Equine Athlete Digest-Rite Sport + is a nutritional supplement formulated for both sport and performance horses whose diets are based on pasture and some hard feed. Digest-Rite provides a combination of a MOS pre-biotic, 3 digestive enzymes, a registered toxin binder and rice bran to enhance digestion and at the same time help maintain a healthy digestive tract. It also helps prevent the absorption of toxins and excessive lactic acid resulting from only partial digestion of feedstuff.

In nature horses are browsing animals with very selective grazing habits. Their digestive systems are well adapted to handling grass diets. However the quality and quantity of pastures that horses have access to in many areas are generally quite different from those of a natural habitat, plus we add extra feed to compensate for the workload that we require of them.

In terms of digestive difficulties, fresh young grass is most often a problem. Because horses lack enough enzymes necessary to break down all the soluble sugars found in young grasses, they often pass undigested into the large intestine (hindgut) where they undergo bacterial fermentation. Lactic acid is released to try and complete the digestion at this point and can result in hindgut acidosis. This is painful and as a reaction creates problems of bad behavior, also laminitis can result from absorption of the by-products of this process. Digest-Rite provides three types of enzymes which assist digestion of these excess sugars to prevent undigested matter passing to the hindgut., these are alpha amylase and beta glucanase, it also contains xylanase to help digestion of fibre improving the release of nutrients and decreasing gas.

Being able to feed a product that contains a toxin binding agent has obvious advantages for horses grazing problem pastures. The silicate oxides in Digest-Rite have a high capacity for binding toxins. Once bound, the toxins cannot be absorbed and are passed out in the faeces.

Many sport and performance horses are kept in situations where the amount of available grass is not sufficient to meet dietary and energy requirements. Supplemental hard feed is usually fed to  improve the balance. These feeds, some with grain, will add to the processing demand of the digestive tract. Oats and barley are ideally suited as an energy source but they have a high starch content; and most pre-mixed feeds contain one if not all of these grains, some even contain maize the most energy intensive grain. As they are not part of a natural diet, horses are limited in the amount of hard feed they are able to digest at one time.

As with grass, if too much is fed at once, or if the passage through the small intestine is too rapid, an undigested amount passes through to the hindgut where it undergoes bacterial fermentation.

The by-products of starch and sugar fermentation can affect both temperament and performance; over-sensitivity, excitability, being touchy and sensitive and grass laminitis are common problems. Feeding a product like Digest-Rite that improves the digestion of grasses and grains has obvious advantages for sport and performance horses, especially those prone to these problems.

Digest-Rite is more than just a simple digestive additive – (like those containing live yeast cultures). Digest-Rite contains a pre-biotic (mannan oligosaccharide), digestive enzymes (α amylase and β Glucanase, xylanase), rice bran and Mycofix toxin binder.

It has a 4 way action:

Firstly by slowing the passage of food through the small intestine, allowing more time for the horse’s own digestive enzymes to work.

Secondly, by enhancing digestion through the inclusion of enzymes that can break down sugar and starch and fibre.

The inclusion of a pre-biotic, mannan oligosaccharide helps maintain a functional gut wall and ensures that nutrients are absorbed efficiently following digestion, and any negative by-products are removed.

Finally the toxin binder can help prevent the absorption of any harmful fungal toxins.

Digest-Rite should be fed to sport and performance horses receiving a grass and or grass and hard feed diet or those grazing pastures where conditions are likely to cause nutritional problems.

Digest-Rite contains no prohibited substances so can be safely fed before and during competition.

Dosage: Average 500kg horse
50gms per day, divided with the feeds or fed in one dose. With horses going on to fresh, or Spring pastures increase to 75gms for that period.

Available Sizes: 2kg, 5kg and 20kg bags

The Science:
Equine x-Amyase : Richards,N:Choct,M;Hinch,GN;Rowe,JB

Feeding Non Starch Polysacchrides Choct,M.

Yeast Cell walls in animal nutrition; differentiation & specific properties of MOS &beta1, 6-glucans. Detlef Kampf, Marc Rovers, Felipe De Conti Horta

Effects of dietary Short-chain fructo-oligosaccharides on the intestinal microflora of horses subjected to a sudden change in diet. F. Respondek, A.G. Goachet, V. Julliand

Dietary fructans carbohydrate increases amine production in the equine large intestine : Implications for pasture-associated laminitis C. Crawford, M.F. Sepulveda, J. Elliott, P.A. Harris & S.R. Bailey.

Effects of feeding horses a high fibre diet with or without exogenous fibrolytic enzymes…. Salem, A.Z.M.; M.M.Y. Eigandour, A.E. Kholifetal 2015 jnl equine veterinary scince 35:735-743ffects of feeding a blend of grains naturally contaminated with fusarium mycotoxins ….. the efficacy of a polymeric glucomannan mycotoxins absorbent. S.L. Raymond, T.K. Smith, & H.V. Swamy.

Endogenous toxins & mycotoxins in forage grasses & their effect on livestock. P R Cheeke jnl Animal Science 3 909-918