Everyday habits that upset your horse’s gut health

Everyday habits that upset your horse’s gut health - What helps improve gut microbiome and what makes it worse?

Your horse's gut hosts a community of beneficial bacteria which are crucial for fibre fermentation, nutrient absorption, immunity, gut lining health, and supressing the development of harmful bacteria.

Many daily and common management practices, often done without awareness, can upset that balance, reducing “good” bacteria and allowing an unhealthy microbial imbalance and limited diversity.

Are the most frequent culprits part of your horse's daily life?

Sudden changes in grazing and forage provision

Changing your horse from one field to another, or turning them out on new grass, risks introducing a flush of sugars and non-structural carbohydrates. These can “spill over” into the hindgut, causing a shift in pH, favouring less beneficial bacteria.

Seasonal shifts in forage provision and composition naturally alter microbial communities when done slowly.

Switching hay (even from one bale to another that looks very different) can change the fibre, sugar, and moisture provision to your horse's gut, which alters the microbial balance. Poor quality or mouldy forage can introduce harmful spores.

Our top tips:

Introduce new grazing gradually (10 to 15 minutes extra per day) over several days
Offer hay or fibre before turnout to “fill the gut” (diluting the sugar load)
Graze during times when grass sugar content is lower (overnight, from dusk)
Monitor droppings for signs of digestive upset (loose droppings, gas or discomfort)
When changing bales of hay/haylage, mix old and new for a transition period
Maintain consistent access to digestive aids such as probiotics found in all Blue Chip feed balancers

Abrupt feeding changes

Quickly switching from one feed type to another causes microbial shock, some species starve and others overgrow, which harms the diversity of the microbial population.

Our top tips:

Transition over 7 to 10 days or more (mixing old and new)
This is less of an issue when changing from one balancer to another (especially within the same brand) as base ingredients are consistent
Match macro profiles (starch/fibre) when switching, to reduce shock
Monitor droppings, appetite, and condition during the change

Adding treats, short term sugary feeds and non-fibre extras

Sugary treats, molasses and cereals can lead to excess carbohydrates reaching the hindgut, disturbing the microbial balance. This oversupply can cause acidification, reduce beneficial fibre-digesting bugs, and favour less desirable ones. Unbalanced treats are likely to lack the beneficial fibre microbes need.

Our top tips:

Limit treats to fibre-based or low-sugar and keep them consistent and in small supply IF they are even necessary at all
Always introduce gradually, don't buy a bag of treats and feed them all at once
Only feed treats when fibre is already in the gut (after/with forage) to buffer impact
Keep an eye on total non-forage carbohydrate intake and keep it modest for continued gut health

Prolonged stabling, reduced movement and stress

Reduced turnout and/or lack of exercise or movement slows gut motility, which can negatively affect microbial balance and the environment microbes thrive in.

Prolonged time stabled and social isolation can indirectly reduce salivation, chewing behaviour, and in turn the positive affects of saliva buffering on gut pH.

Stress (new environments, regular transport, variable daily management) can change gut physiology (blood flow, immune reactivity, gut motility) which upsets healthy microbial communities.

Our top tips:

Maximise turnout and movement where possible
Maintain consistency in routine and transition gradually when needed
Use low-stress yard practices (e.g. avoid sudden mixing of unfamiliar horses)
Provide stable enrichment to mimic natural grazing behaviour (e.g. feeding from the floor and mixing forage to encourage sorting behaviour)
Feeding a balancer from a treat ball provides both mental stimulation and correct natural feeding position

Antibiotics and medications

Broad-spectrum antibiotics kill or suppress many bacterial species, not just "bad bacteria". This “collateral damage” can reduce diversity and let opportunistic species overgrow.

NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) can cause irritation of the gut lining, altering gut pH and integrity of the gut wall, which indirectly harms beneficial microbes. Drug stress, dosing, and flushing of gut contents during treatment can displace beneficial bacterial populations.

Our top tips:

Use antibiotics only when necessary and under veterinary guidance
When using antibiotics, consider supporting the gut before, during, and after use with probiotics or even better, a balancer focused on gut health (such as Ulsa-Cool which can be found by clicking/tapping here)
With veterinary help, choose narrower spectrum treatments where possible
Monitor your horse closely for their appetite, droppings or digestive upset
Allow recovery before introducing further stressors (diet changes, worming, etc.).

Worming

Deworming (especially unnecessary blanket treatments when your horse may have a low egg count) can alter the gut microbial ecosystem, leading to imbalances.

Large die-offs of parasites can create inflammation, gut motility changes or toxin release which in turn stresses healthy microbial populations.

Our top tips:

Use a targeted worming programme (based on faecal egg counts) rather than broad, frequent blanket dosing
This approach is supported by UK veterinary guidelines and trusted equine health companies such as Westgate Labs, where you can find a whole host of useful information
Space out deworming and dietary changes so the gut isn’t stressed on multiple fronts at the same time
Support the gut before/after worming with feed balancers which support digestive health, all Blue Chip balancers are formulated to support gut comfort and health

Changes to water, poor water quality and/or dehydration

If water quality changes or is inconsistent, it can negatively affect hydration of the gut and microbe population too. Dehydration reduces gut flow and impairs gut movement, which can disadvantage certain "good bacteria".

Our top tips: