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The way your horse lives can have a big impact on your horse´s stool – or road apples. The change for example from many hours in the stall to several hours in the field or the change from one field to another. In fact, the road apples are basically a good, daily indicator as to whether your horse is healthy and has a good digestion. To help you decode the health of your horse's stool, we decided to go into the anatomy of “the road apples”.
Maybe you do it already. You may have wondered why others do it. The point is: Do you check your horse's stool regularly - maybe even daily? It may be a good idea to keep an eye on the road apples frequently. Your horse's poop can give you a quick answer as to whether the horse's digestion is really bad or reasonably good. So why not take advantage of the situation when mowing or removing the poop from the stall or grooming area?
Through evolution, our horses have evolved to eat grass and other plants. That's what they're made for. The horse uses the energy and proteins in its food to be able to grow, perform and keep warm. The feed is broken down in the large intestine by many billions of bacteria. Therefore, it is also important not to destroy the bacterial flora in your horse's intestinal system - as this is quite sensitive.
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When horses suffer from digestive disorders, the population of bacteria in the large intestine decreases. These disorders can contribute to impaired digestion, poor utilization of feed and impaired absorption of vitamins and minerals. To ensure the best possible road apples, it is important that the microflora has the best conditions. This is so that the beneficial microorganisms can begin to multiply and thrive. To achieve a good stool, your horse must have a healthy bacterial balance.
If the road apples do not have the best consistency, an allotment of pre- and probiotics can probably help. It can support the microbial balance and thereby stimulate the horse's intestinal function. Prebiotics are a feed component which - among other things, are fibers that stimulate the growth and activity of the bacteria in the microflora. Probiotics are living microorganisms that in an appropriate amount have a beneficial effect on the horse's intestinal system.
Prebiotics can be found, for example, in easily soluble beetroot, carrot and apple fibers or barley. Easily digestible nutrients may be needed during the period of a bad stool. And during such a period the horse may have difficulty absorbing nutrients. Prebiotics act as a nutrient for the good intestinal bacteria and help maintain a maximum growth of the effective and important bacteria.
Probiotics are, for example, lactic acid bacteria and yeast cultures. Brewer's yeast is a fairly used yeast culture that can be advantageously assigned to horse´s diarrhea to increase the amount of the beneficial microorganisms and reduce the growth of potentially harmful microorganisms. Probiotics are living microorganisms similar to those that already live in your horse's intestinal system. There should preferably be a majority of these.
In the horse's feed, there are cell wall substances. These are, among other things, the plants' structural carbohydrates. These cell wall substances come in different formats where some degrade better than others. Grass is naturally the best feed for your horse. Either fresh as wrap or as hay. Beet pellets also contain useful cell wall substances. As far as straw goes, the cell walls break down only to a lesser extent.
In the process where the cell wall substances break down, they can bind water. Which is also why the large intestine can act a bit like a sponge where the body can fetch water. When straw is digested, the large intestine will not be able to bind the same amount of water - and the stool will therefore become drier. Maybe even so dry that it is crumbling. Therefore, straw is often best used just as bedding or as a small supplement. By checking your horse's road apples, you can therefore relatively easily get an impression of how your horse digests its food.
• If the road apples are dry and perhaps crumbling, it may be a good idea to check what you are feeding. It could also be that your horse is getting too little to drink and maybe too much straw.
• If the road apples are wet and perhaps even completely thin, the intestinal bacteria thrive poorly. Check up on the horse's feeding plan. Maybe it should have a supplement of probiotics.
• If there is sand in the road apples, there is most likely also sand in your horse's intestinals. This can be checked by taking some of the road apples in a bag, mixing it with water and seeing if there is any sediment of sand.
If there are worms in the road apples, then the only right thing to do is to bring at stool sample to your vet.
• If there are whole kernels in the road apples, your horse may have tooth problems. Talk to your vet and have the horse's teeth checked.
• If the road apples smell bad, the intestinal bacteria may not thrive. It may be due to not enough digestible fiber, too much starch or maybe stress.
If your horse's stool is not quite as it should be, it is always a good idea to talk to your veterinarian.
Gaerum Animal Clinic/ Danish company: The difference between pre and probiotics / Prebiotics and probiotics for horses
