This happens most frequently when horses are fed large amounts of carbohydrates at a single meal feeding. Understanding how energy is supplied by different nutrients, and how to manage the feeding of energy will help horse owners develop feeding plans that reduce the incidence of colic and founder.
Energy is the fuel for chemical reactions which run the various systems of the body.
Energy-containing compounds are part of grains, forages and many supplements. Starch bypassing to the cecum and large intestine is digested by microbes and absorbed as volatile fatty acids. Large amounts of starch presented to the cecum and large intestine predispose horses to colic because of gaseous products of microbial digestion, and abnormal changes in gut pH and fluid balance. The amount of starch bypassing to the hindgut depends on intake level, rate of flow through the digestive tract, and the amount of mechanical disruption of the hard seed coats of grains. Fat is a component of most feedstuffs.