“To grain or not to grain that is the question”

In this episode of the Fireside Video Series we start a dialog about what we see are the problems inherent in feeding a grain heavy diet and the fact that we see more and more trainers reducing or even eliminating grain with no ill effect in fact precisely the opposite. In addition we spend time explaining how to actually read and understand the labels on feed bags so you can understand what you are actually giving your horse every day, with ingredient values that you can actually understand.

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In recent years digestion has leapt several places up the ladder in terms of horse owner’s concerns leading to all kinds of new products and marketing gimmicks to drive customers to a particular brand e.g., FREE colic insurance for all! If we tried to go address all the different elements affecting digestion in one blog it would attain the size of War and Peace with readers falling asleep or seeking counseling, so we are going to zip in and zip out periodically.

In our final episode on the digestive system we wanted to break down how different supplement products address the three key segments of the digestive system and to also try to explain from our perspective the differences between prebiotics and probiotics. We have received a lot of questions through the episodes dealing with the digestive system and hope that this segment of the Fireside video series has provided usable information so that horse owners can make a more informed choice, should they decide they want to feed a digestion supplement.

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In this video on the large intestine, we talk about the potential hazards that can occur in the large intestine speaking specifically about the ph getting too low and the effect that can have on the beneficial microbial population, the absorption of remaining nutrients, volatile fatty acid production and the production of B vitamins.

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In this episode we look at the small intestine which is where the majority of nutrients are absorbed before passage into the large intestine. The action of digestive enzymes produced by the pancreas are absolutely critical not only to ensure the absorption of nutrients through the intestinal villi but, and in today’s grain heavy diets perhaps most importantly, to breakdown carbohydrate starches as effectively as possibly to reduce the risk of gas passing into the large intestine.

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