Free Faecal Water (Ffw)

Horses suffering from FFW will commonly have messy hindlegs and tails caused by the excess water that is being expelled. In some cases this water can be produced entirely separately of any faces or defecation happening. Whilst this can look very unpleasant it can also cause irritation and soreness to the horses hind end and so will become a management issue.

Likely causes of FFW can include abrupt changes in forage i.e., suddenly changing from hay to haylage, or the use of high moisture forage (wet haylage), horses that have suffered from previous digestive upset and quick changes in feed. There is also some thought that mobility disturbances to the hindgut such as increased mobility, strong contractions or inflammation can affect the ability of the hindgut to hold water.

There are changes that you can make to your horses diet and management to help them overcome periods of FFW syndrome:

• Ensure your horse is receiving a balanced diet which utilises ingredients that support a healthy digestive system.

• Keep meal sizes small and reduce the starch content of your feeds if it is above 1g per 100kg of body weight per meal.

• Use forages with a high water holding capacity. Grass chaff has a better water holding capacity in the hindgut when compared to lucerne (alfalfa) or sugar beet.

• Review the forage portion of your horse’s diet - are they receiving enough? Ideally 2% of your horse’s body weight should be fed in forage per day unless they are on a calorie restricted diet where no less than 1.5% of body weight needs to be fed.

• Increase the dry matter (DM) content of your horses forage - If you are feeding a very wet forage i.e., haylage with a low DM content, gradually introduce a dryer forage such as hay or a haylage with a higher DM content.

Need more guidance?

If you would like any advice for your horse, please feel free to contact our nutritional team on 01622 718487 or fill out our Feed Advice Form.