The Power of Pre and Probiotics
To support a healthy hind gut environment, we commonly chose to supplement our horses' diets with pre and probiotics, but why are these helpful?
Fibre, which should make up a large portion of your horse’s diet, is digested in the hind gut. This is a long process as it can take up to three days for fibrous material to completely pass through the three main sections; the caecum, large colon and small colon. The caecum and colon provide an environment that promotes the digestion and absorption of nutrients from fibrous products such as hay and beet pulp. This process of fibre digestion occurs through fermentation by microbes, these work by breaking the fibre down into volatile fatty acids which are then absorbed through the wall of the large intestine. This process provides an important energy source for the horse. Further information on the horse’s digestive tract can be found here.
Efficient fibre digestion is reliant on a healthy microbe population in the hind gut. Abrupt changes to the horse’s diet, stress or antibiotics can easily change the delicate balance of microbes which can lead to health problems such as diarrhoea and colic. This occurs as the ‘good’ bacteria dies, and so harmful endotoxins are released into the horse’s blood stream and the ‘bad’ bacteria is able to multiply.
What are probiotics?
These are live micro-organisms or the ‘good’ bacteria your horse requires to enhance the hindgut’s microbial population and reduce the growth of potentially harmful bacteria.
At Feedmark, we choose to use the probiotic YeaSacc 1020, a yeast culture based on saccharomyces cerevisiae. Probiotics are measured in CFUs (or colony forming units), which effectively shows us the quantity of live cells that are able to multiply and is a way to compare one probiotic to another successfully.
What are prebiotics?
Prebiotics are food components that stimulate hindgut microflora activity and growth – simply put, these are what ‘feed’ the good bacteria. Prebiotics are not digestible and can’t be utilised by the horse itself but help to maintain healthy gut flora. These are carbohydrate fibres, and the most commonly used prebiotics in horses are fructo-oligosaccharrides (FOS) and manno-oligosaccarides (MOS).
How do prebiotics work?
The microorganisms within the gut attach themselves to sites in the gut wall and reproduce if the conditions are right. The prebiotic MOS helps to ensure it is mainly the good bacteria that get the opportunity to attach to these sites by providing binding sites for bad bacteria and therefore allowing them to pass out of the digestive tract.
FOS, however, are chains of fructose units and naturally found in some foods, including sugarbeet as sourced for equines. FOS provides a food source for the good bacteria in the hind gut to encourage their growth over bad bacteria such as E. coli that can’t utilise FOS.
Pre and probiotics are most effective when fed together (known as Synbiotics), and by supporting optimal digestive health, they also provide support for the immune system.
Does my horse need them?
If your horse is sensitive to changes in their diet, or you feel they could simply benefit from digestive support, feeding pre and probiotics on a daily basis is recommended.
If your horse usually has firm droppings, is healthy and of good weight, is temporarily undergoing a feeding change or having antibiotic treatment, feeding pre and probiotics short term can really benefit your horse.
Supplements...
If you feel your horse could benefit from the helpful effects of pre and probiotics, Feedmark have a couple of options available:
BioPro provides both pre and probiotics including Yea-Sacc, the live yeast to help balance the population of good bacteria in the hind gut, and FOS to feed the good bacteria.
Ultimate Ease similarly provides Yea-Sacc and FOS, with the added benefits of MOS to support the healthy microbiota. Additionally, Ultimate Ease provides ingredients to buffer stomach acids, support and soothe the lining of the stomach and hind gut and help to maintain a healthy rate of food moving through the digestive tract while modulating the release of sugars. The combination of these helpful ingredients make Ultimate Ease the ideal supplement if your horse needs complete support for both stomach and hind gut.