Lindsay Burer, MS - Equine Nutrition Consultant

06/18/2025

Digestive enzymes are special proteins that help horses break down their food into smaller pieces so the body can absorb and use the nutrients.

In simple terms:
Think of digestive enzymes like a key, and the nutrient a lock.

Amylase breaks down starches into sugar.

Protease breaks down protein into amino acids.

Lipase breaks down fat into fatty acids.

Cellulase helps break down fiber from hay and grass.

How they work:
Horses make their own digestive enzymes. When a horse eats, enzymes are released in the mouth, stomach, and small intestine. These enzymes start "unlocking" the food so the nutrients can pass through the gut wall and fuel the body.

Supplementing with more is like adding more keys to unlock more locks, and can help horses with poor digestion- hard keepers, senior horses, hay belly.

They don’t add nutrients, they just help the horse get more out of the food it's already eating!

Reach out if you'd like to see if additional supplementation may be right for your horse ☺

06/17/2025

Not all probiotic strains are created equal!

What’s listed on the tag doesn’t tell the full story. Take Bacillus subtilis, for example. The tag may tell you the genus (Bacillus) and the species (subtilis), but it doesn’t list the strain—and strain is critical.

Not all Bacillus subtilis strains function the same (and there are hundreds!). Their ability to provide benefits in the digestive tract depends heavily on the specific strain used.

Let me give you a quick analogy:
My last name is Burer. Members of my immediate family also have the last name Burer. So if you saw a seminar program that simply said, “Speaker: BURER – Equine Nutrition,” you’d have no idea whether it was me, my brother, or my 8-year-old nephew! and let me tell you, those presentations will look and sound significantly different!

Our first names are like the strain of a probiotic. The right strain can be highly effective; the wrong one may do nothing at all. That’s why Bluebonnet carefully selects probiotic strains with proven, research-backed benefits.

Side Note: This is one reason why there can be such big price differences between digestive supplements—even when it looks like they contain the same species. The strain matters. A lot.

06/12/2025

Big news - Bluebonnet has been nominated for Best Horse Feed in the 2025 Best of Western Horseman Awards! 🎉

👉 Voting is open now through July 1 at whmag.co/Vote-Now.
People can vote once per day, every day, and the top 5 in each category will move on to the lightning round.

Here’s how you can help:
• Vote daily! ✔
• Like, Comment, & Share this post on Facebook and Instagram!

Products and brands that allow riders to care for the horse and create the best possible experience from the stall to the show pen.

06/10/2025

Every. Single. Horse. Needs. Salt.

Here’s a friendly reminder- pasture potatoes, performance horses, broodmares, growing horses, retirees- ALL horses need salt.

- It’s cheap and easy to add, and necessary for supporting hydration and muscle function.

- 1 tablespoon per 500lbs of body weight per day for baseline (aka maintenance horse). (That is ~ 2 POUNDS of salt per month to satisfy minimum needs.) Add 1-2tbs more per day for horses in work.

- Blocks aren’t ideal as horses typically won’t eat enough to meet their needs.

- If you live in an area with high saline content in your water, you can always have it tested and do the math or work with a nutritionist to establish how much salt should be supplemented.

Stay hydrated!

06/09/2025

Happy Monday! 💙💙

06/08/2025

👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼

Electrolytes aren’t just a “maybe” in summer - they’re a MUST when the heat, hauling, or hard work hits. 🧂

We made you a cheat sheet (👇), because no one’s got time to guess when your horse is running on fumes.

📌 Save it. Share it. Keep your horse drinking and thriving.

06/04/2025

This is what I call a sunken tailhead, aka too much body fat!

🐴 Is your horse carrying a little too much extra weight?
It might be time for a diet balancer.

Bluebonnet® Pro Balance™ delivers essential vitamins and minerals without adding extra calories—perfect for overweight horses on hay or light grain.

Learn more at https://bluebonnetfeeds.com/products/pro-balance-101-diet-balancer

06/03/2025

I’ll stick to horses 🤣

06/03/2025

ALLERGIES

Approximately 60% - 70% of a horse’s immune system is found in the intestine, therefore, supporting the immune function of intestinal cells is the foundation of supporting normal immune function throughout the horse’s body.

Allergic reactions are commonly a result of an immunodeficiency. When the cause is addressed (i.e.- compromised immune system, leaky gut, etc) instead of the symptom (i.e.- skin conditions, food allergies, etc) it can help reduce the headache of daily topical treatments, amount of changes to diet, and/or long term use of medications with potentially harmful side effects.

Ask me about Bluebonnet’s functional nutrition options for boosting and supporting the immune system to see if we can help. (And don’t forget! always start with covering their basic nutritional needs first.)

06/02/2025

Wow. Just wow. 🤩💙🤩

When Sellers Performance Horses puts their barn on Bluebonnet Omega Force —a less than 4 week before and after looks a little like this 😎
Feed & Co.

06/02/2025

Hay belly?

Bluebonnet Hay Fix digestive catalyst for 30-60 days is my go-to for hay belly or hard keepers. With pre/probiotics and digestive enzymes, it can help break down indigestible forage and provide extra aid in overall food digestion.

Click here to learn more https://bluebonnetfeeds.com/products/hay-fix-transform-dsi-pellet

05/31/2025

When switching feeds, protein and fat percentages are the least important things on the tag!

Here’s what I look at—in order of importance:

Ingredient List
Guaranteed Analysis
Feeding Directions

Let’s break it down:

1. Ingredient List
Are the ingredients clearly listed (e.g., beet pulp, alfalfa meal), or are they grouped under vague terms like “processed grain by-products”?
Collective terms = ingredient changes based on commodity prices.

2. Guaranteed Analysis
Only nutrients listed under the guaranteed analysis on the product tag (not just the website) are regulated and must be present at those levels—they’re testable and enforceable by law.

The more items guaranteed, the more nutritional quality the company is backing.
Marketing may promote “digestive support,” but unless ingredients like probiotics are in the guaranteed analysis, there’s no guarantee they’re viable post-manufacture (this is called tag dressing).
Note: Don’t compare nutrient levels without first comparing feeding rates—context matters!

3. Feeding Directions
These tell you how much to feed to meet the vitamin and mineral needs.

Example:
If a feed recommends 6 lbs/day for a 1000 lb horse and you’re feeding only 3 lbs, you’re delivering half the nutrition. Choosing a feed with a lower recommended feeding rate can be more cost-effective and appropriate.

A feed with a 3 lb/day rate vs. 6 lb/day dramatically affects both nutrition and cost. Lower feeding rates should have higher nutrient concentrations to make up the difference.

Organic Minerals
Organic forms (e.g., zinc methionine complex) are far more bioavailable than inorganic ones (e.g., zinc oxide).

Are organics listed before inorganics? If not, it may just be tag dressing. This is a deep topic, but placement matters!