Success Of Racehorses Improves With Greater Gut Microbiome Diversity
The future success and long-term health of a racehorse can be diagnosed by the diversity of its gut microbiome when itβs just one month old!
Β© by GrrlScientist for Forbes | LinkTr.ee
βYou are what you eatβ as the old adage goes, but .. does this apply to animals, too? Animals like β¦ horses?
Of course it does, and if youβre a horse lover (or a horseplayer), you will be especially interested in this new report. This new study analyzed poop produced by more than 50 racehorse foals to measure and classify the bacteria present in their digestive tracts during the first three years of their lives, and it compared their microbial diversity to their racing success and overall health.
The recent study (ref) found that the diversity of microbes present in a foalβs gut when it was just four weeks old correlates to its success on the racetrack: greater microbial diversity correlates with greater racing success β and with better long-term health.
βGut health is absolutely critical,β summarized the studyβs senior co-author, equine epidemiologist and practitioner Chris Proudman, a professor of clinical veterinary medicine at the University of Surrey. Professor Proudmanβs research focuses on the role of gut bacteria in intestinal health andβ¦
