Left to their own devices, horses in the wild seek out the grasses that they need, they are not required to be ridden and perform or even be handled by humans. They are not fed grains and mixes of many different ingredients. So, when horses are utilised by people and kept in restricted conditions, such as stables and paddocks, fed manufactured feeds, their digestive processes can be adversely affected. Many sport horses are not under the care of qualified professionals and with so many mixes and feeds to choose from, knowing what is best to give them is quite difficult. .
Starting with mouth and the chewing that breaks up grass and/or the feed. Then down to the stomach where some digestive process takes place in an acidic environment. The feed then passes into the small intestine where enzymes act to convert the feed into an absorbable set of nutrients that pass though the gut wall into the bloodstream. Next step is the transfer to the hindgut where microbial digestion occurs, and the residual waste is expelled via the rectum. See more about this here.
Firstly, the horses’ stomach runs with acid 24/7, even when empty. Acid in an empty stomach can damage the mucosa of the stomach wall and create painful ulcers. See more about this here.
After leaving the stomach, the food can pass quickly though the foregut, if it is a difficult mix to digest, such as grain or high fructans content, or there is too much, then due to insufficient enzymes partially digested feed moves on to the hind gut. (Richards et al., 2003), (Salem et al., 2015). This creates a problem because the microbiome cannot continue the same processing as the enzymes of the fore gut, so this partially digested amount moves further on and triggers the release of lactic acid. This causes discomfort and pain, and many horses show negative temperate and behaviour due to this reaction.
A further unwanted complication is the possibility of grass laminitis from the action of the lactic acid which kills microbes that then pass though the gut wall carrying a toxin which can result in laminitis (Crawford et al., 2007).
Another possible complication is with mouldy grains which may have a fusarium mould (this mould does not occur on paddock grasses). A mycotoxin binder can offset this (Raymond at al., 2003).
If the diet cannot be altered, then a resolution is to supplement with active ingredients that offset the above problems.
Digest-Rite Sport + provides:
Vetpro Digest-Rite Sport+ is a nutritional supplement formulated for both sport and performance horses whose diets are based on pasture and some hard feed.
Vetpro Digest-Rite Sport+ provides three digestive enzymes. Alpha-amylase and beta-glucanase assist with the digestion of sugars and starch, while xylanase helps with the digestion of fibre, improving the release of nutrients and decreasing gas.
Because horses lack enough enzymes necessary to break down all the soluble sugars found in young grasses, undigested feed can pass into the large intestine, or hindgut, where it undergoes bacterial fermentation. Vetpro Digest-Rite Sport+ provides enzymes which assist digestion to help prevent undigested feed passing to the hindgut.
Vetpro Digest-Rite Sport+ should be fed to sport and performance horses receiving a grass diet, or a combination of grass and hard feed, and those grazing pastures where conditions are likely to cause nutritional problems.
Vetpro Digest-Rite Sport+ contains no prohibited substances, so it can be safely fed before and during competition.
For an average 500 kg horse, feed 50 g per day, divided with the feeds or fed in one dose. With horses going onto fresh or spring pastures, increase to 75 g for that period.
Dosage: Average 500 kg horse.
50 g per day, divided with the feeds or fed in one dose.
With horses going onto fresh or spring pastures, increase to 75 g for that period.
Available sizes: 2 kg, 5 kg and 20 kg bags.
Key ingredients:
Competition use: Digest-Rite Sport+ contains no prohibited substances, so it can be safely fed before and during competition.
Crawford, C., Sepulveda, M. F., Elliott, J., Harris, P. A., & Bailey, S. R. (2007). Dietary fructan carbohydrate increases amine production in the equine large intestine: Implications for pasture-associated laminitis. Journal of Animal Science, 85(11), 2949-2958. https://doi.org/10.2527/jas.2006-600
Józefiak, D., Komosa, M., Maćkowiak, P., Prószyńska-Oszmałek, E., Kołodziejski, P., Świątkiewicz, S., Rawski, M., Kierończyk, B., Bedford, M. R., & O’Neil, H. V. M. (2020). Exogenous fibrolytic enzymes improve carbohydrate digestion in exercising horses. Journal of Animal and Feed Sciences, 29(1), 35–45. https://doi.org/10.22358/jafs/118207/2020
Kampf, D., Rovers, M., & De Conti Horta, F. (2012). Yeast cell walls in animal nutrition: Differentiation and specific properties of MOS and beta-1,3/1,6-glucans [Conference presentation].
Raymond, S. L., Smith, T. K., & Swamy, H. V. L. N. (2003). Effects of feeding a blend of grains naturally contaminated with Fusarium mycotoxins on feed intake, serum chemistry, and haematology of horses, and the efficacy of a polymeric glucomannan mycotoxin adsorbent. Journal of Animal Science, 81(9), 2123-2130. https://doi.org/10.2527/2003.8192123x
Richards, N., Choct, M., Hinch, G. N., & Rowe, J. B. (2003). Equine alpha-amylase: Does it limit starch digestion in the small intestine of the horse? Recent Advances in Animal Nutrition in Australia, 14, 191-196.
Salem, A. Z. M., Elghandour, M. M. Y., Kholif, A. E., Odongo, N. E., Jimenez, F. J. P., Montes-de-Oca, R., Dominguez, I. A., & Dibarrat, J. A. (2015). The effect of feeding horses a high fiber diet with or without exogenous fibrolytic enzymes supplementation on nutrient digestion, blood chemistry, fecal coliform count, and in vitro fecal fermentation. Journal of Equine Veterinary Science, 35(9), 735-743. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jevs.2015.07.009
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