🐴 Digestion of Forage by Horses: Feeding Naturally in 2025 to Prevent Colic and Founder 🌱⏳

By Dr Duncan Houston BVSc

Horses are not like cows—and in 2025, it’s more important than ever to feed horses in a way that supports their unique digestive system. Horses are herbivores with a single stomach but a specialized cecum, which ferments plant fiber late in the digestive process. Mimicking natural grazing as closely as possible remains the gold standard for digestive health. 🧠🐎

🌿 Horses Are Hindgut Fermenters

Unlike cattle, which ferment plant material in a rumen before digestion, horses ferment fiber in the cecum at the end of the digestive tract. That means:

• 🌱 Fiber from grass and hay is not digested until it reaches the hindgut
• ⏳ Nutrient absorption from forage is slower and less efficient
• ⚠️ Poor-quality hay or large starch meals can overwhelm the hindgut and cause colic or laminitis

Dr. Karen Davidson of Purina Feeds notes that horses evolved to graze continuously on young, easy-to-digest grasses across open ranges—not two meals per day in confinement. 🔄

🚫 Why Modern Feeding Poses Problems

Today’s common horse management includes:

• 🏠 Stalling horses for long periods
• 🥣 Feeding 1–2 large meals daily
• 🌿 Feeding mature, stemmy hay that’s harder to digest

This setup goes directly against how the equine digestive system is designed to work—and the result is often:

• 💥 Colic
• 🩸 Laminitis (founder)
• 🔥 Gastric ulcers

Feeding once or twice daily causes long fasting periods and gut acidity, making the horse’s stomach and hindgut vulnerable. ❌

✅ Better Forage Strategies for 2025

Since we can’t all turn our horses out on thousands of acres, we must simulate natural feeding habits with smart planning:

• 🌾 Feed forage first—make hay the core of the diet
• 🕓 Offer hay in slow feeders or small meals throughout the day
• 🚫 Minimize grain and high-NSC feeds
• 🏞️ Maximize turnout time and grazing access when possible

Frequent, fibrous, low-starch feeding is not only more natural, it’s proven to reduce colic and prevent founder. ✅

🌱 Choose Forage Wisely

Forage quality affects digestibility. Look for hay that is:

• 🍃 Leafy, soft, and green
• 🌾 Harvested from early growth stages
• 🧪 Tested for NSC (non-structural carbohydrate) content, especially for metabolic horses

Low-stem, high-leaf hay mimics the young grasses horses evolved to graze. 🌿

📲 Ask A Vet for Forage-Based Diet Design

Need help creating a forage-first nutrition plan? Visit AskAVet.com or use the Ask A Vet App for hay evaluations, gut health advice, and feeding schedules. 📱🐴

Dr Duncan Houston and the team can help you select the right hay and feeding system for your horse’s health, performance, and budget. 💬🧠

🏁 Final Thoughts

In 2025, we know that horse digestion starts with

Need a forage selection guide or feeding chart? Visit AskAVet.com to download yours 🐎🌱