A horse’s body condition is a direct reflection of its total gastrointestinal health. Horses must be in good digestive tract health in order to fully utilize feed and maintain healthy weight and muscle.
It’s important to provide horses with the right calories, ideally with high-quality forage as the primary feed source. A diet too high in grains can upset the natural digestive balance of a horse’s GI tract. At best, the extra grain makes your horses too hot to handle or too uncomfortable to perform and act their best. At worst, it can affect the horses’ digestive balance which can have far-reaching impacts on overall health and performance.
Horses need a properly functioning digestive tract to absorb the energy and nutrients they need, getting the most from the feed program you’ve carefully designed. The proven ingredients in SUCCEED support the health of the entire digestive tract for efficient digestion and absorption of nutrients.
Healthy Weight Gain with Digestive Support
Conditioning the GI tract for optimal function is critical for promoting healthy weight gain in horses. A proper functioning digestive tract allows horses to get the most out of their diets and stimulates a good appetite. SUCCEED contains ingredients that address challenges throughout the entire gastrointestinal tract:
Hindgut Fermentation
Horses are hindgut fermenters that rely on large populations of beneficial microbes to ferment fiber in their hindgut and produce volatile fatty acids, which horses use as their primary energy source (calories). Disruptions to the gut microbiota prevent horses from getting the energy they need through fermentation to support a healthy weight.
Mannan oligosaccharides from yeast encourage the growth of beneficial bacteria responsible for fermenting fiber to produce energy in horses. These yeast products are critical to healthy intestinal villi development, which several studies show aids in digestion and nutrient absorption.
Digestion of Starch
While processed grains can provide a concentrated source of calories for underweight animals, grain meals can be too large or move through too quickly to be fully digested in the foregut as appropriate. If starch reaches the hindgut, it can disrupt the gut microbiota and further compromise digestion.
Beta-glucan from oat flour moderates the release of sugars from high-energy feeds. This polysaccharide also slows the movement of digesta through the gut, allowing starches to be digested earlier in the system and preventing them from reaching the hindgut and disrupting the microbiota.
Nutrient Absorption
Damage to the intestinal lining prevents the optimal transfer of nutrients from the GI tract to the bloodstream. If horses can’t absorb protein, they can quickly lose topline. Horses with gastrointestinal disorders may also have reduced appetites due to discomfort, which can contribute to weight loss.
Oat oil provides a rich source of polar lipids, which act as an ideal nutrient delivery vehicle for transferring fat and water-soluble molecules into the tissues. Dietary polar lipids also help form tight junctions between the gut lining cells, supporting the intestinal barrier between the GI tract and the bloodstream.
Additionally, L-glutamine is a conditionally essential amino acid that helps protect against gut damage and support nutrient absorption. While nonessential under normal conditions, research shows that increased stress can deplete the glutamine supply.
Is SUCCEED right for you?
Find out if your horse’s health and performance could benefit from added digestive support.