Something's not right. You notice that your sweet horse just isn't acting like their happy self. They greet you with pinned ears, side-eye, and flinch when you touch their sides. You notice that their dinner from last night is left untouched, and their poop piles look more like puddles.
You’re left wondering: "What could be wrong? How do I get my happy horse back? Nothing has changed!" Or has it?
Could your horse's mood swings and gut troubles be from too much bad bacteria, causing gut chaos? Even though your horse can’t tell you what they are feeling, they can definitely show you!
Here are 3 simple signs that probiotics may be the key to helping your horse feel like themselves.
1. Inconsistent Manure
Gross. Your gelding has done his best splatter-paint impression all over the stall walls. You struggle to sift the shavings where runny “cow pies” have taken the place of perfect piles.
Within hours, stressors like trailer rides, diet changes or new herd members, can throw the good and bad bacteria in your horse’s gut off balance, causing a stinky situation.
If not addressed, stressy stools can lead to bigger problems like:
- Weight Loss & Nutrient Deficiencies: When feed and forage rush through the digestive system, essential nutrients aren't fully absorbed. This can potentially weaken your horse's immune system and impact the way they look and feel.
- Dehydration & Electrolyte Imbalance: Diarrhea causes fluids and minerals essential for hydration to be washed out before they can be absorbed. This can lead to electrolyte imbalances, heat stress, and even colic. Tip: if your horse has the runs, keep fresh water available at all times and supplement their feed with salt, to help them replenish lost resources.
Something as simple as fresh grass, new hay, or a feed swap can be responsible for funky feces.
Tip:
Practice these feeding habits to help your horse pass comfortable and tidy manure:
- Use the 25% rule when introducing new feeds
- Buy hay in larger quantities, when possible
- Supplement with a probiotic through diet changes.
- Feed smaller, more frequent daily grain meals.
2. Change in Behavior
Did you know your horse's gut and brain talk to each other? This connection, known as the "gut-brain axis", is a two-way street that plays a crucial role in regulating mood and behavior.
Picture your horse's digestive tract as an air traffic control tower for their body. In a well-balanced gut, everything runs smoothly, like a perfectly coordinated airport where planes land and take off without a hitch - delivering their cargo to the correct destination, on schedule. The right messages get to the brain, and essential nutrients get delivered throughout the body.
When there's an excess of bad bacteria, it's as if the tower loses its signal. Runways become chaotic, and flight patterns go haywire. Nerves are tingling, 'fight or flight' hormones are spiking, and nutrients are lost. Similarly, when your horse’s “control tower” is in turmoil, they may experience dramatic mood swings, act spooky or agitated, or even seem disinterested when they should be alert.
Horses may communicate an unhealthy gut-brain connection through:
- Sensitivity to touch or being "cinchy"
- Ear-pinning or "pain face" (wrinkled tight eyelids and lips)
- Excessive tail-swishing
- Reactivity and unpredictable movements
- Striking or biting
Tip:
Give your horse a good bacteria boost with a probiotic after using medications; or before stressful situations like trailer rides.
3. Poor Appetite
The perfectly prepared breakfast your mare usually loves is barely touched. You smell her hay - fresh, without a whiff of mold. You check her water - full, and sparkling clean. You look in her mouth and see nothing, but healthy teeth and pink gums. You’re justifiably concerned, and a little offended.
Ideally, horses should spend up to 60% of their day grazing on feed and forage. When their eating habits suddenly change, it could mean that appetite-regulating good bacteria have been outnumbered by bad bacteria. Like your wifi connection getting jammed from too many devices, the signals to keep eating can’t make it through.
Prolonged time without eating can lead to:
- Ulcers: Empty stomachs are in contact with acid for longer periods of time. This can lead to inflammation and painful sores.
- Hindgut acidosis: Acid build-up from too much “bad” bacteria can cause symptoms similar to colic.
- Reduced Immune Health: Horses become more vulnerable to illness and parasites when their disease-fighting “good” bacteria levels are depleted.
- Ulcers: Empty stomachs are in contact with acid for longer periods of time. This can lead to inflammation and painful sores.
- Hindgut acidosis: Acid build-up from too much “bad” bacteria can cause symptoms similar to colic.
- Reduced Immune Health: Horses become more vulnerable to illness and parasites when their disease-fighting “good” bacteria levels are depleted.
| Tip: If your horse is not eating, it’s important to get their appetite back as soon as possible. Give them a jumpstart with a powerful probiotic to get them eating quickly. |
The health of your horse's digestive tract, mental state , and immune system rely on strong populations of probiotics (and the prebiotics that fuel them). But, not all probiotics are created equal.
Not only is the quantity of this "good bacteria" important, but also the quality of the included strains. A quality probiotic will survive the shock of stomach acid and make it to the hindgut alive.
Both Bluebonnet® Gut Reset Powder and ADR Paste contain just that. A “MEGAdose” of hand-selected probiotics and prebiotics proven by unbiased research - so your horse can return to their happy self - FAST.
Both Gut Reset Powder & Paste support:
- Normal & healthy manure
- Digestion & absorption of essential nutrients
- Positive gut-to-brain communication
- Healthy appetite
- Growth of beneficial bacteria
- Immune strength & intestinal integrity
Want more support?
Get advice and recommendations just for your horse.
Prefer to listen?
Tune in to the Feed Room Chemist podcast for a PhD's perspective on all things equine nutrition!
Supporting Research
Cosette Ayoub , Luis G. Arroyo , David Renaud , J. Scott Weese ,Diego E. Gomez , Fecal Microbiota Comparison between Healthy Teaching Horses and Client-Owned Horses.
Franzan, B.C., Coelho, I.S., Santos, M.M.M., Souza, M.T., Almeida, F.Q., & Silva, V.P. Horses’ fecal microbiome responses to abrupt diet changes.
Szemplinski, Kyla L., Thompson, Amy, Cherry, Nicole, Guay, Kimberly, Smith, W. Brandon, Brady, Jeff, & Jones, Trinette. Transporting and Exercising Unconditioned Horses: Effects on Microflora Populations.
Tench, M.L., Hansen, T.L., & Warren, L.K. Meta-analysis of probiotic effectiveness for reducing diarrhea and altering the gut microbiome in horses.
Something's not right. You notice that your sweet horse just isn't acting like their happy self. They greet you with pinned ears, side-eye, and flinch when you touch their sides. You notice that their dinner from last night is left untouched, and their poop piles look more like puddles.
You’re left wondering: "What could be wrong? How do I get my happy horse back? Nothing has changed!" Or has it?
Could your horse's mood swings and gut troubles be from too much bad bacteria, causing gut chaos? Even though your horse can’t tell you what they are feeling, they can definitely show you!
Here are 3 simple signs that probiotics may be the key to helping your horse feel like themselves.
1. Inconsistent Manure
Gross. Your gelding has done his best splatter-paint impression all over the stall walls. You struggle to sift the shavings where runny “cow pies” have taken the place of perfect piles.
Within hours, stressors like trailer rides, diet changes or new herd members, can throw the good and bad bacteria in your horse’s gut off balance, causing a stinky situation.
If not addressed, stressy stools can lead to bigger problems like:
- Weight Loss & Nutrient Deficiencies: When feed and forage rush through the digestive system, essential nutrients aren't fully absorbed. This can potentially weaken your horse's immune system and impact the way they look and feel.
- Dehydration & Electrolyte Imbalance: Diarrhea causes fluids and minerals essential for hydration to be washed out before they can be absorbed. This can lead to electrolyte imbalances, heat stress, and even colic. Tip: if your horse has the runs, keep fresh water available at all times and supplement their feed with salt, to help them replenish lost resources.
Something as simple as fresh grass, new hay, or a feed swap can be responsible for funky feces.
Tip:
Practice these feeding habits to help your horse pass comfortable and tidy manure:
- Use the 25% rule when introducing new feeds
- Buy hay in larger quantities, when possible
- Supplement with a probiotic through diet changes.
- Feed smaller, more frequent daily grain meals.
2. Change in Behavior
Did you know your horse's gut and brain talk to each other? This connection, known as the "gut-brain axis", is a two-way street that plays a crucial role in regulating mood and behavior.
Picture your horse's digestive tract as an air traffic control tower for their body. In a well-balanced gut, everything runs smoothly, like a perfectly coordinated airport where planes land and take off without a hitch - delivering their cargo to the correct destination, on schedule. The right messages get to the brain, and essential nutrients get delivered throughout the body.
When there's an excess of bad bacteria, it's as if the tower loses its signal. Runways become chaotic, and flight patterns go haywire. Nerves are tingling, 'fight or flight' hormones are spiking, and nutrients are lost. Similarly, when your horse’s “control tower” is in turmoil, they may experience dramatic mood swings, act spooky or agitated, or even seem disinterested when they should be alert.
Horses may communicate an unhealthy gut-brain connection through:
- Sensitivity to touch or being "cinchy"
- Ear-pinning or "pain face" (wrinkled tight eyelids and lips)
- Excessive tail-swishing
- Reactivity and unpredictable movements
- Striking or biting
Tip:
Give your horse a good bacteria boost with a probiotic after using medications; or before stressful situations like trailer rides.
3. Poor Appetite
The perfectly prepared breakfast your mare usually loves is barely touched. You smell her hay - fresh, without a whiff of mold. You check her water - full, and sparkling clean. You look in her mouth and see nothing, but healthy teeth and pink gums. You’re justifiably concerned, and a little offended.
Ideally, horses should spend up to 60% of their day grazing on feed and forage. When their eating habits suddenly change, it could mean that appetite-regulating good bacteria have been outnumbered by bad bacteria. Like your wifi connection getting jammed from too many devices, the signals to keep eating can’t make it through.
Prolonged time without eating can lead to:
- Ulcers: Empty stomachs are in contact with acid for longer periods of time. This can lead to inflammation and painful sores.
- Hindgut acidosis: Acid build-up from too much “bad” bacteria can cause symptoms similar to colic.
- Reduced Immune Health: Horses become more vulnerable to illness and parasites when their disease-fighting “good” bacteria levels are depleted.
| Tip: If your horse is not eating, it’s important to get their appetite back as soon as possible. Give them a jumpstart with a powerful probiotic to get them eating quickly. |
The health of your horse's digestive tract, mental state , and immune system rely on strong populations of probiotics (and the prebiotics that fuel them). But, not all probiotics are created equal.
Not only is the quantity of this "good bacteria" important, but also the quality of the included strains. A quality probiotic will survive the shock of stomach acid and make it to the hindgut alive.
Both ADR Powder and ADR Paste contain just that. A “MEGAdose” of hand-selected probiotics and prebiotics proven by unbiased research - so your horse can return to their happy self - FAST.
Both ADR Powder & Paste support:
- Normal & healthy manure
- Digestion & absorption of essential nutrients
- Positive gut-to-brain communication
- Healthy appetite
- Growth of beneficial bacteria
- Immune strength & intestinal integrity
Want more support?
Get advice and recommendations just for your horse.
Prefer to listen?
Tune in to the Feed Room Chemist podcast for a PhD's perspective on all things equine nutrition!
Supporting Research
Cosette Ayoub , Luis G. Arroyo , David Renaud , J. Scott Weese ,Diego E. Gomez , Fecal Microbiota Comparison between Healthy Teaching Horses and Client-Owned Horses.
Franzan, B.C., Coelho, I.S., Santos, M.M.M., Souza, M.T., Almeida, F.Q., & Silva, V.P. Horses’ fecal microbiome responses to abrupt diet changes.
Szemplinski, Kyla L., Thompson, Amy, Cherry, Nicole, Guay, Kimberly, Smith, W. Brandon, Brady, Jeff, & Jones, Trinette. Transporting and Exercising Unconditioned Horses: Effects on Microflora Populations.
Tench, M.L., Hansen, T.L., & Warren, L.K. Meta-analysis of probiotic effectiveness for reducing diarrhea and altering the gut microbiome in horses.