In summer, as long as the horses are out in the pastures, most of them are doing comparatively well with their digestion. The moment the pastures are closed for winter, the problems start again for many horses: faecal water, bloating, diarrhoea or regular mild colic are as much a part of everyday life in most yards at this time of year just like mud and cold feet.
More and more horse owners are trying to counteract this by leaving their horses out on pasture for longer, preferably throughout the winter. It might work well in the first or second year, but then suddenly it no longer works – the health problems can range from bloating to laminitis if the horses are left on pasture all year round. Where does that come from?
Several factors usually come together when the pastures are closed
The horses are in a much tighter space than in summer and they only get hay (or haylage) instead of grass. All three factors influence the digestive tract, albeit in different ways.
The less space available, the higher the risk of social stress. In the pastures, you can often observe that open stable groups “fall apart” and move across the area in small groups of 2 to 6 horses. If you put horses from different open stable groups on large pasture areas (“summer pasture”), the groups often reorganise themselves completely. Small groups of young geldings, seniors or groups of mares form around a dominant gelding. Once the summer grazing is finished, the “forced socialisation” by humans begins again.
Horses that tend to avoid each other in the pasture and would never come together in a group in the wild have to come to terms with each other. With less room to manoeuvre, the social pressure increases. The whole spectrum of unfriendly behaviour can be observed, from avoidance behaviour (the lower-ranking horse moves out of the way before the higher-ranking horse makes aggressive gestures) to physical altercations (biting, kicking, threatening). In the open stable, the horses are then exposed to this social pressure 24 hours a day. As a result, lower-ranking horses often do not get enough time to sleep or rest. Overburdened herd leaders, for example a gelding who separates “his” mares from other geldings in the group, are also unable to settle down. This stress often manifests itself in digestive problems.
Access to food 24/7 or breaks – lack of roughage leads to stress behaviour
Whereas in the pasture, food is available all day long – you just have to move to where it grows – horses are dependent on humans to feed them in winter. Limited access to roughage is the biggest problem. Whether feeding in meals with correspondingly long breaks in between or offering too few feeding places at the turn out paddocks – a lack of roughage leads directly to stress behaviour in horses and increases the risk of stomach ulcers and faecal water.
Hasty eating (quickly, quickly, before the herd leader arrives and chases me away from the rack or the electronically controlled rack closes again) leads to insufficient grinding of the roughage, just like dental problems, which alters peristalsis and encourages bloating, faecal water and dysbiosis. While grass is often still sufficiently ground down due to its soft structure, coarse hay suitable for horses often causes visible digestive problems under such feeding conditions.
Haylage is lactic acid fermented hay, which can acidify the pH environment and thus disrupt the digestive process in the large intestine due to the extensive introduction of lactic acid bacteria into the large intestine. Faecal water is often the unsightly result. However, mold, yeast or other undesirable microorganisms in the hay can also cause bloating, diarrhoea or faecal water. Feeding a good quality hay, which is available in sufficient quantities for all horses at all times, leads to a significant improvement in digestion in many horses.
Instead of thinking about why the horses react to the winter paddock with digestive problems, many horse owners try to counteract this by leaving the horses on the pasture all year round. Now of course, wild horses also graze all year round. But there are two major differences to our domestic horses: The condition of the large intestine microbiome (“intestinal flora”) and the composition of the pasture plants. Wild horses feed exclusively on roughage all year round.
During the growing season, the plants are more or less green and nutritious. They dry out over the summer, so that in winter they eat “standing hay”, i.e. the plant felt left over from the summer. Wild horses move from grazing area to grazing area – once the tasty and nutritious plants in one region have been eaten, the herd moves on to new grazing grounds. The grazed area thus has a resting phase in which the plants can regenerate until the herd returns to the region many months later. This ensures that even less dominant plants always have the opportunity to recover.
The intestinal environment of our domestic horses is far removed from that of wild horses
The diet of our domestic horses usually consists of more than just roughage.
Ranging from concentrated feed to grain-free muesli, carrots, apples, bananas and treats or mash – there is a long list of feedstuffs people like to give their horses either in the trough or by hand. Any one of these types of feed has the potential to disrupt our horse’s intestinal environment. Pectins from fruit, vegetables or beet pulp lower the pH of the large intestine into the acidic range, while the wheat contained in muesli promotes the development of intestinal mucosal inflammation.
Haylage acidifies the large intestine in the long term by colonising lactic acid bacteria (yes, even if it was only one winter three years ago), just as feeding brewer’s yeast promotes the colonisation of lactic acid bacteria in the large intestine. All these well-intentioned feed products therefore contribute to the fact that the intestinal environment of our horses is usually far removed from that of wild horses.
Added to this are the limited grazing areas. Who has 100 hectares of rough pasture, woodland and scrubland for their 5 horses, where they can roam freely and forage like wild horses? Two hectares for five horses is usually considered a “large pasture” in most cases. This creates considerable selection pressure on the plants that grow on these areas.
If the pasture is left to rest over the winter, it can recover quite well from the overgrazing that usually takes place in summer. If the horses are outside all year round, however, less stress-resistant herbs and lean grasses are increasingly displaced. In their place, more and more high-sugar and performance grasses are establishing themselves, which are stress-resistant and whose seeds are carried in the fur and feathers of wild animals from other areas. From year to year, the plant population thus shifts towards performance grasses with higher leaf content, i.e. more pectin and fructan (= intestinal acidification, laminitis), higher sugar content (= insulin resistance, laminitis) and endophyte content (= laminitis, abortion in broodmares).
A horse with a healthy gut may be able to compensate for such a pasture for another winter. However, if existing intestinal disorders coincide with such overgrowth, problems are inevitable. Bloating, colic, diarrhea, faecal water or even laminitis can be the unsightly consequences.
Winter paddock with hay or winter pasture?
If you are faced with the choice between a small winter paddock with hay or winter pasture, then in most cases you really have to say: it is better to have a paddock than pasture. After all, you are not only ruining the vegetation for one winter, but also for the coming summers and winters. In the long term, this means that the pasture has to be completely replanted: The soil has to be loosened (because the horses cause too much trampling when they run all year round on areas that are too small), nutrients have to be added in a controlled manner and lean grasses and herbaceous plants have to be reseeded.
It takes about 5 years after reseeding to achieve a stable meadow ecology again. During this time, the area should not be used as pasture, only as hay meadow. This is why this applies to most yards: It is better to keep the pastures closed in winter. You can do something about the stress in the winter paddocks with simple means, but not about the consequences of all year-round grazing. At least, not without further effort.
Winter paddocks
The following applies to winter turn-out: the more space, the less social stress. Not a lot of space needs to be sacrificed for this purpose. If you lay out the enclosure as a paddock track, you often have less “vegetated” area. Yet you still have more space, as the horses are spread out on the track and can thus gain distance from each other, which is not always the case in rectangle areas. Several feeding places distributed along the track – also in the form of hay nets, boxes, barrels, balls or cushions (“slow feeders”) ensure that all horses have access to roughage at all times without competing for feeding places.
Hay nets also allow the feeding speed to be adjusted to the horses’ ability and the consistency of the hay, so that 24-hour feeding is possible without the horses overeating. Both significantly reduce stress in the horses. There should be sufficient space and well-insulated bedding in the shelter so that all horses can lie down to sleep, as this also reduces stress levels.
Ideas for solutions
It is important to pay attention to group interaction. Some horses are very grateful if they are separated from the group at night and placed in a box or a fenced-off area where they can rest. One-way gates or gates with chicken flap openers (e.g. building instructions below) https://360gradpferd.de/automatische-pferdefuetterung-mit-huehnerklappenoeffner-und-zeitschaltuhr/) make it possible for the horse to return to the group at any time or only after a certain time (e.g. in the morning) without having to go into the stable.
This also applies to old horses, which should be fed large quantities of hay cobs:
If you put them in a separate area with a one-way door in the evening, they can return to the group after their supper and also sleep in their “bedroom” if there is a bedded area available. The one-way door means that the other horses can’t easily reach the leftovers in the haycob bucket. Building your own one-way door is easy with a thick board, hinges and a door closer, all of which you can buy at any DIY store.
But what to do if the horse has already developed digestive problems?
Good old-fashioned herbal mixtures containing herbs with antispasmodic essential oils such as aniseed, caraway or fennel are best for relieving bloating. One option is to use Okapi’s intestinal support herbs, which have a very good calming effect on the intestines.
In the case of diarrhoea, the administration of humic acids, which are contained in OKAPI’s ColoBalance, for example, has proven effective. In the case of severe malfermentation, which is accompanied by bloating and diarrhoea and does not respond to these measures, you can also try to stabilize the microbiome by administering propolis for 3-5 days. Propolis is the resin from the beehive and is available in water-soluble form or as a powder from the pharmacy. Add 0.05g per day of the powder to the feed, or about 1-2ml per day of the liquid, either of which can be added to a handful of soaked sainfoin pellets.
Horses with a tendency to colic should always be referred to a vet. A distinction must be made as to whether the horse is prone to gas, impaction or circulatory colic. In the case of gas colic, it helps to put the horse on good hay and introduce the tried and tested intestinal support herbal mixture. Mold and other spoilage microorganisms in hay are often overlooked and can lead to considerable bloating. A hay analysis for microbiology, which is offered by agricultural laboratories, can provide information for this purpose.
Feedstuff
In addition, feed containing soy often leads to bloating, as the stachyose cannot be digested in the small intestine and upsets the microbiome in the large intestine. Such feed should also be avoided at all costs. Overall, horses with digestive disorders should be given constant access to hygienically clean hay and all other feeds should be avoided wherever possible. A handful of soaked sainfoin is suitable for mixing in intestinal support herbs or other supporting herbal remedies. Their tannins (condensed tannins) have a stabilising effect on the intestinal environment and the strong taste masks even therapeutic substances that do not taste so good.
Impaction colic can often be prevented by offering horses plenty of lukewarm water in a bucket to drink twice a day, as horses with stomach ulcers in particular often do not drink enough ‘cold’ water. Low water intake can lead to excessive thickening of the food bolus in the large intestine. If the horse cannot be motivated to drink lukewarm water, the natural feeling of thirst is often already disturbed.
Alternatively, you can make the water more palatable by adding a little apple juice or boiling a large quantity of herbal tea (preferably with a mild, broad herbal mixture such as Okapi’s Grazing herbs) and offering it lukewarm. Very liquid hay cobs are also a good trick for some horses to get them to drink water again. For some horses, a tablespoon of salt (normal household salt without fluoride, without iodine) in a handful of feed also helps.
Salt stimulates the feeling of thirst and if you add salt to the feed every day for a while, normal drinking behaviour is restored in many horses after a few days to weeks.
The administration of herbs with a high bitter and tannin content (e.g. sainfoin or Okapi’s bitter herbs mixture) can also have a supportive effect if there is a tendency to impaction colic as they stimulate peristalsis, among other things, so that the food bolus is transported forward more quickly.
Older horses and those with little exercise ( stabled horses) in particular tend to have sluggish intestines and benefit from stimulating their peristalsis. In horses that colic when the weather changes, the cause is often weak circulation, sometimes coupled with left-sided heart insufficiency. We find this particularly often in older and overweight horses. L-carnitine (e.g. from Okapi) should be given as a preventative measure, as it apparently has a strengthening effect on the horse’s heart muscles. Homeopathy also has some very good remedies up its sleeve, so a well-trained holistic practitioner can help you to find the right supportive heart remedy.
Crataegutt can also be of good value in this case, as can hawthorn as a herbal supplement added to the feed.Hawthorn bushes are also ideal for planting along paddocks on the outside of the fence. They form a dense thicket of thorns that keeps well-meaning walkers away from the horses with bread bags, garden or kitchen waste, and the twigs, leaves and flowers are happily nibbled over the fence by the horses.
Free Faecal Water Syndrome (FFWS)
Possible causes
Faecal water is one of the most difficult diseases to treat, as the causes can be very varied and there is often no single cause that can be eliminated. From stomach ulcers to dental problems to environmental stress, you can find reasons why a horse has faecal water. Particular attention should be paid to the issue of stress: Low-ranking horses in the group, restless or aggressive groups, frequent changes, overburdened herd leaders, grey or piebald horses in mixed groups, chronic pain (stomach ulcers!) – sometimes you have to develop detective skills to get to the bottom of the cause.
Inappropriate feedstuffs such as haylage or structured muesli (mixed feed with green stalks) are also often involved in the development of faecal water, as is grazing in winter when the plant composition on the land is not appropriate for horses and the microbiome is disturbed. If the cause of the faecal water is not found, then even the best therapy will not be effective.
Supporting measures
Of course, supportive measures can be taken: Psyllium seeds (husks) or Jerusalem artichokes have a binding effect on the faecal water, so that the cycle of hyperacidity, intestinal mucosal inflammation, faecal water, hyperacidity… is interrupted.
At the same time, the intestinal environment can be soothed. OKAPI’s ColoProtect, which has been specially developed for horses with faecal water syndrome and has an anti-inflammatory and calming effect on the intestines, is suitable for this purpose. Alternatively, ColoBalance can be used to add humic acids to the food bolus, which has a soothing effect on inflamed intestinal mucous membranes, as well as Liquorice extract.
If the cause is chronic pain, e.g. due to gastric ulcers or laminitis, this must of course be addressed therapeutically. An experienced therapist should be consulted in the case of FFWS. It is often necessary to proceed by exclusion diagnostics: One treats for a possible cause and if there is no improvement, one does not yet have the right therapeutic approach and must try something else. In any case, it helps all horses with faecal water if you close the pastures. If the horse is given good quality and clean hay and can eat in peace (no feed breaks, no scrambling at the hay racks, no electronic racks that close again and lead to gorging) with a well-functioning dental apparatus (equine dentist!). Further therapy depends on the causes and triggers.
Our network of qualified therapists can provide advice and support if you don’t know what to do on your own.
Feel free to send us an email at office@sanoanimal.com if you would like help finding an appropriate therapist.
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