Changes

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.

Undigested material spends a long time in the [[Caecum - Anatomy & Physiology|caecum]] and [[Large Intestine|large intestine]] being digested by microbial fermentation, mainly cellulose (95% after 65 hours). Most microbial fermentation occurs in the [[Colon - Anatomy & Physiology|colon]] (as opposed to the [[Hindgut Fermenters - Rabbit - Anatomy & Physiology|rabbit]], where most occurs in the [[Caecum - Anatomy & Physiology|caecum]]).

Undigested material spends a long time in the [[Caecum - Anatomy & Physiology|caecum]] and [[Large Intestine - Anatomy & Physiology|large intestine]] being digested by microbial fermentation, mainly cellulose (95% after 65 hours). Most microbial fermentation occurs in the [[Colon - Anatomy & Physiology|colon]] (as opposed to the [[Hindgut Fermenters - Rabbit - Anatomy & Physiology|rabbit]], where most occurs in the [[Caecum - Anatomy & Physiology|caecum]]).

In the hindgut of the horse,  

In the hindgut of the horse,