Abstract
Hind-gut acidosis in equines is associated with a number of debilitating and often fatal metabolic disorders such as colic and laminitis. It is well known that feeding equines large amounts of cereal starch can elicit the onset of hind-gut acidosis, but the role of other dietary polysaccharides in the aetiology of these disorders is less certain. It is believed that starch causes hind-gut acidosis through its preferential and rapid fermentation in the caecum by lactate-producing bacteria causing a decline in caecal pH. The aim of this experiment was to examine the effect of three types of polysaccharide on culture lactate and pH when incubated with a pony faecal inoculum. The polysaccharides used were cellulose, cereal starch and fructan, the storage carbohydrate of temperate grasses, which has been implicated, but not proven to be the causal agent of laminitis in pastured equines (Hinkley, 1997)
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