Equus - Equine Probiotics

Equus is a concentrated source of viable strains of probiotic microorganisms and nutraceutical compounds and digestive enzymes to aid health, growth and recovery in Horses and Donkeys.

Role of Intestinal Microflora in Overall Health

The intestinal tract of an animal is the site of nutrient digestion and absorption. It is also the site for colonization by both beneficial and pathogenic microorganisms. The microbial balance determines the host animal’s health status. The major intestinal microflora of horses includes lactobacilli,
streptococci, coliforms, clostridia and yeasts. In healthy animals, lactobacilli dominate the intestine with a population of >100,000 cfu/g and successfully suppress pathogenic activity. A residual flora of less than 0.01% of the total microbial population is composed of clostridia, staphylococci, pseudomonas, proteus and yeasts of the Candida genus. Changes in this balance of microbial composition often occur and represent a major cause of digestive disturbance. This is frequently due to the development of Gram negative bacteria, particularly pathogenic E. coli strains.

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Horses

Foals

The intestinal tract of newborn animals is rapidly colonised by a complex microbial flora soon after birth. At birth the only immune protection for the young animal is supplied by its mother and only lasts for 4 to 5 days. Its own immune system does not appear until about the 21st day when antibodies start to be formed in the intestinal mucous membrane. During the intervening period, any lapse in the intestinal microflora balance is particularly important to prevent infections.

Effect of Stress on Digestion

Worked horses are constantly subjected to physiological, management or environmental stresses including: pregnancy, foaling, feed changes, prevailing weather conditions and transportation. During times of stress pathogenic bacteria can overgrow the lactobacilli, thereby changing the normal intestinal microbial balance, resulting in host digestive disorders and upsets.

Impact of Antibiotic Therapy

Therapeutic treatment of a sick horse with antibiotics or other drugs may remove all the microbes in the intestine and create a temporarily sterile digestive tract. Animals are extremely vulnerable to invasion by pathogenic organisms immediately after such therapeutic treatment.

Equus Advance for Working Horses

Equus Senior for Elderly Horses

The Equus line of products was designed to achieve the following targets

Unique and effective combinations of probiotics and prebiotics to improve horse intestinal microbial balance.
Combat digestive upsets and incidence of scours which occur due to periods of stress, feed changes, illness or transport causing an imbalance in the intestinal microflora of horses.
Improve utilisation of fibre by stimulation of fibre digesting bacteria.
Improves performance in young and growing animals
Improve health status of horses by inhibiting pathogen growth.
Enhance immune response to better equip the horse to deal with feed and environmental challenges.
Enhances feed intake by sick and old animals to ensure adequate nutrient intake
Increases degree of digestion of feed including high grain diets
Promotes healthy status in gastro-intestinal tract after antibiotic therapy.< /li>
Helps to prevent digestive ailments caused by by-products of mould growth such as mycotoxins
Greatly improves coat condition and overall vitality of animals

SUNDOWN AT AGE 29
He was thin, his coat was dull and his overall health
was poor. His condition deteriorated rapidly
after this photograph was made.

SUNDOWN AT AGE 33
After 9 months on Equus the results were amazing!
The credit goes to Equus!
Owner: Robin Silver-Tester, Hardy, Virginia

Equus products are formulated to contain 5 key micro-pharma ingredients.

Live Yeast
Probiotic Bacteria
Immunoglucan
Manna Oligosaccharides
Fructan Oligosaccharides

1. Live Yeast

Equus supplies a single elite strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast used as a hind gut stimulant to stabilize pH and enhance fibre digesting populations of bacteria. The live yeast stimulates increased lactate utilisation by hindgut bacteria thereby reducing the acidity load and it has a positive effect on the activity of fibrolytic bacteria

Live yeast activity in the intestine uses up oxygen, thereby arresting the development of oxygen loving pathogens and also further promoting the growth of fibre digesting bacteria.

2. Probiotic Bacteria

It has been shown that supplementing animals with certain strains of lactobacilli can help them to resist stress and post-antibiotic problems. The strain of Lactobacillus acidophilus chosen for Equus was specifically selected for its positive attributes in this area, including rapid growth of the Lactobacillus to ensure domination of the intestinal microflora with this highly beneficial strain.

Bacteria

This beneficial bacterium attaches to specific sites on intestinal wall by adhering to epithelial cells or the mucus covering them and prevents the establishment of undesirable bacteria. Once established the lactobacilli then produce important anti-microbial compounds such as hydrogen peroxide and bacteriocins which inhibits the development of pathogens.

3. Immunoglucans

Immunoglucan is produced by extracting a purified type of beta glucan from the wall of yeast cells. This material acts as a specific stimulator of the immune system. This results in greater activity of white blood cells to destroy pathogens and also to produce compounds such as peroxide and nitric oxide which inhibit pathogen development. This property of immunoglucans is only evident when the material is at least 80% pure and has been processed in a particular was to protect it’s biological activity. Most commercially available beta glucans do meet this specification.

Immunoglucan

4. Mannan Oligosaccharides (MOS)

Mannan oligosaccharides occur naturally in the cell walls of microorganisms and plants. They are used preferentially as a food source by beneficial bacteria in the gut. They are successfully used in production animals as an aid to combating stressdependent ailments that cause an imbalance in beneficial gut microflora.

MOS also plays an important role in remediating the problems caused to horses by the presence of mycotoxins both is stored and grazed feeds.

Molecule

5. Fructooligosaccharides (FOS)

FOS is extracted from chicory plants by a hot water extraction of the macerated root which is then spray dried to produce the powdered form that is used in Equus. During the liquid phase, the mixture is treated with specific enzymes to ensure that the desired chain lengths of oligosaccharide that are the most effective in the animal are achieved in the final product.

The chain length is known as the degrees of polymerisation. Too few means the FOS will be unstable and not make it to the target section of the intestine. Too many and the FOS may not be sufficiently degraded in the intestine to achieve stimulation of the beneficial bacteria. The FOS used in Equus has been formulated to contain mostly medium and long length chains of oligosaccharides to ensure optimum utilisation in the intestinal tract of the target animal.

Both mannan and fructan oligosaccharides can be successfully used in animal production as an aid to combating stress dependent ailments that cause an imbalance in the beneficial gut microflora.

MOS and FOS are principally used as an energy source by lactic acid producing bacteria, thereby stimulating their growth. This results in a more stable intestinal microflora and optimizes nutrient absorption and feed conversion.

Pathogenic bacteria cannot degrade MOS or FOS and therefore cannot use them as an energy source. Feeding MOS and FOS together tends to suppress the activity of important pathogenic populations. In addition these pathogenic bacteria have mannose specific lectins on their cell surface allowing the pathogens to become bound to the MOS components and be washed out of the animal.

Equine