Food is moved along the horse digestive tract by muscular contractions or waves known as peristalsis. The gut is designed to receive a small but regular and frequent supply of food (trickle feeding) to encourage these ‘waves’ to continue. What type of digestive system does a horse have? Horses are Read more…
Horses have 7 different red blood cell groups or systems, named A, C, D, K, P, Q, and U. Each system corresponds to a particular gene for which two or more alleles exists. Do horses have 400000 blood types? Horses have 7 known blood groups (A, C, D, K, P, Read more…
Because the horse’s esophagus does not have reverse peristalsis, food only travels in one direction and horses cannot vomit. Horses have a monogastric stomach, meaning they have only one compartment to their stomach unlike other grazing species such as the cow. What causes stomachs flip in horses? Very rarely the Read more…
Horses are non-ruminant, simple-stomached herbivores. They are hindgut fermenters, meaning the large intestine is the main site of fermentation of fibrous feedstuffs. Are horses foregut or hindgut? hindgut fermenterThe horse is a hindgut fermenter, meaning that the large intestine is the site of fermentation of ingested fiber. This is in Read more…
Exercise at trot and canter for 30 minutes, 5-6 days per week if the horse has no lameness problems. Condition the horse gradually to be able to accept this level of exercise. Aerobic conditioning helps to burn fat while also training the body to metabolize adipose tissue for energy. How Read more…
If your horse has a bloated belly, consult your veterinarian. A distended abdomen can be a sign of weight gain or other serious health issues such as a heavy parasitic infection or endocrine dysfunction (Cushing’s disease). These conditions must be ruled out to definitively diagnose hay belly. What causes bloated Read more…
A growing body of research suggests that horses can enter a depression-like state as a reaction to their environment or chronic pain. Research from France suggests that horses can develop something akin to depression in response to social or physical discomfort. How do you know if a horse is sad? Read more…
Common causes of hypoglycemia include sepsis (systemic infection), liver disease, colic, colitis, and neoplasia; In adult horses, elevated levels of triglycerides (fats) unrelated to liver disease were also associated with hypoglycemia. What causes low glucose in horses? Most common causes of hypoglycemia included liver and gastrointestinal (40%) disease, sepsis (33%), Read more…
Cereal grains, like oats, corn and barley, are high in starch. Enzymes, produced by the horse, digest starch into individual sugars in the foregut. Horses can then use these sugars for energy if they need more energy than forages can provide alone. Where Can horses get carbohydrates from? Hay and/or Read more…
100 amps x 14.4 volts = 1440 watts. (1440 watts/746 watts per horsepower) = 1.93 horse power. However the world is far from perfect, in reality it will take at least twice that amount of power or 3.9 horsepower to produce our desired 100 amps because of alternator/battery inefficiency and Read more…