Digestive | Bound Equine

How Horses Digest, and How Bound & Bound + Help

Horses were built to graze: low stress, near‑constant nibbling, steady fibre. That’s what their gut expects. Modern feeding, travel, and training push them away from that design, so smart nutrition matters.

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Horses are built for calm, continuous grazing: small bites, steady fibre, low stress. Their hindgut is the engine room, fermenting forage into smooth, long‑burn energy. Modern life, travel, stabling, grain meals, competition, pulls them away from that rhythm and unsettles the gut’s balance.

That’s why understanding digestion isn’t theory; it’s daily performance and wellbeing. Bound reinforces the horse’s natural design with a daily Organic Mineral Complex that supports acid–base balance, enzyme function, and microbial stability. Bound Plus layers in Bacillus subtilis for targeted probiotic support when workloads, grain, or travel increase, helping keep foregut processing tidy and the hindgut fermenting fibre efficiently.

Keep forage first, keep meals small and consistent, and use Bound to back biology with precision. The result: a settled stomach, resilient hindgut, firm manure, better appetite and recovery, and a horse that feels ready.

Bound

Keeps the system balanced day‑to‑day.

Bound Plus

Adds targeted Bacillus subtilis probiotic support when you want more precision.

Mouth & Stomach

Set the Tone

What naturally happens

Chewing kickstarts digestion and floods the stomach with alkaline saliva to buffer acid.

The stomach is small (football‑sized) and empties fast (~45 minutes).

The lower glandular region is acid‑tough; the upper squamous region relies on saliva and a steady “forage mat” to reduce acid splash.

How Bound helps

Bound delivers a daily Organic Mineral Complex to help maintain normal acid–base balance alongside forage and chewing.

Feeding tip: Split meals, keep hay handy, and let Bound work with natural saliva buffering.

How Bound Plus elevates

Bound Plus includes Bacillus subtilis to support a calm, consistent stomach environment during training, travel, and higher‑grain periods.

Small Intestine (Foregut)

Quick Capture of Simple Nutrients

What naturally happens

A ~70‑foot tube processes proteins, oils, and simple carbs at ~1 foot per minute.

Enzymes and bile finish breaking down starches and fats.

Grains must be small, well‑timed meals to be digested here (not dumped into the hindgut).

How Bound helps

Bound supplies essential macro‑ and trace minerals from the Organic Mineral Complex to support enzyme and electrolyte function.

How Bound Plus elevates

Bound Plus adds Bacillus subtilis, selected to stay active through the gut and support foregut efficiency — helping starch be processed where it should be.

Hindgut (Cecum & Large Colon)

Fibre to Fuel

What naturally happens

The hindgut is the horse’s “power plant.” Fibre ferments for 2–3 days.

Beneficial microbes turn forage into volatile fatty acids (VFAs) — the primary fuel for calm, sustained energy (up to ~70% of calories).

If undigested starch arrives, lactic acid spikes can disrupt the good bugs and unsettle everything.

How Bound helps

Bound feeds the system that feeds the horse

Organic Mineral Complex supports microbial stability and motility.

Day‑in, day‑out consistency helps maintain a resilient hindgut.

How Bound Plus elevates

Bound Plus delivers Bacillus subtilis to support microbial balance and reduce “starch shock” risk from modern rations.

Small Colon & Beyond

Finish Clean

What naturally happens

Water is absorbed, forming tidy manure balls — the end signal of a well‑run system.

How Bound and Bound Plus supports

A consistent mineral base (Bound) plus targeted probiotic (Bound Plus) helps keep the whole journey smooth, so the finish is predictable: firm manure, settled horses.