Slow Release Energy
This form of energy comes from complex carbohydrates, fibre, such as hay, haylage, grass, oil, sugar beet and the other fibrous matters in the horse’s concentrate feed.
Once the feed has passed through the stomach and the small intestine, the semi digested food ends up in the ‘Hind Gut’, made up of the caecum, large intestine, colon and rectum.
The gut micro-organisms (bacteria), in the hind gut ferment the food creating volatile fatty acids (VFA’s) that are absorbed by the horse and used as slow release energy.
It is also in the hind gut where the horse synthesises B Vitamins and Vitamin K, and also reabsorbs water and electrolytes.
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