Performance Line
How Rooted Equine Balance Supports Lung Health and Helps Reduce EIPH Risk in Barrel/Performance Horses
Barrel racing demands everything from a horse in just a few seconds….explosive acceleration, tight turns, and intense focus. What most riders don’t see is what happens inside the lungs during that run. The sudden surge of blood pressure in the lungs, combined with airway irritation from dust, hauling, weather changes, and repeated training, can create the perfect storm for EIPH (bleeding).
Rooted Equine Balance approaches this challenge with a three‑part system designed to support the horse before, during, and after every run. Each formula has one clear job, and together they create a complete circle of respiratory and vascular support.
Daily Support: Breathe Ultra
Breathe Ultra is the foundation of the entire program. It’s designed to keep the lungs comfortable, clear, and resilient every single day, long before the horse ever steps into the alley.
What Breathe Ultra supports
• A calm, healthy airway lining
• Smooth, easy airflow
• Thin, mobile mucus that doesn’t clog or irritate
• A balanced inflammatory response
• Comfort during dusty arenas, weather swings, and heavy training
• A more resilient lung environment overall
Why daily support matters
A horse that starts the day with airway irritation is already at a disadvantage. Inflammation, thick mucus, or airway reactivity make the lungs more vulnerable to stress during a run. Breathe Ultra helps maintain a stable, healthy airway so the horse enters every ride with a clean slate.
This daily stability is what allows the pre‑run and post‑run formulas to focus purely on the vascular side of EIPH risk.
Breathe Prime: Pre‑Run Support: Vascular Activation
When the horse fires into the first barrel, the pressure inside the lungs spikes dramatically. This sudden surge is one of the biggest contributors to EIPH. The pre‑run formula is designed to support the blood vessels during this exact moment.
What the pre‑run formula supports
• Strong, flexible capillaries that can tolerate pressure
• Smooth, efficient blood flow through the lungs
• Healthy vascular tone during exertion
• Antioxidant support during high‑intensity effort
• A more resilient response to adrenaline and excitement
Why pre‑run support matters
EIPH is ultimately a combination of pressure and fragility. The pre‑run formula helps on both sides by supporting capillary strength and helping the lungs handle the sudden increase in blood flow. This creates a protective buffer during the run, when the risk is highest.
Post-Run Support: Recovery and Repair
Even a clean run creates stress inside the lungs. The tissues heat up, oxidative byproducts build, and the capillaries stretch under pressure. If this stress isn’t addressed, the horse carries it into the next ride, and the next, and the next.
Over time, this cumulative micro‑damage is what often leads to EIPH.
What the post‑run formula supports
• Capillary repair after exertion
• Clearing oxidative stress from the lung tissue
• A healthy inflammatory response
• Restoring normal vascular tone
• Preventing the buildup of micro‑damage over time
Why post‑run support matters
Most horses don’t bleed because of one bad run, they bleed because of repeated, unaddressed stress. The post‑run formula helps the lungs recover fully so the horse starts the next day fresh instead of carrying yesterday’s inflammation forward.
Why This Three‑Part System Works
Each formula supports a different part of the horse’s physiology at the moment it matters most.
• Breathe Ultra keeps the airway calm and resilient every day.
• Breathe Prime supports the blood vessels during the pressure spike of the run.
• Breathe Recover helps the lungs repair and reset afterward.
Together, they create a complete, balanced approach to respiratory and vascular health—helping performance horses stay comfortable, confident, and performing at their best while reducing the factors that contribute to EIPH.
Why Our Pre-Run and Post-Run Products Cost More
These two products are built very differently from the rest of the Rooted Equine Balance line. While our daily formulas focus on whole‑herb support and balanced respiratory health, the Pre‑Run and Post‑Run blends rely on high‑purity bioflavonoids, some of the most expensive and hardest‑to‑source ingredients in the supplement world.
These formulas are designed for horses working at high speeds and under high pressure, where the lungs and vascular system need targeted, fast‑acting support. To do that effectively, we use ingredients that are far more concentrated and far more costly.
What Makes These Ingredients So Expensive?
Most equine supplements use low‑purity citrus powders or generic “bioflavonoid blends” that contain only a small percentage of active compounds. They’re inexpensive to produce, but they don’t deliver the level of vascular support a performance horse needs.
Our Pre‑Run and Post‑Run formulas use:
• 95%+ hesperidin extract
• 98-99%+ rutin
• Premium citrus bioflavonoids
• High‑grade grape seed extract (OPCs)
• Targeted vascular herbs with no fillers
These extracts cost significantly more because they contain 95–99% active compounds, not the 10–20% found in typical equine products. Higher purity means stronger effects, better absorption, and more predictable results, especially when supporting capillary strength and recovery in EIPH‑prone horses.
Why Purity Matters for Performance Horses
Bioflavonoids are the backbone of vascular support. They help maintain:
• strong, flexible capillaries
• healthy microcirculation
• balanced inflammatory response
• resilience during pressure spikes
But the body responds very differently to a high‑purity extract than it does to a low‑grade powder. A 95% extract delivers the active compounds the horse actually needs, without the plant bulk, fillers, or inactive material that dilute most supplements.
This is why our Pre‑Run and Post‑Run formulas cost more to produce: they’re built almost entirely from these premium extracts.
Why These Two Products Are Priced Higher Than the Rest of Our Line
The daily formulas use a blend of herbs, botanicals, and supportive ingredients that are effective, but not nearly as costly as high‑purity flavonoids. They’re designed for long‑term, everyday support.
The Pre‑Run and Post‑Run formulas are different. They’re built for performance moments, where the lungs and vascular system need fast, targeted, high‑output support. That requires ingredients that are:
• more concentrated
• more potent
• more expensive
• harder to source
These formulas don’t rely on fillers or low‑grade powders. Nearly every ingredient in the bag is an active ingredient and that’s what drives the price difference.
The Value Behind the Price
When you choose these formulas, you’re choosing:
• higher purity
• stronger effects
• cleaner formulas
• no fillers
• small‑batch production
• ingredients chosen specifically for EIPH‑prone or high‑intensity horses
These products cost more to make because they’re built to do more. They’re designed for riders who want the highest level of support for their horses during training and competition, not the cheapest option on the shelf.