To reduce the risk of intestinal stones
Reducing alfalfa and switching to grass hay and eliminating or reducing wheat bran in the horse's diet
Encouraging bowel movements by increasing exercise and grazing time for horses. Cleaning, removing and preventing any foreign body that might be swallowed by the horse in grazing areas.
It was shown that eating a cup of vinegar in horse feed reduces the intestinal pH, but there is no strong evidence of an effect on the composition of the intestine, so it is used on the principle (it will not harm and may help).
As with any change in a horse's diet, adjustments should be made incrementally over several days or weeks. However, the history of many horses that come in for bowel surgery have shown significant dietary changes in the preceding weeks, suggesting that these adjustments may have caused Stones shift, which results in bowel obstruction. Therefore, researchers advise taking a diagnostic x-ray when the horse suffers from frequent bouts of colic and when major measures are taken on the feeding system.
