Horses masticate similarly to ruminants

The mastication halters indicate that horses fragment their food with the same rhythmic chewing movements as ruminants do during rumination (Image: UZH). Herbivores digest their food much better if it has been strongly fragmented by intensive mastication. For ruminants such as cows, sheep, goats, deer, llamas or camels, eating and ruminating are two different processes: Some time after feeding, they regurgitate part of their food and chew it again with particularly even, rhythmic movements. In this way, they achieve the maximum degree of fragmentation of their food. Researchers of the University of Zurich and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH Zurich) are now investigating whether the chewing movements of the ruminants are similar to those of other ruminants and other herbivores. In their study with horses, cows and camels, they use special mastication halters, which can record the movements of the mouth and automatically differentiate between eating and ruminating. Similar rhythmic chewing movements .