Posted by Dr. Erin Roddy
on February 20, 2024
Equine Gut Health
Don't just mask the effects of stress. Give your horse the tools to deal with it.
Even with the best of care, our modern-day horses experience stress. Competitions, strenuous work, transport, dental work, farrier visits, illness, long days competing or working, extreme heat and humidity, extreme cold, time off feed, or other changes to your horse's normal routine all cause some level of stress.
Horses, being prey animals, often won't show outward signs of 'stress'. But it's there.
This stress can compromise gut health. Gut bacterial populations can shift. Your horse may eat less, they often stop drinking, muscles dehydrate and fatigue, performance suffers, leaky gut can develop and wellbeing is often compromised. AND your horse can become anxious and highly strung, making riding unsafe — and unenjoyable!
Many 'stress supplements' on the market are a 'Band-Aid' approach. They only serve to cover up the symptoms of stress and in some way attempt to 'calm' the horse.
Stress Paste is different.
Stress Paste supports a horse's gut and muscle physiology in a way that helps them directly deal with stress. And in helping a horse actually cope with stress, we may reduce the impact of stress on their behaviour. Here's how Stress Paste can help.
Shop Stress Paste
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Part One
The Horse's Stomach
The Challenge
A horse's stomach releases stomach acid 24/7. Any situation, like travel, competition, or fasting (such as prior to medical procedures like gastroscopy), that leaves a horse without access to forage for longer than 2–4 hours allows the stomach to empty, and the gastric acid builds up. pH in the stomach can drop as low as 1. Moreover, when a horse moves on an empty stomach this can cause the acid to splash up to the unprotected part of the stomach. This all leaves a horse at risk of gastric ulceration, more specifically equine squamous gastric disease (ESGD). The pain of a highly acidic stomach and resulting gastric ulceration may also lead to behavioural changes.
How Stress Paste Helps
Strong Buffering
Magnesium hydroxide acts as a strong buffer to assist in maintaining normal stomach pH. With a normal stomach pH your horse is able to remain comfortable and calm.
Pectin
The specially selected pectin used in Stress Paste combines with the magnesium hydroxide to form an 'alkaline slime'. This slime coats the stomach wall lining and helps to maintain normal, healthy gut wall physiology.
Supportive Amino Acid Profile
Stress Paste contains glutamine, threonine, proline and serine. These amino acids help the stomach to produce its protective mucin and reduce a stomach's susceptibility to injury from acid splash. Plus, the amino acids feed and support the protective layers of the gut.
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Part Two
The Small Intestine
The Challenge
When heat or cold stress occurs, blood flow is redistributed in an attempt to either offload or retain heat. With this occurs a compensatory reduction of blood flow to the gut, which can damage the gut lining, also called the epithelial barrier.
This epithelial barrier damage can then lead to a leaky gut (increased intestinal permeability). And a leaky gut allows antigens, endotoxins and disease-causing bacteria to leak from the gut into the body.
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Did you know?
Heat stress can occur either from environmental heat (your typical hot and humid summer day) or from exertional heat, generated during intense exercise.
How Stress Paste Helps
Natural Betaine
Natural betaine is an osmolyte that is used to help animals cope with heat stress and to reduce the negative impact of heat stress on intestinal permeability (less leaky gut).
Glutamine
Glutamine is a significant fuel for the intestinal epithelial cells and is crucial for correct epithelial barrier function, meaning it helps to stop the gut from leaking 'bad stuff' into the body when the body is under stress.
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Did you know?
Stress Paste is not designed to be a calming paste. Stress Paste is designed to support your horse with nutrients and compounds that help them deal directly with the effects of stress. However, horses may often be calmer on Stress Paste because their gut is comfortable and functioning normally, which helps to encourage calm yet responsive behaviour.
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Part Three
The Horse's Hindgut
A horse's resident hindgut microbiome, made up of billions of live bacteria and fungi, is in control of so many aspects of your horse's overall health. The microbiome is responsible for fibre digestion, hormone production, immune system function and vitamin production.
Microbiome in balance
- Efficient fibre digestion
- Ability to maintain weight
- Reduced risk of colic
- Calm behaviour
- Normal vitamin production
- Good appetite
- Healthy hooves
- Strong immune function
- Normal hormone production
- Lower stress
Microbiome out of balance
- Reduced fibre digestion
- Weight loss
- Increased risk of colic
- Reactive behaviour
- Vitamin deficiency
- Loss of appetite
- Poor hoof quality
- Poor immune function
- Disrupted hormone production
- Heightened stress response
The Challenge
Research has shown that even events we consider 'normal' in a modern horse's life, like transport, have the ability to upset a horse's hindgut microbiome. Large stress events can cause large disturbances to the microbiome, which can then result in large disturbances to their overall health.
How Stress Paste Helps
Prebiotic & Postbiotic
The Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast fermentation prebiotic and postbiotic supports the hindgut microbiome under stressful conditions to help it maintain normal function.
B-Group Vitamins
Sometimes the level of stress and lengthy times off feed a horse experiences will affect the hindgut enough to reduce B-vitamin production. The B-vitamins in Stress Paste will help to maintain appetite and normal muscle energy generation, and support normal nervous system function under these circumstances.
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Did you know?
A lot of 'calming pastes' on the market contain the amino acid tryptophan, claiming that it calms horses. Stress Paste does not include tryptophan because there is no scientific evidence to support this claim.
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Part Four
The Horse's Muscles & Immune System
The Challenge
Training, competition, travel and illness all increase a horse's need for antioxidants like vitamin E and vitamin C to provide protection from oxidative stress. Research shows that the production of vitamin C by a horse's liver is reduced during stressful events like transport and exercise.1 This means a horse loses full use of one of its most powerful antioxidants.
Stress, including psychological stress, can also cause the gut to leak, putting pressure on a horse's immune system to deal with the pathogens, toxins and bacteria leaking from the gut to the body. Antioxidants like vitamins E and C are important for proper immune function to help horses overcome these immune challenges. Learn more about the effect of stress on horses.
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Did you know?
Psychological stresses like feed restriction and social isolation can lead to leaky gut syndrome. Research shows that when animals become psychologically stressed, the tight junctions in their gut loosen. When this happens, pathogens, toxins and bacteria can leak from the gut to the body and can cause disease and inflammation.
How Stress Paste Helps
Powerful Antioxidants
The combination of high doses of vitamin C and natural vitamin E provides a horse with a rapid boost to their antioxidant capacity, protecting muscles and organs from increased oxidative stress and properly supporting normal immune function.
Comparing Stress Paste with competitor brands
| Feature | Stress Paste | Brand 1 | Brand 2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Magnesium hydroxide for acid buffering | Yes | No | No |
| 4 amino acids for mucin production & gut wall integrity | Yes | No | No |
| Stomach coating agent | Yes | No | No |
| Natural betaine for hydration | Yes | No | No |
| B-group vitamins for nerve function & muscle energy | Yes | No | Yes |
| Magnesium for nerve function | Yes | No | Yes |
| Natural vitamin E for antioxidant protection | Yes | No | No |
| Vitamin C for antioxidant protection | Yes | No | Yes |
| Hindgut pre & postbiotic support | Yes | No | No |
References
1. Williams, C.A.; Kronfeld, D.S.; Hess, T.M.; Saker, K.E.; Waldron, J.N.; Crandell, K.M.; Hoffman, R.M.; Harris, P.A. Antioxidant supplementation and subsequent oxidative stress of horses during an 80-km endurance race. J. Anim. Sci. 2004, 82, 588–594.
