Spring Grass, Restricted Grazing & Gut Health: What Every Owner Needs to Know

Do you have a horse with EMS or prone to laminitis? Is restricted grazing part of your routine? Read on — this one’s for you.

Spring is a beautiful season, but it also brings challenges for many horse owners. Rich grass and longer daylight hours can mean weight gain, sugar spikes, and — in sensitive horses — a real risk to their health.

Obesity: A Growing Concern

Obesity in horses isn’t just about appearance. It can lead to insulin resistance, joint strain, painful hooves, and in serious cases, life-threatening laminitis. Restricting grazing and overall calorie intake is often necessary — especially for horses with EMS or a history of laminitis. But there’s a trade-off that’s often overlooked: gut health.

What We Lose When We Limit Grazing

In the wild, horses roamed for miles daily, grazing on a wide range of plants — often 30 to 40 species. Today, restricted turnout, controlled hay, and simplified diets limit the variety of natural plant fibres they consume. This reduction in plant diversity can negatively impact the hindgut, where good bacteria thrive and help support your horse’s entire system.

Overall Health in Horses

The equine digestive system is a complex and finely tuned system that plays a central role in maintaining a horse’s overall health and metabolic function. When gut health is compromised, the effects can ripple throughout the body, impacting not only digestion but also energy regulation, immune response, weight management, hormone balance, and even behaviour.

At the heart of the digestive system lies the hindgut — home to trillions of microbes responsible for fermenting fibre, synthesising nutrients, and protecting against pathogens. This microbial community, known as the gut microbiome, is essential for extracting energy from forage and producing vital compounds like volatile fatty acids (VFAs), which are a key fuel source for the horse. When this delicate microbial balance is disrupted — due to stress, poor diet, sudden feed changes, illness, or prolonged medication use — digestion becomes less efficient, nutrient absorption declines, and metabolic processes are compromised.

Gut Health and Metabolism

A healthy gut is vital for a well-functioning metabolism. Horses with compromised gut function may struggle to maintain weight, build muscle, or regulate energy levels. Poor hindgut fermentation can lead to undigested carbohydrates reaching areas of the gut where they shouldn’t, triggering excess gas production, acidosis, or microbial die-off — all of which increase the risk of colic or laminitis. On the flip side, a stable and diverse gut microbiome promotes metabolic balance, steady energy release, and efficient feed utilisation.

There is also a strong connection between gut health and insulin sensitivity. Horses prone to metabolic issues such as insulin dysregulation or equine metabolic syndrome often show signs of gut imbalance. A healthy gut helps moderate the glycaemic response to starch and sugar intake, reducing metabolic stress. Supporting the microbiome with prebiotics, probiotics, and digestive enzymes can aid insulin response and help manage weight in metabolically challenged horses.

Gut Health and Immunity

Approximately 70% of the horse’s immune system is housed in the gut-associated lymphoid tissue (GALT). When the gut is healthy, it acts as a barrier against harmful pathogens while also teaching the immune system to tolerate beneficial microbes. If this barrier is compromised — a condition known as "leaky gut" — undigested proteins, toxins, and bacteria may cross into the bloodstream, potentially triggering chronic inflammation and immune dysregulation. This can manifest as skin issues, respiratory sensitivity, poor recovery after work, or general malaise.

Mood and Behaviour

Emerging research in horses suggests that the gut-brain axis — the biochemical signalling between the gut and the brain — plays a significant role in mood and behaviour. An unhealthy gut may influence neurotransmitter production, particularly serotonin and dopamine, which can affect temperament, trainability, and stress responses. Horses with poor gut health may appear anxious, lethargic, reactive, spooky or dull.

Conclusion

Gut health is far more than a digestion issue — it’s the cornerstone of metabolic function and whole-body wellness. Supporting the gut with appropriate forage, consistent feeding routines, stress management, and targeted supplements like Equell’s Gut Food can aid digestion, maintain your horse’s energy, performance, body condition, and behaviour. A healthy gut truly is the foundation of a healthy horse.

So, what are prebiotics — and why do they matter?

Prebiotics are fermentable plant fibres that serve as food for the good bacteria in your horse’s digestive tract. They help produce short-chain fatty acids that maintain the integrity of the gut lining, support a balanced microbiome, and even play a role in blood sugar regulation and immune health.

How to Help Your Horse

When forage is restricted, it’s vital to ensure your horse still gets all the nutrients they need — not just calories, but minerals, vitamins, and plant diversity too to support hind gut health and their microbiome diversity. Equell Gut Food provides a wide variety of prebiotic fibres, herbs and plants (including superfoods) to support microbiome diversity.

~ The Equell Team