Horse Digestion

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Diarrhoea in horses

By Hannah Dyball

Horses are non-ruminant animals with a relatively simple digestive system. On a basic level, ‘non-ruminant’ means the equine stomach consists of one digestive chamber, as opposed to four which can be found in livestock animals such as domestic cattle, sheep and deer. Ruminant animals can digest (and re-digest) large amounts of low-grade food (i.e. grass) and extract optimal nutrition from it.

Equine Colic

By Hannah Dyball

The term ‘colic’ refers to many forms of abdominal pain experienced in horses, whether gastrointestinal or otherwise. By definition it is a clinical sign rather than a diagnosis and encompasses a number of gut conditions ranging from mild to severe. For such a large, seemingly well structured animal, the anatomy of the equine abdomen is poorly configured for its digestive needs. Because of this, horses are highly predisposed to bouts of colic and most will experience some degree of gastrointestinal discomfort at some point in their lives.

Gastric Ulcers

By Hannah Dyball

The gut is one of the horse’s most delicate internal systems and is easily agitated by food, parasites, stress, bacteria and stomach acid. The latter is responsible for the majority of all stomach ulcers but is not the sole cause. Unlike the human stomach which is stimulated to produce hydrochloric acid only when we eat food, the horse’s stomach produces it continually, causing problems if left unabsorbed. Because horses have evolved to graze near enough constantly, stomach acid has always played an important role in the digestive process.