The role of bile salt in biliary lipid excretion was studied in 3 healthy ponies with chronic external biliary fistulas. After endogenous bile salt pool depletion, micelle-forming taurocholate or taurochenodeoxycholate was infused to replace excreted bile salt. Enterohepatic circulations were held open (total biliary diversion) throughout each study. Results indicated that biliary lipid excretion in ponies (113 +/- 21 nmol/min/kg of body weight) is approximately 10 times less than that reported in rodents. Although the lipid composition (4.4% cholesterol, 5.6% phospholipid, and 90% bile salt) was within the predicted range for a single phase of micellar (or vesicular) liquid in solution, it was supersaturated with cholesterol because of low absolute concentrations of bile salt and phospholipid. Ponies, like guinea pigs, were determined to have a high bile salt-independent secretion of biliary lipid with little (or no) coupling to endogenous bile salt output. However, bile salt excretion induced by higher taurocholate infusion rates (ie, those greater than the physiologic range of 61 to 125 nmol/min/kg) was positively correlated with an increase in biliary phospholipid excretion, but not cholesterol excretion, thus indicating that a threshold intracellular bile salt concentration may be associated with enhanced biliary phospholipid excretion in ponies. The apparent cholerectic effects of endogenous bile salts, taurocholate, and taurochenodeoxycholate (that is, the increment in bile flow per increment in bile salt recovered) were greater in ponies than reported for any other mammal.