Re: Ulcers in Young Horses

[CMKSAGEHIL@aol.com]

In a message dated 1/13/99 7:58:42 AM Pacific Standard Time, sloryder@fix.net
writes:

<< Horses do not grow up to their full healty poteintal on just hay, they do
 need some sort
 additions to their diet.   I aint no  scientist, but I do know about what
 grows out it those there hills.  Any other comments?? >>

Yes, young horses do need an addition to their diet, primarily in the form of
protein and vitamins.  In nature, where young horses are born long before
grasses head out (and grain is low in protein anyway) they get their
nutritional boost from a feeding behavior called copraphagia, where they eat
manure.  The large colon and cecum that produce the volatile fatty acids so
helpful to the horse also contain bacteria that produce lots of protein and
some vitamins that are NOT absorbed by the "host" horse.  These are passed in
the manure and the foal meets his nutritional needs by eating this manure, as
well as getting the necessary "bugs" for his own intestinal tract.  Of course,
there is a flip side to this, in that the foal also can pick up parasites in
this manner, but usually the parasite load is not overwhelming in free-roaming
horses with plenty of space.  The "grains" in nature are only present for a
small part of the year, and do not constitute a large portion of the horse's
diet.

Heidi