Another term for the digestive tract. In the horse it is divided into two parts:
- The fore gut comprising mouth, oesophagus, stomach, and small intestine (the duodenum, jejunum, and ileum). The ileum connects to the caecum at the ileo-caecal valve.
- The hind gut consists of the caecum, large colon, small colon, rectum, and anus.
Briefly, digestion in the fore gut is principally by means of enzymes secreted by the gut, or its associated glands like the pancreas. Hind gut digestion is carried out by the microbiota, the microbial population which resides there.