high consumption of forage - colic

Question
hello ma'am, does high consumption of forage which is rich in fibre like grass hay leads to colic in horses? if not colic, does the horse suffer from any other health problems consuming high fibre forage?

Answer
Hi Rohit,

Thank you for your question.  Horses are designed to eat forage based diets, and are meant to survive on fiber.  In a natural state, forage is the mainstay of the diet and the horse thrives.  The forage-related digestive upsets that horses suffer from stem from how we manage forages and our feeding. Hay can be made in a mature state where there is an over-abundance of indigestible forages...leading to impaction colic.  Hay can be poorly preserved and become moldy...causing gas colic and other metabolic disturbances.  Horses can be stalled for long periods....causing forages to impact.  Horses may not have access to enough fresh water, or water at the times they drink the most...leading to impaction.  And the list goes on.  Horses are forage digestors, we're generally the ones to blame for messing with the system.

Thanks, Corlena