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Grass is a natural source of nutrition for a horse. Equine nutrition is the feeding of horses, ponies, mules, donkeys, and other equines. Correct and balanced nutrition is a critical component of proper horse care. Horses are non-ruminant herbivores of a type known as a "hindgut fermenter." Horses have only one stomach, as do humans.
Examples of hindgut fermenters include proboscideans and large odd-toed ungulates such as horses and rhinos, as well as small animals such as rodents, rabbits and koalas. [ 2 ] In contrast, foregut fermentation is the form of cellulose digestion seen in ruminants such as cattle which have a four-chambered stomach, [ 3 ] as well as in sloths ...
Horses are evolutionarily adapted to survive in an ecological niche dominated by "fibrous herbage" (i.e. low quality grass forage) due to being "hindgut fermenters", meaning that they digest nutrients by means of the cecum. [137] Thus, horses are adapted to inhabit an ecological niche characterized by poor quality vegetation. [138]
The single-chambered stomach and cecum or "hindgut" of the horse uses bacterial processes to break down cellulose that are more sensitive to changes in feeds and the presence of mold or other toxins, requiring horses to be fed hay of a more consistent type and quality. [8] Haymakers by George Stubbs, 1785
A few cecotropes left on the ground of the living area of the animal is not cause for concern. However, if a large amount is found on the ground or stuck to the fur, a veterinarian should be consulted. Possible causes are poor diet, dental issues, arthritis, very large dewlap, obesity, or too-long fur in the anal region. [16]
Horses heterozygous for the Ile118Lys mutation on the equine EDNRB gene—carriers of lethal white syndrome—usually exhibit a white-spotting pattern called "frame", or "frame overo". [5] [7] [9] [13] Frame is characterized by jagged, sharply defined, horizontally oriented white patches that run along the horse's neck, shoulder, flank, and ...
Great apes derive significant amounts of phytanic acid from the hindgut fermentation of plant materials. [5] Monogastrics cannot digest the fiber molecule cellulose as efficiently as ruminants, though the ability to digest cellulose varies amongst species. [2] A monogastric digestive system works as soon as the food enters the mouth.
Being hindgut fermenters, these animals ferment cellulose in an enlarged cecum. In smaller hindgut fermenters of the order Lagomorpha (rabbits, hares, and pikas), and Caviomorph rodents ( Guinea pigs , capybaras , etc.), material from the cecum is formed into cecotropes , passed through the large intestine, expelled and subsequently reingested ...