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Alimentary System - Horse Anatomy (view source)
Revision as of 19:32, 9 January 2013
, 19:32, 9 January 2013no edit summary
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==Introduction==
==Introduction==
The horse is a monagastric hindgut fermenter. The horse evolved for grazing and it does so for up to 17 hours a day. A high proportion of the horse's dietary carbohydrate is in the form of '''starch'''. A mature horse eats 2-2.5% of it's body weight in dry matter every day, 1.5-1.75% of this should be fibre (hay/haylage). This is to prevent a rapid drop in pH in the large intestine and also to stimulate peristalsis in the gut and prevent build up of gas.
The horse is a monagastric hindgut fermenter. The horse evolved for grazing and it does so for up to 17 hours a day. A high proportion of the horse's dietary carbohydrate is in the form of '''starch'''. A mature horse eats 2-2.5% of it's body weight in dry matter every day, 1.5-1.75% of this should be fibre (hay/haylage). This is to prevent a rapid drop in pH in the large intestine and also to stimulate peristalsis in the gut and prevent build up of gas.