Remember, psyllium is a feedstuff and is exposed to enzymatic and microbial digestion just like every other feedstuff in the diet. If you think about these assertions, hopefully you will conclude that psyllium is perhaps provided more credit than it deserves. Another recollection of psyllium lore was correlating the action of psyllium to “a wad of gum rolling-along inside a tube with sand sticking to the wad”. The claim that circulates in the horse industry is that psyllium “picks up sand” in the gut. Thus, the amount of fiber provided by 4 ounces of psyllium and one cup of wheat bran is insignificant relative to contributing bulk to the diet in the form of fiber. For comparison if an 1100 lb horse is fed Bermuda grass hay at 1.5% of body weight then this amount of hay provides 350 times more crude fiber than one cup of wheat bran and 420 times more fiber than 4 oz of psyllium. Four (4) ounces of psyllium provides less fiber than one cup of wheat bran. Keep in mind that fiber is a fundamental component of the diet that influences ROP. There are different regimes promoted that include daily feeding to feeding for 5 – 7 days per month. So if a horse is fed a diet high in fiber, is there a need for a psyllium product to add bulk or to provide a laxative-effect? The apparent recommended feeding amount of various psyllium products approximates 2 – 4 ounces per day. Bray’s Corner Fact Sheet section title, Feeding Guidelines for Horses. The emphasis this nutritionist places on fiber intake via forages can be found in Dr. Gut integrity requires a stable, healthy microbial population that resides in the gut. Fiber sources not only provide sources of energy and nutrients but also contribute to gut integrity. These feedstuffs contribute the fiber or bulk of the diet. Remember that most adult horses’ diets consist primarily of forages, that is, hay or pasture. The standard for scientists in which the movement of the gut’s content is measured is referred to as the rate of passage (ROP) or transit time (TT).
As the gut contracts with more vigor then the gut content will move through the gut at a faster rate.
The gut is a muscle and with contractions the contents of the gut will move through the pipeline. The fundamental objective in feeding bulk laxatives to any animal (including humans) is to force the gastrointestinal tract to contract differently and “to move” with more vigor. Since nutritional management has always been my focus, the information that follows should help with how one makes those nutritional management judgments concerning products that promote a laxative effect. One of the confusions includes the use of products to prevent colic. This growth in product offerings has also been coupled with confusion with the information that circulates on “how to feed horses”. Today, there are a plethora of nutritional products on the market compared.
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