Concept Home Page

Why EquiNectar?

Better digestion can show up in more ways than one.

Digestive health is not one single measure. The environment inside the hindgut, the microbial community living there and the everyday signs owners see can all be connected. EquiNectar has been studied across that wider digestive picture.

Hindgut environment

A measurable change inside the digestive system.

In a study of Thoroughbred racehorses maintained on their existing high-starch diet, mean faecal pH moved in a more favourable direction after EquiNectar supplementation.

6.20 → 6.40

Mean faecal pH Before → after 4 weeks

High-starch diet unchanged p<0.0001 55% reached normal pH

Microbiome

Support the community already there.

Research has shown changes within the horse's existing microbial community after EquiNectar supplementation, including increases in bacterial groups associated with fibre degradation and lactate utilisation.

Fibrobacter ↑ Ruminococcaceae ↑ Prevotellaceae ↑

Everyday signs

What happens inside can become visible outside.

Digestive balance can be reflected in some of the things horse owners monitor every day — from dropping consistency to condition and how effectively the normal ration is being utilised.

Dropping consistency Condition Feed utilisation Digestive balance

The whole horse

Digestion doesn't exist in isolation.

EquiNectar research has also explored relationships between digestive health, demeanour and reactivity — part of a much wider picture than simply what happens in the gut.

Demeanour

Reactivity

Focus

Performance consistency

Different outcomes. One common thread: digestive function. So what is EquiNectar actually doing inside the digestive system? That's where the mechanism gets interesting.

How it works ↓

How EquiNectar works

Change the digestion.
Change the environment.

EquiNectar works by supporting digestion upstream first. Its naturally occurring digestive enzymes change the balance of substrate arriving in the hindgut, creating a different nutritional environment for the horse's existing microbiome.

01 · Daily feed

Add EquiNectar to the normal diet.

Enzyme-rich malt extract is fed alongside the horse's normal ration, complementing feed, grass and forage.

Feed Grass Forage

→

02 · Enzyme activity

Digestive enzymes act upstream.

Enzymes including amylase and fructanase support the breakdown of starch and fructans earlier in the digestive process, alongside enzymes acting on other dietary components.

Starch Fructans Protein Fats

→

03 · Substrate change

A different balance reaches the hindgut.

Better upstream digestion changes the amount and balance of rapidly fermentable carbohydrate arriving in the hindgut, including undigested starch and fructans.

Changed substrate Less rapid fermentation

→

04 · Microbiome response

The hindgut environment responds.

Reduced rapidly fermentable carbohydrate supports a more favourable hindgut environment, including conditions that support cellulolytic and lactate-utilising bacterial communities.

Microbiome Hindgut environment Fibre utilisation

The key difference We don't add bacteria. We change what the existing microbiome has to work with.

EquiNectar works with the horse's existing microbial community by changing the nutritional environment reaching it, rather than introducing foreign microorganisms.

Anabiomics

Better upstream digestion changes the downstream environment.

Inside EquiNectar

Built around what malt does best.

EquiNectar begins with carefully selected malted barley. Our patented production process preserves its enzyme-rich character, creating a broad digestive enzyme system within a naturally complex malt matrix.

Naturally occurring · Eight digestive enzymes

A complete enzyme system, not one isolated enzyme.

Different parts of the diet require different enzymes. EquiNectar brings eight together in one malt-derived system, covering carbohydrates, proteins, fats and plant material.

Amylase Breaks down dietary starch.

Fructanase Acts on fructans found in grass and forage.

Cellulase Targets cellulose within plant cell walls.

Xylanase Acts on xylans found in forage and cereals.

Beta-glucanase Breaks down beta-glucan carbohydrates.

Phytase Acts on phytate within plant-based feeds.

Protease Breaks dietary proteins into smaller components.

Lipase Supports the digestion of dietary fats.

Look deeper

Malt is more than its enzymes.

Enzymes are why EquiNectar exists. But the ERME matrix also carries vitamins, minerals and plant compounds inherited from the malt itself. They add nutritional depth without distracting from the primary mechanism.

Click to explore

The complete enzyme system Eight enzymes, each with a different dietary target

The strength of the ERME profile is its breadth. Rather than concentrating on one nutrient class, its enzymes act across several important components of the diet.

Amylase Starch Helps convert complex starch molecules into smaller carbohydrates.

Fructanase Fructans Targets the fructan carbohydrates found particularly in grass and forage.

Cellulase Cellulose Works on cellulose, one of the structural carbohydrates in plant cell walls.

Xylanase Xylans Targets xylan-based carbohydrates within fibrous plant material.

Beta-glucanase Beta-glucans Breaks beta-glucans found within cereal and plant material.

Phytase Phytate Acts on phytate, a storage form of phosphorus within plants.

Protease Protein Helps break proteins into smaller peptides and amino-acid components.

Lipase Fat Helps break dietary fats into components that can be further utilised.

B vitamins in the malt matrix B1, B2, B3, B6, B9 and B12

Malt brings with it a useful spectrum of B vitamins involved in normal metabolism, cellular function and nutrient use.

B1 Thiamine Plays an important role in carbohydrate and energy metabolism.

B2 Riboflavin Supports normal cellular energy-producing pathways.

B3 Niacin Forms part of key metabolic reactions involved in energy release.

B6 Pyridoxine Has an important role in amino-acid and protein metabolism.

B9 Folate Involved in normal cell division and formation of new cellular material.

B12 Cobalamin Part of the broader B-vitamin profile identified within ERME.

These compounds add nutritional depth to ERME but are not positioned as a replacement for an appropriately balanced vitamin and mineral programme.

The mineral profile Magnesium, potassium, selenium, zinc and iron

ERME also retains a range of nutritionally relevant minerals originating within the malt.

Magnesium Important to normal muscle, nerve and metabolic function.

Potassium A major electrolyte involved in normal fluid and muscle function.

Selenium A trace mineral associated with the body's antioxidant enzyme systems.

Zinc Participates in numerous enzyme systems and normal tissue function.

Iron Central to haemoglobin and the normal transport of oxygen.

Phenolics & antioxidant compounds Another layer within the malt-derived matrix

Malt contains plant-derived phenolic compounds that contribute to its antioxidant profile.

Ferulic acid Phenolic acid A prominent phenolic compound associated with cereal grains and malt.

Flavan-3-ols Catechins A family of plant compounds contributing to the wider phenolic profile.

Phenolic acids Wider spectrum Multiple phenolic compounds combine to create the antioxidant complexity of malt.

This antioxidant profile comes from the malt matrix itself rather than from an added antioxidant premix.

↓

Why malted barley? Where the enzyme system begins

EquiNectar's enzyme system is created by biology before it ever reaches the horse. Malting activates the grain's own machinery; the challenge is then to retain that activity.

01 Select the barley

EquiNectar begins with malted barley varieties chosen for their enzyme-rich characteristics.

02 Let malting do the work

Germination activates the biological machinery the grain uses to mobilise its own stored nutrients.

03 Preserve what was created

Tharos' patented process is designed to retain that enzyme-rich character in the finished extract.

What does ERME mean? Enzyme-Rich Malt Extract

ERME is the malt-derived material at the heart of EquiNectar — preserving a broad enzyme system within the wider nutritional matrix created through malting.

The evidence

Different horses. Different settings. The same digestive story.

EquiNectar has been investigated in racehorses, leisure horses and horses under veterinary care — using measurements ranging from faecal pH and metabolomics to microbiome analysis and real-world clinical outcomes.

Thoroughbred racehorses · 4 weeks

A measurable shift in the hindgut environment.

Racehorses remained on their normal high-starch concentrated diet while receiving EquiNectar. Mean faecal pH increased significantly over four weeks.

6.20 → 6.40

Mean faecal pH Before → week 4

78 Thoroughbreds p<0.0001 Diet unchanged 55% reached normal pH

Randomised study 45

Horses and ponies at Redwings.

ERME produced a distinctly different metabolic profile from pasture alone in a controlled six-week study.

78.7% metabolome reclassification

Veterinary field study · BEVA 82%

Showed measurable improvement.

A retrospective field study followed 34 horses with diagnosed gastrointestinal conditions under veterinary care.

47% complete resolution · p=0.02

✓

Evidence across multiple types of measurement. The research does not rely on one endpoint alone.

pH Hindgut environment

VOC Metabolome

16S Microbiome

Explore the studies

Want the detail?

The headline results stay simple. Open the studies below for design, measurements and key findings.

Click to open

Racehorses: hindgut pH 78 Thoroughbreds · Waring, 2024

The horses continued on their standard concentrated diet. Mean faecal pH rose from 6.20 to 6.40 over four weeks, with a statistically significant change.

6.20 → 6.40 Mean faecal pH

p<0.0001 Statistical significance

55% Achieved normal pH

Randomised study: metabolic response 45 horses and ponies · six weeks

Twenty-four horses received ERME alongside spring pasture while 21 controls received pasture alone. Metabolomic analysis showed the ERME group developed a distinct metabolic profile.

24 ERME + pasture

21 Pasture controls

78.7% Test-group reclassification

Microbiome & metabolome studies Changes in bacterial groups and fermentation products

Across the research programme, EquiNectar supplementation has been associated with measurable changes in microbial and metabolomic profiles. Reported changes include increases in bacterial groups involved in fibre degradation and lactate utilisation.

Fibrobacter ↑ Reported in later microbiome work

Ruminococcaceae ↑ Fibre-associated bacterial group

Prevotellaceae ↑ Reported in foundational work

Veterinary field study 34 horses · presented at BEVA Colic Symposium 2024

This retrospective field study examined horses with diagnosed gastrointestinal conditions managed by veterinary professionals. Outcomes were assessed over the standard EquiNectar protocol.

82% Measurable improvement

47% Complete resolution

p=0.02 Overall statistical result

✓

Mechanism, measurement and real-world observation. Different study designs have examined EquiNectar from different angles — helping build a more complete picture of its effects on equine digestive function.