What is FFWS (Free Faecal Water Syndrome)?
When the grazing season comes to an end, the faecal water season begins again for many horses. While horses with diarrhoea produce piles similar to cow pats, those with FFWS exhibit a shape more akin to normal horse droppings.
During or after defecation, however, or even completely independently of it, brown fluid is discharged. Faecal water is acidic and therefore aggressive to the skin. Neglecting to wash the horse regularly is not only visually unattractive but can also lead to skin diseases in the affected area. Especially in winter, faecal water is of course a problem, as you are reluctant to wash a horse’s tail and hindquarters in sub-zero temperatures.
Inflammation is usually caused by incorrect fermentation processes in the large intestine. The causes are to be found either in the management or the feeding practices. A study has demonstrated that even stress alone is sufficient to trigger FFWS.
Stress leads to reduced blood flow to the intestinal mucosa. This slows down peristalsis and can lead to incorrect fermentation.
Malfermentation in the intestine
Feeding also plays a major role. Incompatible feedstuffs such as haylage, silage or maize silage play just as much a role as do “structured muesli and structured chaff”. Ensiled feedstuffs carry a large proportion of lactic acid bacteria into the large intestine, which are not found in a healthy horse’s intestine.
They produce lactic acid, which acidifies the large intestine. As a result, natural intestinal symbionts die off and the whole fermentation process gets out of hand.
Chopped chaff, as used in textured mueslis, grain-free mueslis or herbal mueslis, also slows down peristalsis, as it is generally not chewed thoroughly. Any disturbance in the rhythm of digestion can lead to incorrect fermentation.
These faulty fermentation processes produce large quantities of volatile fatty acids, especially acetic acid, butyric acid and propionic acid. These have been proven to attack the intestinal mucosa. This leads to inflammation of the intestinal mucosa and thus further disruption of the normal digestive process.
If the inflammation persists for an extended period, the cell structures of the intestinal mucosa loosen, leading to the development of ‘holes’ that the already overburdened immune system cannot adequately repair. Such holes can cause lymphatic fluid to seep into the intestine, which we see visually as faecal water.
Even if the original cause, such as a winter of haylage feeding three years ago, occurred a long time ago, it can still disrupt digestion today. Even with perfect feeding and keeping conditions, the situation often doesn’t improve significantly at first.
Once the intestines have been heavily colonised with harmful microorganisms, horses often find it challenging to break out of the vicious circle of intestinal disorders and FFWS on their own.
If your horse only reacts with faecal water in certain situations, for example when loading or when the farrier comes, or if it only occurs in winter, this indicates that there are already digestive problems in the large intestine.
Such faulty fermentations can be diagnosed using the Indikan value. The Indikan value can be tested via a urine sample in an appropriate laboratory.
If this is 0, then the fermentation process in the large intestine is running normally. If it is at 1, feeding should be optimised and the intestines supported with naturopathic remedies if necessary so that the fermentation processes stabilise again as quickly as possible.
If the Indikan value is between 2 and 4, significant changes to the feed and possibly the management are necessary, as well as intestinal rehabilitation measures. Longer treatment times must be expected in such cases, as other initial symptoms in addition to faecal water often indicate a derailment of metabolic processes.
Does your horse also have faecal water? Then you are not alone. Horses are being affected particularly in winter. Why in winter of all times? An inflamed intestinal mucosa is usually the cause of faecal water. The reasons for this can be manifold. In most cases, however, they can be traced back to two factors: Stress or feeding.
Stress leads to reduced blood flow to the intestinal mucosa. As a result, it is poorly protected and inflammation can easily occur, especially if the feeding is not optimal. But is my horse really stressed if it doesn’t go to competitions and just stands around in its open stable group all day?
Stress for the horse does not have to be obvious to humans. Horses are, of course, social animals and need contact with other horses. In the wild, however, a herd is an established family – the foals grow up in a fixed group and therefore know the special characteristics of each horse and the rules of interaction. The group provides relaxation and security.
However, our group management cannot be compared with the natural herd of wild horses: we put horses that are strangers in a group, often completely different breeds (which actually speak different languages – horses are racists!), completely different age groups and as soon as there is a bit of peace and quiet, a horse moves out or a new one moves in and the whole social order is disrupted again. Nevertheless, we expect everyone to get on really well.
How do you feel after a day on the train or in an open-plan office where you’ve had to get along with complete strangers who speak different languages and behave differently?
Stress is therefore particularly common in open stables or track systems. But even stabling (with or without a paddock box) is not without stress for the horse – because the horse is a steppe animal, not a cave inhabitant. How often does your horse nip at its neighbour or vice versa? How tense is the horse after a day in the box that it has to “buck” first to release the tension?
In the grazing season, life is much less stressful – the horses spend the whole day outside, can relieve stress through their movement and have enough space to avoid each other. If the pastures are then closed, the horses can no longer avoid each other – they are together in a confined space, whether with a stable wall in between or in an open stable. Horses are animals that move, and any kind of lack of space causes stress.
©Ingairis / AdobeStock
In group situations, low-ranking horses often do not get enough roughage and in many cases do not get enough sleep at night because the group is too restless. Even if a horse is higher up in the hierarchy, it can still be stressed – because it has to constantly defend its position.
This is especially the case if there are frequent changes in the group and if there is no sovereign herd leader. A lack of roughage is also a high stress factor when horses are kept in boxes, as they are constantly looking for food because their tummies rumble. Sometimes furious kicks are thrown against the wall of the neighbouring box. There are three main factors that can help with relieving stress:
- fewer horses or more space per horse (which is not always so easy to achieve), but especially in winter you should pay attention to large daily winter turn out areas, or in a free moving turn out track system
- more roughage and, above all, more feeding places so that the horses can move around – hay nets extend the feeding times so that feeding can take place over 24 hours, several hay stations on the track ensure natural movement while eating
- more bedding in the lying down areas
The last point in particular is the subject of much debate in track system housing. However, current studies clearly show that too small lying down areas significantly increases the stress level in group housing. The same applies to stables with minimal bedding:
Would you want to sleep on the faeces-smeared rubber mat or on the wafer-thin shavings over concrete?
Horses are very clean animals; it is an imposition for them to eat and sleep in their own manure. And even if they can doze off standing up – there’s nothing like two to three hours of deep, undisturbed sleep to be relaxed and ready to go the next day. Generous bedding is therefore also important for “mental hygiene”.
Spend a day in the yard and watch the horses. You will see: They have more stress than you might think.
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