Micro-encapsulated Probiotics
    
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In recent years, the term
"probiotics" has become a health buzzword and there has been an
explosion of equine feed supplements adding probiotics to their product
lines. What are they? What does probiotic mean? It originates
from the Greek word Probiosis, ‘pro” meaning for and “biosis” meaning life, thus
probiotic means “for good life”. Probiotics are simply the “good” bacterial
that exists in the digestive tract and promote health. Since horses have become
domesticated and their life style changed their need for additional support has
become necessary. Feeding live beneficial bacteria and digestive enzymes help
to create and maintain microbial balances in the digestive tract for optimal
digestion and maximizing health of your horse. Probiotics are beneficial
bacteria which favorably alter the intestinal micro-flora balance,
encourage feed and ingredient utilization, support immune function, and
maintain optimal health. As we become increasingly aware of the growing importance of friendly intestinal flora and its benefits to a healthy gut, the survival of these live micro - organisms is crucial and must be considered too!
Micro-encapsulation is a process of
enclosing the probiotics in very small sealed capsules from which the
probiotic is released slowly by body heat employing an effective means
of delivering the complex micro-flora to the digestive tract where it is
best utilized. Today’s horse lifestyle includes limited grazing access if any, processed feeds, intense training and showing stresses, all which mess with the ability of the horse to maintain a healthy body. Your horse’s stomach requires digestive enzymes to continue with the process of feed breakdown. The gastric juices start this breakdown, and then the bacteria make the feed into useable, absorbable compounds. Without the proper digestive enzymes and beneficial intestinal bacterial being in place, the food passes through the system without being “fermented” the way it should, thus the nutrients that are in the feed stays in the feed and lost through the feces. This undigested food can lead to situations such as colic or colic-like symptoms, bloat, founder, and set up ideal parasite conditions. Antibiotics, of course not only destroy the bad bacterial, but also the good bacteria. That is why most times a horse will go “off feed” after antibiotic treatment. The bacteria have been eliminated from the digestive tract, and the only way to “start” the engine is to reintroduce the bacteria thru supplementation. When feeding a supplement with probiotic there are some criteria that should be met: first the product must contain LIVE microorganisms – if not then it is not a probiotic and it will not to anything for your horse’s digestive system. Some supplements have yeast added which increases the digestible energy content of the feed; however it needs to be live also. There are yeasts on the market that are “dead” and don’t do anything without the addition of live organisms. Also, not all strains of probiotic are created the same thus your probiotic should have Lactobacillus sp to be effective and there needs to be 10-100 billion CFU/day of an organism to colonize the digestive tract.
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