The majority of digestion and absorption occurs in the small intestine of the horse. Carbohydrate and protein digestion and absorption mainly occur in the small intestine while the main site of the digestion of fiber is in the hindgut of the horse, which is composed of the colon and cecum (Hintz and Cymbaluk, 1994). The fermentation that occurs in the colon and cecum of horses is microbial fermentation, and while it works well for horses that are grazing, they still cannot digest forages of lower quality as well as cattle can (Parker and Henderson, 2014). While the digestion of food begins with the chewing of food in the mouth, further breakdown of food by liquefaction in the stomach, and absorption of food in the small intestine, the fermentation of the fiber in the diet primarily occurs in the hindgut with the assistance of bacterial and protozoa (Succeed equine, 2016). Volatile fatty acids are one of the main products formed from fermentation; these acids are an important energy source and are provided from the bloodstream that had previously absorbed the acids (Succeed equine, …show more content…
A horse that is not expending a lot of energy or doing any real work may go on a maintenance feed diet. While a pregnant mare may need to increase the amount of food she eats and the food quality should also increase. Diseases linked to improper nutrition or lack there of can impact horses of any age, some however are more at risk then