We sometimes get asked why the Digestive EQ feed rate is ‘so high’.

And occasionally we see people choosing products based on the fact that other products have a lower feed rate. But that is a strategy potentially fraught with issues.

So why is the Digestive EQ feed rate at the level it is?

A lot of horse owners wonder (but might not want to ask)…

Why does my foal eat its Mum’s poo?
It might not appeal to us very much, but your foal absolutely needs to eat its Mum’s manure – and the better quality that manure, the better (no kidding). 

Foals are born without any fibre-digesting bacteria in their gastrointestinal tracts, so they have to eat their Mum’s manure to get it. (There is even a word for this behaviour – ‘coprophagy’). If the mare’s gut is healthy and populated by mostly ‘good’ bacteria then her manure will provide plenty of ‘good’ bacteria for her foal too. In turn this will populate the foal’s gut with ‘good’ bacteria and set it up for a lifetime of efficient fibre digesting. Perfect.

That’s the short answer, but let’s delve a little deeper…

What’s the first thing you think of for your horse coming into winter? 

If you’d asked me this question a couple of years ago, my answer would have been something along the lines of… How many rugs will I need? How much fill should they have? What time should I take them off? Should I get my horse clipped? Should I be putting them in stables?

But, did you ever think: should I be changing my horse’s diet?