FOUNDER ALERT
With the abnormal warm temperatures and rain, the green grass is early. For those of you with easy keepers, obese horses, or horses that get sore footed or founder every spring, it is time to limit or remove them from the pasture. If your horse has been on grass and reluctant to turn or walk, it is sore in the feet due to the inflammation of the lamina in the hoof (Laminitis). Remove the horse from the green grass and call your vet. There are medications that remove the inflammation from the feet and the sooner the better before irreparable damage is done.
FECAL WATER SYNDROME
This is a condition in old horses where they pass feces consisting of soft nondigested hay with fecal water around it, which runs down and sticks to the horse’s legs and tail. It is common in old horses whose digestive system no longer works well to digest the hay, remove the water, and make fecal balls. The horse often loses weight because it cannot digest the nutrients from the hay and has diarrhea. It is seen more in the winter because the horse is being fed hay, often poor quality, until the green grass pasture comes back.
Research has been done checking the microbiome of the intestinal system, doing fecal transplantation, feeding probiotics, prebiotics and different rations. Horses receiving large amounts of grain results in large amounts of sugar and starch causing water to move into the colon. Straw or poor-quality hay slows the rate of absorption of intestinal water. Adding yeast, prebiotics, or psyllium reduced signs of fecal water syndrome in 26% of horses.
Recommendations for fecal water syndrome
1 Feed good quality hay that is not thick or long stemmed.
2 Feed beet pulp, hay cubes, chopped or pelleted hay.
3 Feed small meals 4 times a day to reduce colon bulk.
4 Feed senior feed or a complete feed like senior.
5 Add prebiotics such as psyllium to the ration.
Adding ½ cup of Bio Sponge or 2 cups of Assure Guard Gold am and pm to the feed ration has been the most successful treatment for me for fecal water syndrome.
Castration signs: March 12-18.
In the Chinese New Year, it is the year of the Horse.
Recent Comments