AVS-4160 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Esophagus, Canine Tooth, Trifolium Pratense
29 Aug 2016
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Document Summary
Male horses have canine teeth and female horses do not. One theory is that males have them for fighting. Drooling can be caused by eating red clover, sedation, medication, old age, and reduction of lip tension. The saliva does not cause any enzymatic digestion because it has very little amylase. Although digestion starts in the stomach, its contribution to overall digestion is negligible. The bulk of digestion occurs in the small intestine. The horse"s stomach is shaped like a kidney bean. The rate of passage of food through the stomach is very fast. Choke occurs when there is something lodged in the esophagus. Choke often is a result of the horse eating too fast. Ways to combat this include: putting a salt brick in the feeder, using a special feeder, and feeding more often. Other causes of choke include the horse not chewing its food well because it has bad teeth or is eating too fast.
