For starters, the horse needs to prehend its food with fully functioning lips. Conditions like Equine Protozoal Encephalomyelitis, botulism, and various injuries and facial nerve issues can curb their digestive abilities by decreasing the amount of grazing they can accomplish in a day. This subsequently decreases caloric intake and then can possibly show up as suboptimal body condition in the long run. Incisors need to be in good apposition and alignment to shear off forage and the molars need to be present and in good condition to process what the mouth takes in. Molars grind the feed into particles small enough to properly swallow without experiencing choke, and secondly so that the stomach and intestines can maximize all of the nutritional value of the ingested feed. The esophagus needs normal motility, lubrication, and lack obstruction or stricture to transport the feed from the mouth to the stomach. The stomach needs enough acidity to dissolve the feed but also needs to protect itself from that acidity. It then needs good motility to move the feed into the small intestine once ready for the next phase of digestion. Enzyme secretion by a properly functioning liver and pancreas are essential to further break down nutrients into absorbable molecules while in the small intestine. The lining of the intestine needs to be healthy to fully absorb all those nutrients into the bloodstream, and the intestines themselves need proper motility—not too fast, and not too slow. If too fast, nutrient and water absorption decrease resulting in loose stool or diarrhea, while too slow has the potential for trapped gas, possible displacement or volvulus, or impaction. The intestines need to move freely within the abdomen and not get twisted or entrapped in any normal or abnormal variations of anatomical structures within the abdomen. The blood supply to the intestines needs to be properly circulating to pick up and transport all absorbed nutrients back to the liver and other parts of the body for utilization. The large bowel then needs to also have normal motility, position, lubrication, and microbiome to further process the ingested feed, absorb nutrients, reclaim water, and excrete the waste products of the digestive process. Finally, the rectum and anus need to be functioning normally to either hold or eliminate the waste products when appropriate.

I recommend to my clients the TechMix line of ration balancers—Restart^® Balancer if the horse is an easy keeper, Restart^® Builder if they need to gain back some lost body condition and are more of a hard keeper. For optimal digestive health, I also recommend Colostru-Boost^® Performance Powder for more athletic horses needing GI support for ulcer prevention or manure consistency problems. Colostru-Boost Recovery pellets are perfect for less athletic horses needing that same support, and especially beneficial for horses whose primary challenge is manure consistency problems. Finally, Restart GutBugz is my recommendation for microbiome support when the decision is agreed upon to supplement additional probiotics.