Whether we are talking about sport or breeding horses, the basis of good food management is based on choosing a good forage food, as well as providing that food in adequate amounts. This is because, as horses are herbivorous animals, they are prepared from an anatomophysiological point of view to supply a large part of their energy needs through the digestion of fibrous food.
Fibrous food digestion
With regard to the digestion of fibrous food, this occurs by microbial fermentation in the cecum and colon, with the support of a resident microflora consisting of bacteria, protozoa and yeasts. These fermentation processes result in volatile fatty acids (VFAs), which are absorbed into the bloodstream and converted into glucose for immediate use, or stored in the form of fat, constituting energy reserves for future use.
The forage source should therefore be seen as a fundamental energy resource, but it is not limited to this role alone. The availability of fodder food, in adequate quantity or ?ad libitum?, is beneficial from the behavioral, gastrointestinal and nutritional points of view.
- behavioral
Giving forage feed is an essential factor for the performance of the equine's physiological behavior, insofar as it allows the horse to reproduce its behavior in a natural environment, providing a continuous intake over time, reducing behavioral problems (known as "tantrums").
- Gastrointestinal
Providing forage feed contributes to adequate intestinal motility.
This food is necessary for the maintenance of an adequate resident intestinal flora, the relationship between the intestinal microbiota and the horse being symbiotic (both parties benefit). The horse needs this microbial flora (mainly composed of cellulolytic bacteria) to digest fiber. Fiber, in turn, is necessary for this microbiota to remain stable, preventing a growing development of lactic acid-producing bacteria that promote intestinal acidity, making the environment more favorable to the development of pathogenic bacteria such as coli and the Salmonella.
Continued chewing associated with fibrous food contributes to an increase in salivation, and saliva naturally contains bicarbonate that acts as a buffer, promoting an increase in gastric pH and contributing to the prevention of problems associated with gastric acidity, such as Down Syndrome. Equine Gastric Ulceration so prevalent in the athlete horse.
Fiber also contributes to the retention of water at the intestinal level, and the large intestine works as an important reservoir of water, available when the horse needs it, preventing dehydration and electrolyte depletion in prolonged efforts.
- nutritional
Fibrous feed, in addition to being an energy source, is also a source of minerals and vitamins that are important for the horse. It is also relevant as a fermentable substrate for the intestinal microbiota, which has the ability to produce some B vitamins.
to retain:
- Forage feed is essential from an energy point of view and for maintaining a healthy gastrointestinal tract, and in quantity it should correspond to about 1.5% of the horse's live weight and constitute about 60% of the total feed supplied (minimum 50%).
- Insufficient fiber intake contributes to the development of behavioral problems ("tantrums"), intestinal acidosis, intestinal dysbiosis, gastric ulcers, "colic", among other problems.