Thanks to funding from the UC Davis Center for Equine Health and in collaboration with Dr. Elizabeth Maga, we are working to delineate changes in the gut microbiota from birth to two weeks post-weaning and to determine the effects of mare’s milk on the foal’s gut microbiota both from both the standpoint of the contribution by the mare’s milk microbiota and factors in the mare’s milk that would affect microbial populations. Also, in collaboration with Dr. Gary Magdesian, we are looking to compare healthy and sick foal gut microbiotas. Additionally, in collaboration with Dr. Ed DePeters, we have begun examining the effects of psyllium (a common supplement used as a preventative for sand colic) on the horse GI microbiota.
On April 30, 2019, we published a manuscript on how flora transitions in foals from birth to weaning using the fecal microbiota: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0216211.