Runny bottom - horse not me!

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Sophiesmum

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Any ideas? Have owned offending horse since March and all has been well in the bottom department! About 10 days ago I noticed he has a very bubbley sounding bottom and has become very loose. He has D&H pasture mix and mollichaff with sugar beet. He was having garlic and pasture nuts too but I have cut those out in case it could be either of them. He has big bale haylage and has been ever since we had him. The haylage has been pretty much the same since about September, and our other horse has it too, the bales aren't huge and we use it in about 5-6 days.

He seems to be fine in himself - am wondering whether to have a quick trip to the local tack shop for some pink powders. Any advice gratefully received.

Mince pies for getting this far.
 
I have a similar problem, took him off haylage and it went away, put him back on haylage and its coming back. The others are all fine though so he just must have a sensitive tum.
 
I would take him off a cereal based diet (i.e. a mix) and minimise the sugar intake. Pasture Mix has a high starch content (26%) and molichaff is quite heavily molassed - haylage is often high in sugars as well. Horses aren't designed to digest large amounts of sugar and if it passes through undigested, this can cause loose droppings and can also cause colic.

As a feed, something like Happy Hoof would be a good idea as this is high in fibre and will keep him full and satisfied, and is very low in sugar as it is designed for the laminitic, yet it contains plenty of vitamins and minerals. If you choose another low calorie chaff, check the nutritional content as some do not contain added vitmains and minerals and it may be appropriate to use a balancer.

Feedmark also do a really good product I think it is called Biopro, which contains probiotics to help soothe the stomach and aid digestion.

As a forage, soaked hay would be best, as soaking hay for an hour draws out a majority of sugers and nutrients, which provides good quality fibre and forage without the sugars.
 
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