Horse’s Temperament and Digestive Imbalance

A horse with a seemingly bad attitude might not just have a bad temperament or have been treated poorly. It very well may have a digestive issue that is causing it to act up. After all, that’s the only way it has to tell you when it hurts.

How Digestive Discomfort Affects a Horse’s Temperament

A comfortable horse is a happier horse that enjoys being with you. And a relaxed, willing work partner is only possible with a healthy mind and body. Sadly, the reverse is also true.

Here are just a few examples of how your horse’s attitude can be impacted by a digestive issue.

Attitude: Resistance and Poor Ground Manners

Do you have a horse who pins his ears when you show up and is generally grouchy when being handled? Does he bite at you when you saddle him up? These are common ground manners that are often punished as bad habits – but sometimes the answer is actually an overlooked digestive discomfort.

The lifestyle of performance horses sets them up for digestive problems. When they are stalled more than a few hours a day, fed processed feeds to meet energy needs, and worked hard, the natural functioning of the gut is upset. It can be as simple as starch reaching the hindgut, killing off the good bacteria which raises the acidity level, and causing pain. Or it can be as serious as gastric and colonic ulcers or even colic.

If you were dealing with any of that, you would do what you could to get out of working and pain, too.

Girthy Horses: Discomfort in the Hindgut

Girthy horses – grouchiness, kicking, biting, or even falling down when tightening the girth – is a pretty common complaint among horse owners. For some horses with bad habits of biting and kicking, grouchy is putting it mildly.

Many people incorrectly assume that girthy horses have a gastric issue in their stomachs. But the stomach is relatively small and sits higher up in the horse’s gut – nowhere near where we tighten the girth. In actuality, it’s the large colon, part of the hindgut, that reaches up into the horse’s belly near the girth. It doesn’t take more than some undigested processed feed reaching the hindgut to cause discomfort, and even conditions like ulcers and hindgut acidosis, and a girthy horse.

Barn Vice: Why Cribbing Can Be a Digestive Issue

Cribbing is notorious in the equestrian industry as either a learned or genetic behavior. Prevailing thought says bring one cribber into a barn and pretty soon you’ll have a barn-full. However, studies have also shown that cribbing can have its roots in an unhealthy stomach.

When horses have large meals just a few times a day, they spend huge chunks of the day with nothing to eat. But their digestive tracts are designed for a constant influx of high-forage foods. One key reason is that the steady supply of small amounts of grass and hay buffer the acids in the stomach and keep the levels balanced. When they spend hours with nothing to eat, the acids in the stomach rise and can lead to discomfort and even gastric ulcers. And when horses suck air while holding onto a solid object with their teeth, also known as cribbing, it helps to relieve discomfort from the acidity.

Condition the Gut to Improve Horse’s Temperament

When no amount of patience and training is doing the trick to make your horse happier and more manageable, you may have a digestive imbalance to address. When fed once a day with regular feed, SUCCEED® conditions the horse’s digestive tract to promote its natural functioning and wellness.

SUCCEED® gives you real results by delivering specialized nutrients that target the healthy structure and function of the entire digestive system.

Try SUCCEED® Digestive Conditioning Program® and see how you can get the relationship – and the results – with your horse that you’ve always wanted.