Controlling Acidosis in the Equine Hindgut

When cereal grain is fed to horses there is a risk of laminitis and it is also common to fmd behavioural changes characterised by chewing wood, eating bedding and grasping (wind sucking). This paper discusses the link between acidity in the gut, as a result of grain feeding, and the risk of laminitis and adverse behaviour. A proportion of the starch consumed as cereal grain passes undigested to the caecum and colon where it is rapidly fermented. The process of fermentation can lead to very low pH which is characterised by the presence of lactic acid. The feed additive virginiamycin (as the granular formulation FounderguardTM) is effective in controlling the pattern of acid build up and accumulation of lactic acid even in horses given high levels of grain. The control of acidic conditions in the hindgut reduces the risk of laminitis associated with grain-based diets and prevents some of the behavioural changes associated with feeding grain supplements to horses.