When it comes to the equine microbiome, we don’t really know enough about what’s normal to make strong recommendations or have firm conclusions about what to do when things are abnormal. Happily, horses seem to do pretty well on their own, but there’s certainly a lot more to learn.
David Ramey, DVM, discusses the nuances of the equine microbiome with researcher Dr. Carolyn Arnold, Texas A&M University.
Source: Horse Network, June 1, 2020. Link. As it turns out, the microbiome of the Quarter Horse in Texas is actually quite similar to the microbiome of the Warmblood in Connecticut.
. . . for about 90% of horses, in different seasons, on different diets, and in different locations, there seems to be something of a normal range for the bacteria in the horse’s GI tract. It also turns out that certain things can rather predictably alter the equine microbiome.