This study explores how the frequency and nature of meals fed to horses can affect their physiological functions and contribute to their digestive health. The research indicates that the common practice of offering high-energy, low-forage meals twice a day can potentially lead to digestive disorders and other conditions in horses.

Introduction and Background

• The researchers begin by acknowledging the known association between feeding practices and the development of digestive disorders in horses. However, the exact mechanisms leading to these conditions hadn’t been well studied.
• The study emphasizes the need to focus on the physiological consequences of meal frequency in horses and the potential role this plays in inducing various health conditions.

Findings on Equidae Feeding Practices

• Many horses kept for performance and leisure activities are generally fed high-energy, low-forage rations twice daily, with limited access to hay or grazing.
• Rapid consumption of these meals prompts an excess outpouring of upper alimentary secretions and leads to transient hypovolemia (a 15% loss in plasma volume).
• The body’s reaction includes the activation of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) which helps to ensure blood circulation.

Physiological Implications of Large Meals

• The study found that large meals could speed up the passage of digested food to the cecum or the large intestine. This results in turbulence and higher availability of soluble carbohydrates for fermentation in the large intestine.
• Intense periods of fermentation necessitate significant shifts of fluid into the colon which is subsequently followed by net fluid absorption. This process is partly reliant on the post-meal increase in aldosterone.

Potential Health Consequences

• Imbalances in the RAAS response could foster conditions that promote gastrointestinal disturbances, notably large intestinal impaction.
• Changes in the gastrointestinal microflora could influence the intraluminal endotoxin pool and the population of enterotoxin-producing bacteria.

Impact of Feeding Patterns

• The research points out that these physiological changes associated with large, infrequent meals are not witnessed or are considerably lesser when the horse’s feeding replicates grazing conditions i.e., small, frequent meals.
• Therefore, altering management practices to ensure a more continuous feeding pattern could drastically cut the occurrence of digestive troubles in horses that are kept in stables.