GUT HEALTH
EQUINE
Maintaining the health and performance of your horse goes beyond routine care; it involves understanding and nurturing their complex digestive and immune systems.
The interplay between gut health, stress management, and injury prevention is crucial for ensuring your horse remains at peak performance. Vermate and Thermal Mud are designed to address these needs by providing comprehensive solutions that enhance microbial diversity, support stress resilience, and promote natural healing. These products not only improve overall health but also lead to better performance, making them invaluable for any horse owner dedicated to the well-being of their equine companions.
Ulcers and Colic and
The Challenge with Commercial Probiotics
Most commercial probiotics for horses contain lactic acid bacteria intended to stabilize gut pH. However, these bacteria often get destroyed by stomach acid and don’t reach the intestines, making them ineffective for preventing or treating ulcers and colic. A healthy digestive tract requires a diverse array of microbes, which needs to be replenished daily.
Vermate is a Comprehensive Solution
Vermate contains a full spectrum of microbial diversity, with most microbes in a sporulated form that withstands digestion in the stomach and small intestines. These microbes reach the caecum and large intestines, enabling proper fermentation and digestion while preventing inflammation and ulceration. The Humate component in Vermate helps maintain optimal pH levels and digestive function, significantly reducing the risk of ulcers and colic.
Gut Health and Its Impact
Horses have a complex digestive system, relying on the caecum and large intestine to digest plant material. Gut microbes play a crucial role in this process and overall health, including providing calories and nutrients, supporting a strong immune system, and influencing behavior.
The Importance of
Microbial Diversity
in Horses
The gut contains various microbes such as bacteria, fungi, archaea, yeasts, protozoa, and viruses. This community, known as the intestinal microbiota, is responsible for:
Breaking down food
Producing vitamins
Influencing gut and brain activity
Stimulating the immune system
Promoting fat storage
Impacting nerve growth, bone density, hoof quality, and pain perception
Producing hormones that affect behaviour
Natures Sources and Replenishment of Gut Microbes
Gut microbes originate from the mother during birth, colostrum and milk, grazing, natural water resources, social interactions, various foods, and environmental contact.
How Vermate Benefits Your Horse
Microbial Diversity and Health Vermate provides all necessary microbial groups for optimal intestinal function, replenishing the gut’s microbial population daily. The humates in Vermate reduce cortisol production, help manage stress, and heal inflammation, improving overall health and immune function.
Addressing Stress Factors While some stress factors can’t be eliminated for stabled horses, Vermate helps reduce pain, enhance immune function, and mitigate the impact of restricted movement on gut health.
Vermate’s Role in Managing Tension, Concentration Problems, and Anxiety Research shows that gut health and microbial diversity significantly affect horse behavior. Vermate helps balance hormones and maintain a healthy neurological system, reducing anxiety, improving concentration, and preventing behavioral issues.
Natures Sources and Replenishment of microbes originate from the mother during birth, colostrum and milk, grazing, natural water resources, social interactions, various foods, and environmental contact.
FACTORS AFFECTING MICROBIOTA AND COLIC RISK
Diet A high-fiber, low-sugar, low-starch diet is essential. High-starch diets can disrupt microbial balance and lead to behavioral issues and an increased risk of colic.
Stress Stress triggers hormones like cortisol, which can erode the gut lining, causing inflammation and a cascade of health issues. Factors contributing to stress include pain, illness, fear, social isolation, environmental changes, and restricted movement.
Gut Motility Horses need constant movement to maintain gut motility, blood flow, and nutrient availability for gut microbes. Limited movement in stabled horses can negatively impact gut health.
Thermal Mud – Natural Healing Power
Unique Extraction Process Thermal Mud is made from humus-rich soil, concentrated to include beneficial microbes and humates. This mud provides essential micronutrients for healing, as animals instinctively know its benefits and use it to treat injuries.
Healing and Maintenance Thermal Mud enhances natural healing processes by increasing oxygen transfer and blood circulation. It effectively treats soft tissue injuries, speeds up recovery, and prevents scar tissue formation. Regular use on strained areas after exercise prevents injuries and maintains muscle health.
Thermal Mud – Specific Uses
Thermal Mud successfully treats:
Melanomas and sarcoids
Mud fever
Skin issues like mange, bushy tail, and sweet itch
Tying-up or “Monday morning” syndrome, especially when used with Vermate