Keeping Your Horse's Hindgut Healthy

Like humans horses are classified as monogastrics an animal with a singlechambered stomach however unlike humans horses have a highly specialised and enlarged cecum and colon collectively known as the hindgut. In this article we investigate the role the hindgut plays in maintaining overall health the implications of an unhealthy hindgut and strategies for keeping your horses hindgut healthy.
What role does the hindgut play in maintaining overall health?
The hindgut plays some important roles in horse health including

Fibre Digestion Horses dont have the enzymes necessary to digest fibrous feeds like pasture and hay. However in their hindgut they house many millions of bacteria that exist in a symbiotic relationship with the horse. The horse provides them with somewhere warm and moist to live that has a constant supply of fibrous food which the bacteria digest via a process of fermentation. In return the bacteria give the horse a majority of the energy contained in the fibrous feeds in the form of volatile fatty acids VFAs which the horse absorbs and burns as fuel for muscle and organs.
Hydration The hindgut and the fibrous material within it provide a reservoir of water for the horse which may be absorbed when needed to keep the horse hydrated.
Electrolyte Balance The hindgut and the fibrous feeds within it also serve as a resource of electrolytes that can be absorbed when needed.
What are the implications of an unhealthy hindgut?
If the hindgut is compromised many health problems can arise including
Colic Too little fibre in the diet dehydration accumulation of dirt and sand and fermentation of grain in the hindgut are just a few situations that may lead to serious cases of colic.
Weight Loss An unhealthy hindgut that does not have access to ample forage or has unbalanced bacterial populations due to the fermentation of grain can lead to a reduced feed use efficiency and weight loss.
Diarrhea A hindgut that is irritated by the accumulation of dirt and sand or parasites rapid changing of diet ingredients too little forage or the excessive fermentation of grains can all lead to diarrhea.
Vitamin Deficiency The fermentation of grains or prolonged use of oral antibiotics can disturb bacterial populations in the hindgut which in turn leads to a reduced production of vitamins like the Bgroup vitamins and vitamin K.
Loss of Appetite Allowing grains to be fermented in the hindgut can lead to the production of thiaminase an enzyme that destroys the vitamin thiamine