Digestive health ranks among the most important parts of overall wellness and performance in horses. The digestive system has a direct influence on many other systems throughout the horse’s body. At the same time, it is also the area of equine health most easily disrupted by modern management practices.
How well the equine digestive tract functions has an impact on fertility, body condition, immunity, cognition, hoof health, energy, and more. For that reason, GI tract health should not be treated as a small, separate piece of horse management.
Gastrointestinal problems can cause negative effects throughout your horse’s body, while a healthy digestive system can help lower the risk of other health issues. Read on to learn how consistent GI tract health management can support optimal nutrition, performance, and behavior in your horse.
Every part of your horse’s body depends on nutrients absorbed in the gastrointestinal tract. When poor digestive function limits nutrient absorption, these systems do not receive what they need to keep your horse healthy. The digestive tract also plays a major role in immunity and in other pathways throughout the body.
Stallions and mares require specific nutrients from their diets to support reproductive processes. However, research shows that the demands of breeding can make these horses more prone to digestive problems that lower nutrient absorption. (Mantovani, 2011)
Even when breeding horses are fed balanced diets designed to support fertility, poor GI tract health can keep them from getting these essential nutrients. Providing nutritional support that promotes optimal digestive function can therefore help support fertility during the breeding season.
Part of the effect digestion has on fertility comes from the influence of body condition on overall health. Still, a healthy weight matters for every horse, not only breeding mares and stallions.
Your horse’s weight directly reflects how well he is getting the energy he needs from his diet. Poor body condition despite a balanced diet can point to underlying digestive problems, while a healthy body condition is a common outward sign of good GI tract health.
The equine digestive system is closely tied to immune function. Roughly 80% of the equine immune system interacts with the gastrointestinal tract. (Dicks, 2014) This interaction helps protect the horse from harmful microbes taken in along with feed.
The gut microbiota also serves an important protective role by competing with these pathogens. However, disruptions to the populations of beneficial intestinal bacteria can weaken this protection, which makes supporting hindgut health critical for a strong immune system.
Recent research on the gut-brain-microbiota axis in horses has shown that GI tract health can have a significant effect on behavior. The vagus nerve links the brain directly to the GI tract, and microbial disruptions in the gut can set off disruptive signals in the nervous system. (Destrez, 2019)
Stress hormones affect both the digestive system and the brain. As a result, supporting GI tract health can help promote a balanced brain in performance horses that face higher levels of stress.
Strong hooves and a healthy digestive tract are both vital to equine health and performance. These structures are also closely connected, and hoof quality can serve as another outward sign of your horse’s digestive health.
The horse’s hoof depends on essential amino acids, vitamins, and minerals for steady growth and structural integrity. Poor digestive function can prevent these nutrients from being absorbed well and can compromise hoof quality. A balanced microbiome and a healthy gut are therefore essential for keeping feet strong. (Burns, 2021)
Some feeding practices meant to support energy levels in athletic horses can actually have the opposite effect because of the negative impact high-starch grains have on equine GI tract health.
Nutritional management for performance horses should focus on maintaining a healthy digestive system so these horses can absorb the energy they need from their diets. Horses get most of their dietary energy from fiber that is digested by beneficial microbes in the hindgut, so a balanced microbiota is essential to supporting energy levels. (Richardson, 2016)
Other areas of equine health linked to the gut include:
The benefits of consistent GI tract health management reach well beyond the gastrointestinal tract. Nutritional support that addresses the whole digestive tract also affects your horse’s entire body by promoting optimal nutrition, performance, and behavior.
Your horse needs a balanced diet that supplies all the nutrients required for every body system to function at its best. Healthy digestion also supports a good appetite, which encourages horses to eat enough forage and feed to meet their nutritional needs.
Proper digestive function is also critical for horses to make use of their feed and absorb the nutrients their diet supplies. Put simply, horses cannot benefit from good nutrition without good GI tract health.
Nutrient deficiencies that result from poor GI tract health can also lead to poor performance. When horses do not receive the nutrients they need for energy, agility, and strength, they are unable to perform at their best.
A healthy, well-nourished horse stands out in the show arena, but digestive imbalances can pull your horse’s attention away from his job. A balanced gut supports a balanced body, which means peak performance is only possible with a healthy gut.
Discomfort caused by poor digestive health can contribute to behavior problems that hold back performance and make horses difficult to handle. After all, horses can only focus on what you are asking of them when they feel comfortable.
For this reason, maintaining GI tract health is critical for encouraging desirable behavior in horses and keeping them comfortable on the road and in the ring.
Consistent digestive support from SUCCEED® Digestive Conditioning Program® can help promote overall horse health and performance. This nutritional supplement provides ingredients that support the health of the entire equine GI tract, which in turn supports the health of your horse’s whole body. Its key ingredients include:
Feeding SUCCEED® every day can reveal the whole-body changes a new gut health routine is able to make in your horse.
