Comparison of the colic incidence in a horse population with or without inclusion of germinated barley in the diet

Sprouted cereals have a better digestibility and contain oligosaccharides that act as prebiotics improving and stabilising the intestinal flora. Supplementation with germinated malted barley could help to prevent the occurrence of colic in horses. The objective of this study was to determine if the inclusion of germinated barley as a supplement decreased the incidence of colic in a population of horses. An observational prospective study was designed to record the colic incidence of an equestrian centre horse population in Madrid (Spain). Data were collected during two 21 months periods, only including horses that were maintained at the centre for the whole time. Age, sex, housing and colic events were recorded during Period 1 (control period) and Period 2 (with germinated barley supplementation, Equinocol(R)). Sixty-three horses were included in the study of which 43 were stabled 12 h/day (Group A) and 20 that lived at pasture all-day long (Group B). Colic incidence of the total population, Group A and group B during Period 1 was 18.1, 23.9 and 5.7 cases/100 horses at risk-year, respectively. With the inclusion of germinated barley, there was a significant decrease in the colic events in the total population (5.4 cases/100 horses at risk-year) and group A (5.3 cases/100 horses at risk-year). It was concluded that supplementation with germinated barley might decrease the appearance of colic in stabled horses. Further investigation is warranted to identify the potentially beneficial substances and the repeatability of the results.