What is normal ?

What is the normal consistency for horse poo?

My mare, Bella, has poo that is not as formed as my other mares. Indi's poo is more like what I imagine horse poo looks like with "biscuits" (that's what we've always called them, lol). Bella's is more like cow poo. I have asked her previous owner who stated it was just from grazing in the pasture, yet all the horses at the barn graze in the pasture and none of the other horses have this softer poo. They were both wormed 2 months ago with ivermectin. I stopped giving her apples (she was only getting roughly one apple total a week). I gave her a dose of Probios and the next day her poo was firmer and had biscuits. I went on vacation on Monday, came back on Thurs night, yesterday I go to the barn to take care of the mares and her poo is back to being like cow poo. Is that normal for some horses?

It is my understanding that horses should have good "solid" poo. [I call them apples. =P] And that when it comes out loose like that, it is due to an inadequate diet, typically fiber. Why my mare gets looser poo, I can usually associate it with a new batch of hay or a new bag of grain. Some horses are more sensitive to others. I knew an Appy/Curly that had that "reaction" to every new bale of hay. Seeing as it was a 16ish horse barn, he got hay from a new bale quite often, lol.

Horses need X amount of roughage [not sure the actual amount] and if they aren't getting it, it will show up in their feces. Beet pulp, hay, hay cubes, etc, are examples of good roughage.

My field horses who get no grain have very runny poo as they are just eating grass.
My fed horses are still a loose texture but it has some kind of consistency.

Stabled horses who get fed twice daily and are on hay will have poo that crumbles when it hits the ground. This will not occur with grass horses.

My vet has cleared all my horses and it has something to do wiht the nutrient value or water content in the grass I can't remember which one.

Its nothing to worry about however if she has always had it only if there is a sudden change in faeces is it time to worry.

Sometimes this early in the year, the grass will be rich enough to cause that. Other horses aren't getting enough fiber, sometimes it can be caused by stress, it varies with every horse.

According to the previous owner she has always had this consistency of poo. They are in the pasture unless it storms. Every day I bring them into the barn where they get a handful of grain with supplements (farriers formula and probios), we groom them and then take them back to the pasture unless it's going to come a thunderstorm. If it's going to storm we leave them in their stalls with several flakes of hay. Typically they do not get hay unless in the barn because they have so much pasture to eat from. It's not watery at all and is stiff enough that it doesn't run but it's not "biscuits" like my other mares. It looks like a cow pile.

I would check her for ulcers if it is consistantly loose and pudding like.

If she continues it I will defintely consider having her tested for ulcers. I already do what I can to prevent ulcers. Lots of pasture, added the probiotics, she is with her sister so she's not lonely, she's not being stressed that I know of . She does tend to stress a bit if she can't see her sister. Perhaps that is enough to cause enough stress to cause ulcers. Thanks for the suggestion. I was thinking worms, too many apples, grass.. etc. I hadn't even thought of ulcers. Bella is the more high strung of the two.