The gut health of our equines plays a significant role in determining how healthy or unhealthy our horses will be. The equine digestive tract is a large and relatively complex system. Your horse’s health depends on how well you look after this digestive system and importantly, how well the microbial population within it remains “balanced”.

They sure are! Here is how: Vitamin B1 has been observed to have an influence on behaviour in multiple animal species, including horses. A horse will meet its vitamin B1 requirements via the vitamin B1 it eats in its diet and from vitamin B1 produced by the bacteria in its hindgut.

Equine gastric ulcer syndrome (EGUS) is a major equine health problem worldwide. Multiple studies have reported a 90% incidence rate of ulcers in performance horses.

Ulcers negatively and sometimes severely affect a horse’s ability to perform. They cause pain and discomfort. They may reduce your horse’s appetite which in turn limits their capacity to maintain bodyweight and ulcers can lead to the development of vices like windsucking and crib biting.

While gastric ulcers have long been recognised as a major health concern there is an evident lack of understanding in the horse owning community about what causes them and how they can be prevented.