What does your horse’s droppings say about its health?
How can you tell that your horse is healthy? There are many signs to assess the health and well-being of your horse. Shiny coat, strong hooves, an alert and bright gaze…in our new series of guides, we highlight a few more points. What often gets quickly swept aside can also be an important indicator of your horse’s health – its droppings.
In the first part of our series, we take apart horse poo in the truest sense of the word. In addition to health problems, your horses droppings can also give you insightful clues about feeding and the mental state of your horse. So it’s worth taking a closer look!
What healthy droppings should look like
Healthy horse droppings should be greenish-brown. The individual droppings should be firm and glossy, break apart easily when stepped on, and the fibres within them should have a uniform structure. They should have a fairly neutral smell.
You can see from this description what criteria play a key role in assessing horse droppings: in addition to colour, the consistency and smell are particularly important indicators. However, the frequency in which droppings are produced also plays a significant role.
How often should my horse poo?
Did you know that a horse typically poos every 30 to 90 minutes, and thus up to 12 times a day? This varies depending on the keeping conditions; for example, grass kept horses tend to poo more frequently. In any case, the frequency settles into a pattern.
If a horse poos more or less frequently than usual, you should observe it closely. When changing feed (e.g., when acclimating to grazing), it can take several days or weeks for the digestion to adjust.
- If there have recently been no changes in feeding, and you notice other behaviours such as restlessness, excessive rolling, etc., you should consult your veterinarian to rule out disorders in the digestive tract!
- An increase in stress can also cause your horse to poo more frequently.
What colour can reveal about horse droppings
Show me your horse’s droppings and I’ll tell you what you’re feeding it! You can generally tell a horse’s diet by the colour of its droppings.
While greenish-brown droppings indicate balanced feeding during grazing season, they tend to appear yellowish when fed hay and oats in winter.
When it comes to these bold colours, you should take a closer look
Yellow – indicates excessive straw consumption or too much hard feed. Due to the difficulty in digesting and the lignin content in straw, there is a risk of colic.
- It is essential to reduce the intake of straw and concentrated feed.
Green – indicates grazing and excessive fresh grass intake. Grass passes through the gut relatively quickly, so its colour doesn’t alter extensively. If hay isn’t provided alongside, nutrients from grass may not be adequately absorbed by the body.
- In cases of overly green droppings, add supplementary hay to slow digestion.
Grey – indicates excessive oil supplementation.
- Check the dosage if you are supplementing with oils.
Red or Black – indicates the presence of blood in the digestive system. Possibly due to inflammation or bleeding.
- In such cases, contact your vet immediately!
- Please note: Some feed ingredients can also give your horse’s poo a slightly reddish tinge, such as beetroot or beet pulp!
What does horse poo have to do with peaches?
The size of a horses droppings is roughly proportional to the horse’s body size. As a rule, a horses droppings are about the size of a peach, whilst a ponys are correspondingly smaller.
But whether it’s an Irish Cob or a Falabella – the droppings should be firm and break apart easily under light pressure.
The consistency of horse droppings is a direct indicator of digestive problems, and these can actually start right in the horse’s mouth.
Horse droppings containing coarse fibres or whole grains:
It’s possible your horse is not chewing its feed properly.
- Check the condition of its teeth
- For horses that tend to wolf down their feed, fine-mesh haynets can help
A horse has diarrhoea and is passing watery stools:
There may be various underlying causes:
- Inflammation in the digestive system
- Parasitic infestation
- Infections caused by bacteria
- Stress
- Diet-related acidosis (caused by haylage or silage)
- Spoilt feed or ingestion of poisonous plants
- Feed that is too high in energy or contains too much oil
- Sudden change in diet (e.g. due to being turned out on grass too quickly)
What you can do immediately:
- Offer hay and water
- No fresh feed
- Activated charcoal, Pectin Pro, psyllium husks or brewer’s yeast help regulate digestion and promote the elimination of toxins
- Ensure an adequate supply of electrolytes
- If the diarrhoea persists, consult a vet immediately
A horse is constipated and passing dry, hard droppings, which are usually smaller than normal:
Here too, there are various possible causes:
- Insufficient water intake
- Too little exercise
- Anal disorders
- Too much concentrated feed
What you can do immediately:
- Constipation carries a risk of colic! If further signs appear (restlessness, loss of appetite, rolling), contact the vet immediately!
- Allow for more exercise
- Provide additional water
- Stimulate digestion with Original Landmühle Stomach Welfare or other supplements
- If the horse has a tendency to eat too much straw, reconsider the choice of bedding
What is the difference between diarrhoea and free faecal water?
Free faecal water is produced by intestinal movements that draws moisture out of the droppings through a squeezing action, which is expelled separately before or after pooing. The droppings, on the other hand, have a normal consistency, which is not the case with actual diarrhoea. As a rule, free faecal water does not pose a medical problem; however, if large quantities of free faecal water are excreted over a prolonged period, this may indicate stress or issues related to keeping or feeding, but could also point to kidney or heart disease. Therefore, as always, if in doubt you should consult your vet!
What you can do about sand in the digestive tract
Boredom, not enough forage, stress, nutritional deficiencies – some horses ingest excessive amounts of sand. This can lead to sand colic.
Here’s how to find out if your horse has too much sand in its digestive tract:
- Take a fresh faecal sample and place it in a freezer bag.
- Break up the droppings slightly inside the bag.
- Add fresh water and seal the bag with a knot.
- After a while, the sand will settle to the bottom.
- Psyllium husks can help remove sand from the digestive tract
- Re-evaluate feed rationing
- Find out if there are any improvements you can make to the keeping conditions (more exercise, conflicts within the herd, etc.)
Intestinal parasites in horses – The invisible danger
It is a common misconception that intestinal parasites can always be spotted in droppings with the naked eye. By the time they are clearly visible, the horse is usually already heavily infected. Regular faecal worm egg counts and de-worming if necessary are a must for every horse!
Aromatic and spicy? Horse droppings don’t stink
Horses are herbivores, so their droppings don’t smell as strongly as those of carnivores. Many people even describe the smell as ?aromatic‘ and ?pleasant‘. If the smell of your horse’s poo changes to a pungent, sour odour, it may be that the poo is overly acidic and there are problems with the digestive system:
- Fermentation due to a diet too high in protein
- Imbalance in the gut flora
- Gastritis
- Signs of serious conditions such as laminitis
What you can do immediately:
- Reduce or temporarily stop feeding wet feed and concentrated feed
- Provide more hay
- If necessary, use test strips to measure the pH level in the droppings (should ideally be between 6.5 and 7; anything below this indicates acidosis)
- If the pH level continues to fall steadily over several weeks, contact your vet!
Would you like to read through it all again at your leisure?
Further Reading: Series ?What does … say?‘
Part 1: What does your horses droppings say about its health?
Part 2: What does your horses coat say about its health?
Part 3: What the condition of your horse’s hooves says about its health