Description
Digestion
Digestion begins in the stomach, here food is mixed with gastric juices, stomach acid and digestive enzymes. Horses produce stomach acid continuously. By nature, the horse eats small amounts throughout the day and the stomach is almost constantly at work. In addition, plenty of saliva enters the stomach, which provides a buffering effect. In the past, and in some cases still, we used to give horses two to three feedings of roughage per day. Fortunately, there is a growing awareness that it is better for a horse to get small bits throughout the day. This is because when feeding in large amounts, only a few times a day, the horse quickly goes more than four hours without food. Because the stomach does produce stomach acid continuously and no food + saliva enter the stomach, the acid can attack the stomach wall. This causes gastric ulcers. These occur mainly at the border with the upper part of the stomach, where the pH is higher. This part cannot withstand an acidic environment.
To protect the stomach wall from an acidic environment, the horse can use support in some situations. Lithothamne is well suited for this purpose; it consists of calcined red sea algae and has a positive effect on normal acidity in the stomach.
Intestinal flora
The blind and large intestines are the two most important and largest parts of the digestive system. This is mainly where roughage is broken down by bacteria. This is also known as fermentation. The bacteria in the blind and colon, known as the intestinal flora, are the source for the production of the B vitamins.
The bacteria in the blind and colon are somewhat specific to what food the horse eats. It can take 2-3 weeks for these bacteria to adapt to a new diet. Therefore, feed changes should be gradual so that the bacteria do not become unbalanced. If the intestinal flora is out of balance, it is recommended that the horse be given additional support in this regard. This can be done with the addition of yeast and extra B vitamins. Yeast itself is a source of B vitamins and helps with fermentation so that the intestinal flora can be rebuilt.