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 it’s just one month old!

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“You are what you eat” as the old adage goes, but .. does this apply to animals, too? Animals like ... horses?

Of course it does, and if you’re 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.