Natural Feeding and the Importance of Stable Blood Sugar Levels in Horses
Introduction
Horses possess a unique digestive system that differentiates them from ruminant animals like cows, which have a four-chambered stomach, including a rumen. Horses, as non-ruminant herbivores, have a single-chambered stomach, similar to humans, often referred to as the “simple stomach” or “monogastric” stomach. Their digestive anatomy makes them adept at efficiently digesting forage such as grasses and hay but less suited for processing concentrates or hard feed, which can include grains like oats, corn, and barley. This paper emphasizes the critical role of natural feeding in maintaining a horse’s digestive health and explores the implications of modern feeding practices on their well-being.
Horses and Their Digestive System
Horses possess a relatively limited capacity for enzymatic digestion of starches and sugars in their small intestine, setting them apart from ruminant animals like cows with specialized structures for carbohydrate digestion. Horses have small stomachs with a rapid rate of passage, reducing the time for enzymatic digestion. The small intestine has a limited capacity for handling large quantities of rapidly digested sugars and starches, potentially leading to issues such as colic, laminitis, and insulin resistance.
When undigested starches reach the hindgut, they can disrupt the balance of beneficial bacteria, leading to potential issues like colic and colitis. This fermentation in the hindgut can produce lactic acid, causing hindgut acidosis. Horses are less efficient at digesting and utilizing dietary protein compared to ruminants, potentially leading to the excretion of excess protein as waste.
What is Natural Feeding?
Given these limitations in their digestive system, it’s crucial to carefully manage a horse’s diet to ensure their well-being.
Horses were never meant to live in the conditions we subject them to as owners. They are nomadic, opportunistic foragers of plant based food. When in a feral, natural state they live on grasses, leaves, twigs, bark, roots, wood, fruits, seeds in small quantities and weeds.
Working within the boundaries of a horse’s metabolism is the key to success. You can feed your horse normal horse feed and they can look shiny and healthy, but what’s going on inside your horse may be a very different story.
Natural feeding is supportive to the horse and based on high-quality forage, restoring the homeostasis that compensates for their captivity. Low carbohydrate levels are crucial for the horse to ensure stable blood sugar levels.
Importance of Stable Blood Sugar Levels
Natural feeding plays a pivotal role in maintaining stable blood sugar levels. Horses are grazing animals, exhibiting a lower tolerance for blood sugar instability compared to humans. Stable blood sugar levels in horses lead to natural digestion, balanced mood, stable energy, and healthy tissue rebuilding.
Modern feeding practices, with highly processed feeds, can disrupt stable blood sugar levels and contribute to various issues, including ulcers, excessive weight gain, decreased energy, skin problems, allergic reactions, and decreased muscle mass. Concentrated raw grain-based feeds, unnatural for horses, can lead to the fermentation of raw starch content in the hindgut, resulting in alcohol production and subsequent spikes in blood sugar.
Balanced Diet Components
A balanced horse diet should consist of the following components:
Forage: High-quality forage, such as good pasture or hay, forms the foundation of a horse’s diet. Forage provides fiber, energy, and essential nutrients. Horses should have access to forage throughout the day.
Concentrates: Concentrates, such as grains or pelleted feeds, can be added to the diet for horses with higher energy requirements. These should be chosen based on the horse’s activity level, age, and specific needs.
Protein: Horses require a balance of essential amino acids for muscle development, coat health, and more.
Vitamins and Minerals: Forage may not always provide all necessary vitamins and minerals. The specific needs depend on the horse’s age, activity, and the forage quality.
Water: Adequate clean, fresh water is essential for digestion, temperature regulation, and overall health. Horses can consume a significant amount of water daily, so access to water is crucial.
Electrolytes: Horses that sweat heavily may need electrolyte supplements to replace lost minerals. These supplements are often used during hot weather or strenuous exercise.
Fat: Adding fat to the diet can increase energy content without increasing the risk of colic associated with large grain meals.
Salt: Providing access to plain white salt (sodium chloride) allows horses to regulate their sodium intake according to their needs.
Conclusion
In conclusion, understanding the unique digestive system of horses and the implications of modern feeding practices is essential for promoting their overall well-being. Natural feeding, with a focus on high-quality forage and minimal starch and sugars, is vital in maintaining their digestive health. Stable blood sugar levels are crucial for horses, and natural feeding helps achieve this stability, ensuring balanced digestion, mood, and energy, while reducing the risk of various health issues associated with unstable blood sugar levels. Careful diet management, gradual introduction of concentrates, and regular monitoring of a horse’s body condition are fundamental steps in ensuring their health and longevity.
The Pure Feed Company
Pure Feed was specifically designed to ensure stable blood sugar levels. Formulated without concentrated raw grain, it replicates the natural diet of a grazing animal. This natural horse feed contains no molasses, low starch and sugar content (less than 10%), high-quality and palatable ingredients, and provides all essential nutrients, fibre, and calories. Pure Feed offers a comprehensive range of products, allowing you to choose the right feed matching your horse’s energy and support requirements. You can find samples of the feed in-store or learn more at Pure Feed’s website. For personalized equine diet plans prepared by Pure Feed nutritionists, visit this link.
Thrive Feed
Thrive Feed contains no raw starch. The starch present in the feed is water-soluble and is digested by enzymes in the small intestine, preventing spikes in blood sugar levels. Well-established in the US, Thrive Feed has earned an excellent reputation due to its remarkable results. This feed is unique due to its processing methods, with ingredients processed by extrusion as soon as they are harvested, providing over 90% absorption. Thrive Feed is ultra-low in sugar, contains no raw starch, and is suitable for a wide range of equines, making it perfect for laminitics and those with EMS, IBS, or ulcers. Moreover, it avoids the use of GMOs and ensures that even the bags are human food-grade to prevent chemicals from leaching into the feed.
JOIN THE NATURAL HORSE FEED REVOLUTION
Understanding the critical role of natural feeding in maintaining a horse’s digestive health is the first step in promoting their overall well-being. Join the Natural Horse Feed Revolution and make informed choices for your horse’s dietary needs.
Fundamental Anatomy
The equine digestive system can be categorized into two primary sections: the foregut and the hindgut. The foregut comprises the stomach and small intestine, while the hindgut, or large intestine, includes the caecum and colon.
The equine stomach, relative to the animal’s body size, is the smallest among our domesticated creatures and can only hold 2-3 gallons of content at a time. The duration for which food stays in the stomach varies depending on the meal’s size and composition (such as hay, grain, or liquid). It can range from as little as 15-30 minutes to as long as 12 hours, with an average of 3-4 hours. The upper 1/3 of the stomach, known as the “non-glandular region,” is where 80% of ulcers tend to form, as it lacks protection from stomach acid, unlike the lower, glandular portion.
Moving further along the tract, the small intestine, which stretches approximately 70 feet, comprises three segments: the duodenum, jejunum, and ileum. Food can traverse the entire small intestine in as little as 30-60 minutes, but in some cases, it may take up to 8 hours.
The journey continues into the large intestine, beginning with the caecum, a structure resembling a fermentation vat, like a cow’s rumen. This comma-shaped organ, situated on the right side of the horse, measures about 4 feet in length and can hold 8 gallons of material. Following on from the caecum, there is the large colon (10-12 feet long), succeeded by the small colon (also 10-12 feet long). The passage of food through the entire hindgut can vary from less than one day to as many as three days.
The Equine Digestive Process
Given the distinct functions performed in the front and back sections of the gastrointestinal tract, it is sensible to focus on each part separately.
Foregut Digestion
Once food is gathered, chewed, and swallowed, the stomach comes into play. The stomach’s primary roles include introducing gastric acid to aid in food breakdown, secreting the enzyme pepsinogen to initiate protein digestion, and regulating the passage of food into the small intestine. Essentially, the stomach serves as a holding and mixing tank, somewhat like a constantly churning cement truck.
While food breakdown commences in the stomach, it continues in the small intestine, where secretions further assist in digesting protein, simple carbohydrates, and fat. The small intestine is also the primary site for nutrient absorption once they reach a suitable form. Amino acids, glucose, vitamins, minerals, and fatty acids are absorbed into the body as they travel along the small intestine, so their progression shouldn’t be too swift or too sluggish.
Hindgut Digestion
Processes occurring in the caecum and colon are more about fermenting complex carbohydrates (fibre) into valuable end products with the aid of beneficial microorganisms. Apart from generating fatty acids, which provide energy or calories, these helpful microorganisms also produce B-vitamins, Vitamin K, and certain amino acids. The colon, in turn, not only absorbs these nutrients but also some of the water accompanying food as it traverses the digestive tract.