The 3 most important things your horse needs to maintain digestive health, do you know them?
Proper digestion and a healthy balanced microbiome in your horse is very important but often overlooked. Alot of us spend countless hours researching supplements and how to care for horses, if your horse is exhibiting some kind of symptoms the first thing we do is look up that symptom…but the symptom is not the cause of an issue, its only a sign of the cause. If you manage to find a supplement or course of action for a symptom does that resolve the cause? No, it just masks a symptom for a while until another one shows up not resolving the cause.
For many of our horses that have little to no grazing time, have more stressful jobs, have gotten injured or ill or are hauled often, it is necessary to repair and help maintain their digestive systems with supplementation. For horses that live in a pasture and are able to graze constantly, most will get these naturally. However we must be mindful that any illness or stress, use of antibiotics or changes of seasons or the herd can upset the microbiome no matter what your horses environment is.
Think about this for a minute, your spending alot of cash giving your horse all these supplements to help him but not getting the results. How does your horse process all the nutrients that go into his body? Right, thru his digestive system! So, if your horses digestive microbiome is not balanced and working properly what do you think is happening to all those expensive supplements you are giving him? Right again! You have some expensive poop!
The first step in any good nutrition program is a healthy and balanced digestive system, it is the foundation to enable your horse to properly process and use the nutrients they ingest. For horses to maintain a healthy microbiome they need prebiotics, equine probiotics and digestive enzymes.
1. An Equine Prebiotic
A prebiotic is a non-digestible food component that promotes the growth of beneficial microorganisms in the intestines. This helps maintain a healthy environment for the microbiome that supports proper function of a horse’s digestive tract. In your horses large intestine there are over 400 different kinds of protozoa, fungi, and bacteria . It is essential to feed an equine digestive supplement that supports this microbial environment.
2. An Equine Probiotic
The digestive system is full of beneficial bacteria and microorganisms that are so important to the health and balance of the body. The strains of bacteria that are known to benefit the body are probiotics. Using species specific probiotics is best. There is alot of supplements that say they contain probiotics. But take care to make sure they contain active or optimal probiotic strains for your horse’s GI tract. Also your horse needs the support for balanced pH and the environment of the GI tract.
3. The Equine Digestive Enzymes
Enzymes are what make chemical reactions in the cells happen. In your horse’s body are trillions of cells, and there are different cells for different functions.The horse’s small intestine utilizes enzymes for digestion, so it is important to supplement with equine specific enzymes. They are vital for life and serve a wide range of functions in the body, this includes aiding in digestion and metabolism.
Remember when looking for a digestive supplement, species specific, clean and organic. If you would like help in finding one for your horse I’m here to help. Just email me!
I Hope you enjoyed this post, please feel free to comment and share! Robin
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