7 Ways to improve yor horse's Gastrointestinal Health

to improve your horse’s gastrointestinal health

by Erika Gough

The equine ‘microbiome’ is certainly a buzzword in the horse community at the moment, but does it deserve the attention it’s getting?

In short, ‘yes’! The microbiome of your horse absolutely deserves your attention. Changes within the microbiome can result in diseases such as colic, diarrhoea, inflammation of the intestinal lining, laminitis and possibly more. These issues are all causes of equine mortality so it’s not just important, it’s crucial!

What even is a microbiome anyway?

The microbiome is the diverse community of microorganisms that live inside the horse’s gastrointestinal tract (GIT). The makeup of the microbiome is influenced by genetics, diet, environment and changes to the equilibrium of the GIT. Without a microbiome a horse simply can’t digest food. The microbiome also produces some vitamins, particularly B vitamins.

What’s really cool/interesting/scary is that research is emerging that the microbiome is involved in more than just digestion of feed and creation of vitamins. The microbiome is thought to interact with the immune system and aspects of metabolism, stomach acid and the insulin response.

When the microbiome is upset, it could end up resulting in inflammation, colic, diarrhoea, laminitis and possibly also other health conditions. In fact, issues with your horse’s gut can even cause behavioural issues, sorting out the health of your horse’s gut is at the core of good horse health and performance.

So how can I improve the health of my horse’s microbiome and gastrointestinal health?

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1

Employ the 3 ‘Fs’ - Friends, forage and freedom

Friends - Horse’s are herd animals, they need companionship - and unfortunately this doesn’t just mean you visiting for two hours a day. Horses require constant companionship, usually with one or more other horses, although some horses can form strong bonds with other animals such as cows and sheep. For some horses, a friend over the fence that they can see and touch is enough and for some it isn’t. Some need to be in a paddock with at least one friend.

Forage - Constant access to forage (hay and/or pasture). That means 24/7/365. If your horse is overweight, use slow-feeder nets (or double net your hay), or use a grazing muzzle or track system. Your horse needs a minimum of between 1.5-2% of its body weight in forage per day to maintain a healthy GIT.

Freedom - this means being able to move freely. In humans, regular exercise contributes to good heart health and healthy body weight. Research has suggested that exercise may also improve gut health. Horses need to be able to move freely, this means limiting stabling and/or yarding in a small area as much as possible.

To put it simply, the best way to damage your horse’s microbiome is to house it in a small space, by itself, and feed minimal hay (and lots of grain).

2

Limit stress/pain Limiting stress is important for many aspects of health, including gut health. Research has shown that psychological stressors can disrupt the microorganisms in the intestines, even if the stress is only short-lived. Continued.

Continued Stress and pain are also closely linked, so a poorly fitting saddle, sharp teeth or badly aligned feet may actually be harming your horse’s GIT health.

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Humans tend to find too much work, travel and competition stressful. We also find issues with our interpersonal relationships very stressful. While direct parallels can be drawn to horses finding work, travel and competition stressful, the relationship breakdown for horses may equate to being separated from their herd/paddock mate, a member of the herd leaving, loneliness from being constantly stabled, paddocked alone without being able to see any other horses, and so on. Horse’s that require stabling due to an injury are especially at risk due to the stress of the injury, possible use of bute and/or antibiotics and the stress of being in a stable. For these horses, it’s imperative to ensure they have constant access to hay and a companion they can at least see.

Stress and pain are also closely linked, so a poorly fitting saddle, sharp teeth or badly aligned feet may also actually be harming your horse’s GIT health.

Making slow changes to a horse’s diet will ensure that the microbiome has time to adapt to the new feed and will reduce the chance of any damage to it.

4

Limit antibiotics/bute/toxins/chemicals It is widely accepted that antibiotics can disrupt a horse’s microbiome and immunity. Some research reports that even six months after the use of antibiotics, the gut still lacks several species of beneficial bacteria. Of course there will be times you absolutely need to use antibiotics, but try to limit their use whenever possible.

It’s also a good idea to limit the use of bute. Like antibiotics there will be times it’s imperative, but always talk to your vet about the amount of time and quantity you absolutely MUST use.

Similarly, limit (as much as possible) a horse’s exposure to toxins.

This means doing faecal egg counting rather than worming on a schedule, buying hay that you know to be clean and mould-free and making sure you know what you’re putting into your horse’s body and have a good reason for it. Of course the same should go with topical products such as fly-sprays, shampoos, topical hoof products and so on.

5

Limit grain For humans, eating a lot of sugar or artificial sweeteners can cause GIT imbalances. These ingredients can influence the brain and behaviour. The equine equivalent to sugar can probably be defined as high sugar and starch feeds such as molasses, grains and many of the highly processed pelleted feeds.

Take the time and effort to understand what you’re feeding your horse and why you’re feeding it. Does your horse really need grain in its diet? There are so many great alternatives to feeding grains such as beet pulp, soybean hulls, lupins, copra or even just more hay, it’s certainly worth looking into, particularly if your horse suffers from gastrointestinal issues.

3

Never make sudden changes to your horse’s diet

The microbiome is sensitive to change. Sudden changes in diet, especially those involving sugars and starches (i.e. grains and grain by-products) can lead to hindgut acidosis, colic, and laminitis. In fact, even the Humane Society’s ‘Rules of feeding your horse’ recommends that any changes to a horse’s diet are made gradually.

Slowly means over two to four weeks, depending on how big the changes are and the health of the horse. If you’re only making small changes and the changes don’t involve any grains then two weeks is probably enough. If clients have horses with known or suspected gastrointestinal issues or the diet is being completely overhauled, I recommend taking up to four weeks to make any changes.

The simplest way to make changes to your horse’s diet over four weeks is to divide everything you feed into five equal parts. In the first week, change one fifth of the old for one fifth of the new, the next week two fifths of the old for two fifths of new and so on.

For example - if you’re changing 1kg of barley for 1kg of lupins, each week add in 200 grams of lupins and take out 200 grams of barley, and by the end of the fourth week you’ll have completely changed over.

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Beet pulp

Copra

There are so many great alternatives to feeding grains such as beet pulp, soybean hulls, lupins copra or even just more hay, it’s certainly worth looking into.

In humans, there is research proving that there is two-way communication between the brain and the gut. It’s referred to as the ‘gut-brain axis’ (GBA). It involves pathways between both cognitive and emotional parts of the brain and intestinal functions.

Evidence suggests that the microbiome plays an important role in the GBA structure. Studies in mice and humans suggest that depletion of gut bacteria caused by antibiotics early in life may be a factor in more intense and long-lasting pain, and disorders like inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) later in life.

A Scottish researcher did an experiment where unhandled ponies were split into two groups and fed a high-starch (HS) or highfibre (HF) diet for 14 days. Tests found ponies were more reactive and more easily startled on the high-starch diet. Samples from each pony’s digesta (food in the digestive tract), gut tissues, and brain tissues were collected post-mortem. Compared to those on the high-fibre diet, ponies on the HS diet; had lower hindgut bacteria diversity, decreased bacteria involved in fibre digestion and increased bacteria associated with laminitis.

6

Consider if a gastrointestinal supplement such as a probiotic may be an option for your horse

There are hundreds of gastrointestinal supplements for horses on the market. However, without having a basic understanding of what your horse’s issues might be, and what the active ingredients in each supplement are (and what they do), you’re really just guessing. This can end up being a very expensive exercise that gets few results.

While there is limited research to suggest how much and which probiotics are of assistance to horses there is, however, certainly evidence to suggest such things can assist in the health of the human microbiome. The yeast saccharomyces cerevisiae is perhaps the best researched equine probiotic and can assist with fermentation/digestion of fibre in the diet, the balance of gut pH and can also help nutrient absorption.

Mannan oligosaccharide (MOS) is extracted from the outer cell wall of saccharomyces cerevisiae and its primary role is to block bacteria that can lead to infections. It also works to bind to bacteria so they can’t attach to the GIT lining.

It’s probably worth noting that if your horse is a healthy weight with no digestive issues, pre-and probiotics are not likely to be of much benefit.

7

Feed your horse prebiotic fibre Prebiotics are non-living, non-digestible food ingredients that stimulate healthy intestinal microbe growth and/or activity.

To put it simply, prebiotics are food for probiotics. Common examples of prebiotics in the equine diet include beet pulp, oat hulls, soy hulls, and fructooligosaccharides (FOS).

How you manage and feed your horse plays the largest role in maintaining a healthy GIT and microbiome, this in turn helps to achieve better overall health and immune function. While supplements may assist if you have an issue, supplements fed without making changes to management are likely to have limited effect.

Potent add on feed supplement for optimal GUT HEALTH Australia's Most Potent and Diverse * PROBIOTIC 56 billion CFU per kg multiply species of Lactobacillus, Bifidobacterium, Enterococcus, Bacillus and Streptococcus *PREBIOTIC 1210 billion CFU per kg

*MARSHMALLOW ROOT A mucilage, meaning it has the effect of soothing irritated gut membranes *BETA GLUCAN Shown to increase population of Lactobacillus & Bifidobacterium species *MOS Both a Prebiotic & Toxin Binder. Increasing good microbial population and gently removing pathogens from the gut. *TOXIN BINDERS In addition to MOS we also include Diatomaceous Earth & Kaolinite Clay.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Erika Gough-Inside Out Equine Health Erika is a qualified equine nutritionist who studied at the Australian College of Animal Tactile Therapy (ACATT), and has a BA in International Studies (RMIT) from a previous life.

Erika owns and runs Inside Out Equine Health, a Melbournebased company, offering nutritional advice, diet analysis and faecal egg counting. e: insideoutequinehealth@gmail.com p: 0406 743 165 w: www.insideoutequinehealth.com

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