sensitive stomachs - thoroughbreds

Question
hello ma'am, all horse and pony breeds have sensitive stomach (such as sudden change in the forage leading to colic)? or only hot blooded horses have sensitive stomachs?

Answer
Hi Rohit,

Thank you for your question.  The digestive systems of all horses have the same design regardless of breed or size and so technically should work the same.  But from a practical standpoint there seem to be some breeds whose digestive systems are more sensitive to stress and to certain feedstuffs.  

But just to keep it clear, colic doesn't happen in the stomach.  Horses colic in their hindgut(cecum and large intestine).  Stomachs are prone to ulcers, very different from colic.  And grains are to be digested in the stomach, forages are to be digested in the hindgut.  

Personally, I've found thoroughbreds and arabians to quite sensitive to high starch diets.  I don't mean that to create a stereotype, but draw only from the horses I've worked with.  Not that either breed colics or develops ulcers more easily but rather that both seem to be hyper-sensitive to glucose spikes in the bloodstream that result from NSC rich diets.

Thanks, Corlena