing for humans has ecome increasingly ac nowledged in recent years, ut ta ing care of the gut can also ha e important ene ts for health and performance in horses too, e plains ucy. In the wild, horses gra e for up to hours a day and are largely sedentary. his low stress lifestyle with plenty of roughage little and often is ideal for the design of the e uine digesti e system, eeping stomach acid le els consistent and pro iding plenty of re for hindgut health. tress e perienced in the domesticated horse can increase acid production leading to stomach ulceration and can also reduce fa oura le acteria in the hindgut. ut acteria the gut micro iome in the large intestine hindgut of horses ferment re that has passed through the stomach and small intestine, producing products needed for health. In humans these are itamins, uilding loc s for proteins and hormones plus other chemicals which can reduce in ammation, pre ent allergies and support the immune system. his same process happens in the hindgut of horses with e ual importance to their health, she says.
In horses, the diet of which is mainly ased on re, fermentation plays a more important role in digestion than in humans. he e uine hindgut is made of two parts, the caecum and colon and the ene cial acteria here are ery signi cant to their health. hese hindgut acteria uild up o er time during the horse’s early life the foal in the wom is sterile’ and is rst e posed to gut acteria in the irth canal. olostrum includes li uid re which then encourages the de elopment of this rst colony of gut acteria the foal then ta es re from its diet after weaning to nurture these acteria further. We now that reduced turnout is a stressor in itself, ut importantly also reduces re inta e. orses gain of their energy from re, so it’s clear why less re can affect performance, ut unfortunately we don’t yet now how much is enough’, comments ucy. arly signs that there is a gut im alance can include loose droppings, ut ecause the acteria ha e such a wide range of health ene ts, it can also result in general symptoms such as a poor coat or loss of performance. esearch associates poor hindgut health with increased ris of colic too. Anti iotics can also affect gut health, noc ing out ene cial acteria, with the results often seen as loss of condition or the onset of allergies following treatment for an unrelated condition. Any trauma within the gut can also upset the alance of acteria, for e ample, a out of ulceration or colic will ha e a negati e impact on the hindgut, slowing the horse’s reco ery e en when the ulcers ha e een addressed. wners now their horses well with increased nowledge of the hindgut and how it lin s to their horse’s health, they are est placed to see the impro ements, which will ary with each indi idual horse. LEFT: THE PRE-BIOTIC SEA BUCKTHORN CONTAINS A MULTITUDE OF NUTRIENTS AND CAN BE USEFUL IN REGAINING OR MAINTAINING GUT BALANCE.
BRITISH DRESSAGE // Issue 3 2021 // 43
