When you want to support your horse with supplements, it’s not just the ingredients that matter – the form of the supplement is also important. Supplements come in various forms, including liquids, pellets or powders. In this blog, we explain why powders are such a strong choice – and why they’re often used in high-quality, carefully formulated supplements.
The benefits of powder supplements for horses, in a nutshell:
✅ Complete action: You get the whole plant, with all its natural compounds, in one supplement.
✅ Optimal absorption: Wide choice of highly bioavailable ingredients for better uptake.
✅ High concentration: More active ingredients per dose means you need less supplement overall.
✅ Long shelf life: Thanks to the low moisture content, powders stay stable longer – without added preservatives.
✅ Easy to use: Simply mix the powder into your horse’s daily feed.
Whether you have a sport horse, senior, or leisure horse – powders fit into any feeding routine and offer targeted, high-quality support.
1. Using the whole plant in powder supplements for horses
High-quality powder supplements contain the whole plant – not just an isolated compound. Plants and herbs such as boswellia and nettle naturally contain dozens of active substances. Many of these work together and enhance each other’s effects – this is called synergy (1).
With liquids, you often work with an isolated compound instead, since dissolving an entire powdered plant – with all of its active components – into a liquid is practically impossible.
2. Powder supplements offer more choice in the most absorbable ingredients
Powders offer a major advantage: you can select exactly the most absorbable forms of nutrients, without the limitations of liquid supplements.
A supplement only truly works if the nutrients actually reach your horse’s bloodstream – via the digestive tract – so they can do their job. This is what we call bioavailability (3).
Not every form of a nutrient is absorbed equally well. Take magnesium, for example: magnesium oxide is a cheap form with poor absorption, while magnesium citrate or magnesium glycinate are much better utilized by the body (2).
In liquid supplements, you’re often limited to what remains stable and soluble in water or oil, while powders give you much more flexibility to choose the optimal, highly bioavailable ingredients.
3. Powder supplements contain more active ingredients per dose
Powders often consist of 90–95% active ingredients. In contrast, liquid supplements usually only contain 10–20% active substances, with the rest being water or oil.
What are the benefits of that high concentration?
- You need less supplement to achieve the same dose – good for your horse and your wallet.
- Your horse receives more active ingredients without unnecessary additives.
An exception to this is when a single nutrient is dissolved in a very high concentration – for example vitamin E or curcumin. In such cases, a liquid form can indeed offer specific advantages.
4. Powder supplements have a longer shelf life – without preservatives
Powdered supplements maintain their quality and effectiveness over a longer period – without being dependent on preservatives. Because powders contain very little moisture, they are naturally far less prone to spoilage than liquid supplements. Moisture is a key factor in the growth of bacteria, molds, and fermentation. With low water activity – as in well-dried powders – microorganisms have much less chance to grow (4,5).
That’s why powders are more stable and less vulnerable to microbial contamination or oxidation (the process where active compounds break down due to oxygen exposure). For example, fatty acids or plant extracts in a supplement oxidize more quickly in liquid form, affecting their effectiveness and quality – whereas in powder form, these substances stay intact much longer.
An additional benefit is that powders often don’t require preservatives – which is not only good for shelf life, but also for horses that are sensitive to additives or unnecessary ingredients.
5. Powder supplements are easy to use
Finally: powders are incredibly practical. You can easily mix them into your horse’s daily feed, and even at higher doses they stay well in the feed bowl – especially if you lightly moisten the feed. No mess with sticky syringes or fiddly bottles – just scoop, mix, and done.
Scientific Sources
1. Equine Applied and Clinical Nutrition. (2013). In Elsevier eBooks. https://doi.org/10.1016/c2009-0-39370-8
2. Firoz, M., & Graber, M. (2001). Bioavailability of US commercial magnesium preparations. Magnesium Research, 14(4), 257–262. PMID: 11794633
3. Guidance for Industry. (2014). Bioavailability and bioequivalence studies submitted in NDAs or INDs — General considerations [Guidance document]. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. http://www.fda.gov/Drugs/GuidanceComplianceRegulatoryInformation/Guidances/default.htm
4. Odeyemi, O. A., Alegbeleye, O. O., Strateva, M., & Stratev, D. (2020). Understanding spoilage microbial community and spoilage mechanisms in foods of animal origin. Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety, 19(1), 311–331. https://doi.org/10.1111/1541-4337.12526
5. Sperber, W. H. (2009). Introduction to the microbiological spoilage of foods and beverages. In W. Sperber & M. Doyle (Eds.), Compendium of the microbiological spoilage of foods and beverages (pp. 1–40). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-0826-1_1
