Question

My 22-year-old gelding has had free fecal water syndrome for many years. It has been somewhat under control. I am always looking for soft grass hay. Is timothy a good choice?

Answer

Because free fecal water syndrome (FFWS) is so individualized, general recommendations are hard to give, even when considering forage.

Some horses do better on early-maturity or “soft” timothy hay, while others do better on orchardgrass hay. Some might do just as well on a mixture of baled pasture grasses. Changing the forage, not necessarily to a specific type but finding what works for your horse, can suppress or resolve FFWS in some cases.

What was your gelding eating when FFWS was under control? In looking to the future, it is important to know what has and hasn’t worked for him in the past.

While there are multiple possible causes for FFWS, including stress, gastrointestinal inflammation, microbial imbalance, and feed contamination, some reports link the condition to forage quality and digestibility issues.

You may consider looking into EquiShure, the hindgut buffer used with incredible success for other hindgut issues. EquiShure is designed to act on the cecum and colon by improving the pH through its time-released mechanism. Most products on the market do not reach the hindgut with any demonstrated efficacy like EquiShure has shown.

EquiShure may help FFWS through its positive effects on hindgut health, including stabilizing the resident microbial population and increasing fiber digestion. Stabilization of the hindgut may boost water absorption and potentially decrease diarrhea or FFWS. Several horse owners have reported success with EquiShure, especially at higher servings than routinely suggested (3-4 times per day). This suggestion comes with a caveat: what works for one horse doesn’t always work for another.