Every barn has that horse, the one who picks at meals, walks away from a full bucket, refuses to drink when hauled, or suddenly decides nothing tastes good anymore.
People often chalk it up to fussiness, boredom, or personality. But in reality? Picky eating and poor drinking are some of the earliest, most overlooked signs of leaky gut and GI imbalance.
When a horse’s digestive system hurts, anything they eat or drink becomes uncomfortable. And horses, being the stoic animals they are, rarely tell us loudly. They whisper, through subtle changes like walking away from hay, slowing down at the water tank, or losing interest in food when they previously ate with no problem.
And behind those whispers is usually a Stomach and Spleen that are struggling.
They can already feel full
When the Spleen/Stomach are weak unable to absorb water intake efficiently, these fluids either get sent through the GI tract faster creating loose stools, or they stay stagnate in the Stomach, accumulate over time, making your horse feel full or even bloated.
Why a Horse Refuses Food or Water When Their Gut Is Off
When the gut barrier and tight junctions become inflamed or compromised (leaky gut), the entire digestive system becomes hypersensitive. Weak junction barriers allow food particles, toxins, or bacteria into the bloodstream where the body starts to attack itself. Overtime eating or drinking irritates the stomach making it uncomfortable for your horse to eat or drink.
In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), this pattern often points to imbalances in the Stomach, Spleen, and Liver:
- The Spleen governs digestion and nutrient absorption.
- The Stomach receives and breaks down food.
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The Liver regulates stress, bile flow, and the smooth flow of Qi, and Blood.
When these organs fall out of balance, the result is a perfect storm: pain, inflammation, poor appetite, and a body that starts attacking its own tissues.
This is why many horses with leaky gut also develop:
- Multiple allergies
- Chronic inflammation
- Anemia
- Difficulty holding weight
- Dull coat or poor topline
- Recurring colic episodes
- Picky or erratic eating
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Fecal Water Syndrome
It’s not behavioral. It’s not “spoiled.” It’s the gut crying out for help.
Where Redemption Fits In
At ActivateQi, we didn’t develop Redemption as a generic “ulcer formula.” We developed it because Sam needed it.
If you’ve followed co-owner Brittany’s story, you already know Sam has dealt with just about every GI issue a horse can have, ulcers, chronic colic episodes, inflammation, picky eating, weight loss, severe allergies, and symptoms no one could fully explain. He looked fine on the outside, but his gut wasn’t functioning the way it should.
Instead of accepting vague answers or temporary fixes, Brittany kept pushing for why. Why was he reacting this way? Why weren’t the usual recommendations working? Why did his symptoms keep circling back?
That process, the digging, the trial and error, the refusal to just “manage” the problem, is what shaped Redemption into what it is. The formula came directly from trying to solve a real horse’s issues.
Redemption exists because Sam needed something that targeted severe inflammation, GI imbalance, Spleen and Stomach weakness, and the stress component that ties it all together.
If your horse mirrors the same pattern, chronic gut issues, unexplained discomfort, or ongoing inflammation despite good management, Redemption was made with horses like that in mind.
This formula is built for horses with:
- Severe gastrointestinal imbalance
- Stomach ulcers
- FWS
- Irritable bowel disease
- Autoimmune conditions
- Chronic loose stools
- Weight loss or hard-keeper tendencies
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Gastritis or enteritis
In other words: when the digestive tract is inflamed, painful, and overwhelmed, Redemption helps bring it back into balance.
How Redemption supports these horses:
- Strengthens the Spleen and Stomach
- Relieves abdominal pain and spasms
- Cools inflammation to relieve irritated digestive tract
- Supports normal motility to help break down food and absorb nutrients
- Calms stress of the Liver overacting on the Stomach that disrupts digestion
- Helps clear excess fluids and mucus that contributes to bloating and loose stools
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Supports immune regulation so the body stops attacking itself
When the gut is compromised, you can offer the best forage in the world, and the horse still may not want it until the pain is addressed. That’s where Redemption helps heal the body from the inside out.
Why Diet Still Matters
Redemption can do a lot, but the diet must support the healing process.
For horses, that means keeping it simple, clean, and strictly forage-based:
- Quality, tested hay (grass, alfalfa, or a mix depending on the horse)
- Alfalfa or timothy pellets for grain time as a supplement carrier
- Ground flax for anti-inflammatory omega support
- A clean loose mineral to support baseline nutrition
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Eliminating grains, sweet feeds, and processed concentrates completely
When the gut is inflamed, simplicity heals. Consistency heals.
And reducing dietary stress makes Redemption work even better.
Understanding the Signs Early Matters
A horse with poor appetite, chronic loose stools, dull coat, increasing allergies, pale gums, or sudden pickiness is not “being a brat.”
They are trying to tell you:
“My gut hurts.”
Their Spleen may be weak. Their Stomach may be inflamed. Their Liver may be overstressed. Their immune system may be firing at everything it shouldn’t.
Leaky gut is not a small issue. But it is something that can be supported and corrected. Redemption helps restore balance where the body has lost the ability to do it on its own.
The Bottom Line
If your horse is showing the early signs, picky eating, refusing water, weight loss, loose stools, reoccurring ulcers, or unexplained allergies, don’t wait for things to get worse.
These are not quirks. These are messages.
Redemption, paired with a truly anti-inflammatory, forage-based diet, helps rebuild the digestive system from the inside out, soothe inflammation, and give these horses the chance to feel comfortable again.
