Shop Gut Supplements for Horses

Common causes of gut issues in horses include abrupt diet changes (such as transitioning between hay and pasture), consuming large amounts of grain-based, high-starch feeds, limited forage access, long periods with an empty stomach, stress from travel or competition, parasite load, and the use of medications like NSAIDs or antibiotics. Poor-quality forage and inadequate water intake can also disrupt gut health.

Signs of gastric ulcers or hindgut imbalance include poor appetite, picky eating, mild colic, loose or inconsistent manure, girthiness, belly sensitivity, reduced performance, or irritability. Chronic gas, bloating, or poor body condition despite adequate calories can also indicate hindgut problems. Consult your veterinarian and submit a free diet evaluation for targeted feeding and management recommendations.

Probiotics are beneficial during periods of stress, travel, training, dietary changes, antibiotic use, or after gastric ulcer treatment, when the gut microbiome may be disrupted. They can also support senior horses, hard keepers, or any horse with loose manure or digestive upset. Daily use of a high-quality probiotic helps maintain a healthy hindgut.

Probiotics are live beneficial bacteria that support a healthy gut microbiome, while prebiotics are specialized fibers that feed and promote the growth of these beneficial microbes. Many gut health supplements, such as our Optimum Digestive Health, combine both for enhanced digestive support.

Yes, probiotics and prebiotics can help maintain a healthy gut microbiome and improve manure consistency in horses with occasional diarrhea or loose stools. Optimum Digestive Health is recommended to support normal hindgut function for horses with loose manure or mild digestive upset.

Supporting gut health starts with proper management. A forage-based diet, free-choice hay or pasture, ample turnout, and constant access to clean, fresh water are essential to maintain a healthy digestive system and reduce the risk of ulcers or hindgut imbalances.

For targeted gut health support, Mad Barn offers several supplements:

• Visceral+ – A comprehensive formula supporting gastric and hindgut function with probiotics, prebiotics, amino acids, and minerals; competition-safe and veterinarian recommended.
• Optimum Digestive Health (ODH) – A probiotic/prebiotic blend that supports hindgut health and improves forage fermentation; ideal after resolving acute gastric issues.
• Optimum Probiotic – A high-potency, daily-use probiotic to maintain a healthy gut microbiome.

Combining good feeding practices with the right supplement program is the best way to keep your horse’s stomach and hindgut healthy, especially during periods of stress, travel, or dietary change.

Good feeding and management practices are important for supporting digestive health and reducing colic risk in horses. Provide free-choice forage to promote gut motility and avoid long periods with an empty stomach. Limit grain and high-starch feeds, and make any diet changes gradually over 7–14 days to allow the gut microbiome to adjust. Ensure constant access to salt, clean fresh water, and encourage regular turnout or exercise to support gut function.

Supporting hindgut health with a product like Optimum Digestive Health can help maintain a balanced gut microbiome and normal fermentation, which is especially important during periods of stress, travel, or dietary change. For personalized recommendations based on your horse’s needs, submit a free diet evaluation to consult with one of our equine nutritionists.

Performance horses have high rates of gastric ulcers and benefit from consistent management and a forage-first diet to protect the stomach and maintain normal digestive function. Avoid letting your horse go for long periods without food, as continuous acid production in an empty stomach leaves the stomach lining unprotected and increases the risk of ulceration. Offering free-choice hay or feeding small, frequent meals helps keep the stomach full and naturally buffers acid.

High-grain and high-starch feeds can increase acid production and should be fed carefully. If extra calories are required, choose fat or fiber-based energy sources, such as beet pulp or oil, which are easier on the digestive system. Turnout and regular exercise promote natural gut motility, while minimizing stressful situations like frequent travel or sudden routine changes also supports gastric health. Always provide clean, fresh water and free-choice salt to encourage consistent hydration and support digestion.

Gut health supplements such as Visceral+ can further support gastric and hindgut function, especially during stressful periods, travel, or heavy training. For personalized feeding and management advice, submit a free diet evaluation to consult with our equine nutritionists.

Free Fecal Water Syndrome (FFWS) can have multiple contributing factors, including hindgut imbalance, diet changes, or stress. We recommend Visceral+, a comprehensive gut supplement that supports gastric and hindgut function, and promotes a healthy microbiome.

Because every horse is different, we suggest submitting a free diet evaluation so our nutritionists can assess your horse’s diet and provide targeted recommendations.

For more information, read our detailed blog: Free Fecal Water Syndrome in Horses.

The best supplement for daily gut support for horses is Mad Barn’s Optimum Probiotic. This high-potency probiotic provides five strains of beneficial microbes that help maintain a healthy hindgut microbiome and support normal digestive function.

Optimum Probiotic is easy to add to any feeding program and offers a very cost-effective way to supplement probiotics in the equine diet. Maintaining a stable population of beneficial bacteria helps support fiber fermentation, nutrient absorption, manure consistency, and overall gut health.

For horses that require additional digestive support, Mad Barn’s Optimum Digestive Health provides a combination of probiotics, prebiotics, and additional ingredients designed to maintain a healthy hindgut environment and support normal digestive function.

The best supplement to support gut health during periods of stress or travel is Mad Barn’s Visceral+. Visceral+ is a comprehensive gut formula designed to support both gastric and hindgut function with a combination of probiotics, prebiotics, amino acids, herbs, and minerals.

Stress from hauling, competition, dietary changes, or intense training can disrupt the digestive system and alter the balance of microbes in the hindgut. Visceral+ helps maintain digestive stability by supporting the natural protective barrier of the stomach lining, promoting normal mucin production, and providing nutritional support for the intestinal lining.

The formula also supplies probiotics and prebiotics that nourish beneficial microbes responsible for fiber fermentation and gut health. Maintaining a healthy microbiome supports normal manure consistency, digestive comfort, immune function, and nutrient absorption.

Because the gut influences many aspects of equine health, maintaining digestive balance can also support appetite, weight maintenance, mood, comfort under saddle, and overall performance. For these reasons, Visceral+ is commonly used in performance horses, horses that travel frequently, and horses prone to gastric sensitivity or digestive upset.

The best supplement to support gastric health in competition horses or horses in heavy training is Mad Barn’s Visceral+. Visceral+ is a comprehensive gut formula designed to support both the stomach and hindgut with probiotics, prebiotics, amino acids, minerals, and botanical ingredients.

Performance horses are at a higher risk of gastric irritation because intense exercise, intermittent feeding schedules, travel, and competition stress can increase stomach acid exposure and disrupt the gut microbiome. Visceral+ helps maintain digestive balance by supporting the protective lining of the stomach, nourishing beneficial microbes in the hindgut, and promoting normal digestive function during periods of increased physical and mental stress.

By supporting both gastric and hindgut health, Visceral+ helps maintain digestive comfort, normal manure quality, and overall gut stability so competition horses can stay focused, comfortable, and ready to perform.

Before hauling or competition, many horse owners feed a digestive support supplement such as Mad Barn’s Visceral+ to help maintain normal gastric and hindgut function during stressful events.

Transport, unfamiliar environments, altered feeding schedules, and increased workload can all disrupt the gut microbiome and digestive function. These stressors may increase stomach acid exposure and reduce microbial stability in the hindgut.

Providing targeted digestive support before and during travel helps maintain a healthy gut environment, supports microbial balance, and reduces the risk of digestive upset so horses remain comfortable and maintain normal appetite and manure consistency while away from home.

The best way to protect a horse’s stomach from excess acid is to combine proper feeding management with targeted digestive support, such as Mad Barn’s Visceral+. Horses continuously produce stomach acid, which increases the risk of gastric ulcers. Providing free-choice forage, avoiding long periods without feed, and limiting large high-starch grain meals helps naturally buffer stomach acid and protect the stomach lining.

Digestive support supplements such as Visceral+ can provide additional protection by supporting the natural barrier of the stomach lining and helping maintain a balanced gut microbiome. Visceral+ contains probiotics, prebiotics, amino acids, and minerals that support both gastric and hindgut health, helping maintain normal digestive function during stress, travel, training, and competition.

When horses experience frequent stress, irregular feeding schedules, or intensive exercise, targeted digestive support helps maintain gastric comfort, support normal manure quality, and promote overall gut health.

The best supplement to maintain a healthy hindgut microbiome in horses is Mad Barn’s Optimum Digestive Health. This formula provides a targeted blend of probiotics, prebiotics, yeast, digestive enzymes, and natural toxin binders that work together to support the complex microbial ecosystem in the horse’s hindgut.

The hindgut contains trillions of beneficial microbes responsible for fermenting fiber and producing energy-rich volatile fatty acids that fuel many of the horse’s metabolic processes. Optimum Digestive Health helps stabilize this microbial population by replenishing beneficial bacteria and providing prebiotic substrates that nourish them. These microbes support efficient fiber digestion, improved feed utilization, and healthy fermentation patterns.

The formula also includes digestive enzymes that help break down nutrients earlier in the digestive tract, reducing the amount of undigested starch or protein reaching the hindgut where it can disrupt microbial balance. Supporting the hindgut microbiome in this way helps maintain manure consistency, nutrient absorption, immune function, and overall digestive stability.

After antibiotic treatment, many horse owners feed a probiotic and prebiotic supplement such as Mad Barn’s Optimum Digestive Health to help support microbial balance in the hindgut. Antibiotics can reduce populations of beneficial bacteria that are essential for fiber fermentation, nutrient absorption, and normal digestive function.

Optimum Digestive Health provides the digestive tract with beneficial microbes while supplying prebiotics that serve as fuel for those bacteria. This combination supports the gradual rebuilding of a stable hindgut microbiome and helps restore normal fermentation activity.

Optimum Digestive Health also contains yeast, enzymes, and natural toxin binders that support feed efficiency and immune function. Providing this type of targeted digestive support after antibiotic treatment contributes to normal manure consistency, nutrient utilization, and overall gut function.

Loose manure in horses is often associated with changes in hindgut microbial balance or intestinal motility. Supporting the hindgut microbiome with a supplement such as Mad Barn’s Optimum Digestive Health can help maintain normal hindgut fermentation and support healthy manure consistency.

Optimum Digestive Health supplies probiotics and prebiotics that support beneficial microbial populations responsible for fiber digestion and normal fermentation in the hindgut. Maintaining a balanced microbial environment helps support normal water balance within the digestive tract and healthy digestive function.

In some cases, adding a source of soluble fiber such as Psyllium may also support digestive regularity. Psyllium absorbs water in the digestive tract and forms a soft gel that supports normal intestinal motility and helps maintain healthy manure consistency while providing fermentable fiber that nourishes hindgut microbes.

Horses with sensitive stomachs often benefit from a forage-first feeding program combined with targeted digestive support. Providing continuous access to forage helps buffer stomach acid naturally and reduces the time the stomach remains empty, which is important because horses produce stomach acid continuously throughout the day. Limiting large grain meals, feeding smaller meals more frequently, and avoiding abrupt diet changes can also help support gastric comfort and normal digestive function.

Digestive support supplements such as Mad Barn’s Visceral+ can provide additional nutritional support for horses prone to digestive sensitivity. Visceral+ contains phospholipids and probiotics that help maintain a healthy digestive system along with amino acids, minerals, and other ingredients that support the intestinal lining and overall stomach function. Supporting both gastric and hindgut function can help maintain normal appetite, manure consistency, and comfort in horses that are sensitive to stress, diet changes, travel, or training.

The choice between Mad Barn’s Visceral+ and Optimum Digestive Health depends on which part of the digestive system you want to support most. Visceral+ is designed to support both gastric and hindgut function and is commonly used for horses that experience stomach sensitivity, stress from travel or competition, or other situations that affect the upper digestive tract.

Optimum Digestive Health focuses more specifically on the hindgut microbiome. It contains probiotics, prebiotics, yeast, digestive enzymes, and toxin-binding ingredients that support fiber fermentation, nutrient absorption, and normal hindgut microbial balance. This makes it particularly useful for horses experiencing loose manure, inconsistent manure quality, or hindgut microbial imbalance. Both supplements can play important roles in a digestive support program depending on the horse’s specific needs and management conditions.

Psyllium is commonly fed to horses to support normal intestinal motility and digestive function, particularly for horses kept on sandy soils or dry lots where accidental sand ingestion may occur. Psyllium husk is a soluble fiber that absorbs water in the digestive tract and forms a soft gel that helps support the normal movement of intestinal contents through the hindgut.

Because psyllium is only partially fermented by hindgut microbes, it can help provide functional fiber that supports microbial activity while promoting normal manure consistency and intestinal hydration. Many horse owners feed Psyllium periodically as part of routine digestive management in sandy environments or during periods of dietary change, environmental stress, or inconsistent manure quality.