Happy Horse Nutrition

What are the best ingredients for helping a horse gain weight safely?
In this episode, PhD equine nutritionist Dr Nerida explains why lucerne (alfalfa), full-fat soybean, lupins, sugar beet pulp and copra meal are five of her favourite horse weight-gain ingredients.
Discover how each ingredient supplies energy, fermentable fibre or quality protein, and how the right combination can help horses build body condition and muscle without simply relying on more grain.
You’ll also learn why hindgut health matters, when high-protein feeds can become problematic, how to use these ingredients safely and why every weight-gain diet still needs to be properly balanced.
Soycheck test kit for checking whether soybean products contain active trypsin inhibitor: https://cbsbioplatforms.com/Store

Join Dr Nerida and Orla as they discuss how exercise can improve insulin sensitivity. Plus they talk feeding for muscle development, and how whey protein, soybean and leucine play a role.
They also dive into digestive enzymes, why they are being added to more feeds, and how enzymes may help some horses digest starch more efficiently when grain-based feeds are used. This leads into a bigger discussion about diet analysis, nutrient deficiencies, toxicities, misleading “grain-free” labels, and why horse owners need a way to check whether a diet is genuinely safe and balanced.
The episode finishes with musings on raw grain, stomach pH, hindgut pH, gastroscopy, omeprazole, acid rebound, and has a few classic Orla and Nerida side tracks along the way.
📲 To check your horse’s diet and KNOW you are feeding right, download the MyHappy.Horse app ⁠https://apps.apple.com/au/app/myhappy-horse/id6633422324⁠
💛 We’d love if you would leave us a rating, follow the show and share this episode with a friend, it truly helps us get this information in front of more horse owners.
🩺 And if you’d like to get in touch with Orla, Orla.lyons@randlab.com.au

Preventing squamous gastric ulcers takes more than just feeding enough forage. In this episode, Dr Nerida explains four additional nutrition strategies: feeding a balanced diet, controlling grain and starch intake, supplying high-quality protein, and using lucerne or alfalfa strategically.
Plus she covers why grain is not automatically the problem, how key nutrients support stomach repair, and why lucerne is so valuable for gut health. 
Here are some of the papers referenced:
Effects of feeding alfalfa hay in comparison to meadow hay on the gastric mucosa in adult Warmblood horses https://pferdeheilkunde.de/files/20200105.pdf  
Evaluation of diet as a cause of gastric ulcers in horses https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10895901/
Risk factors associated with equine gastric ulceration syndrome (EGUS) in 201 horses in Denmark https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19927579/

📲 For help assessing your horse’s diet and making sure you are feeding a balanced diet to prevent gastric ulcers, download the MyHappy.Horse App https://apps.apple.com/au/app/myhappy-horse/id6633422324 
💖 If you found this episode helpful we'd be so grateful if you would follow the Happy Horse Nutrition Podcast and  share it with a horse owning friend who is struggling with gastric ulcers.
🌟 And please leave us a rating and review, it helps us help more horse owners to find practical, science-based nutrition advice.

Gastric ulcers are incredibly common in horses, but before changing feeds or reaching for an ulcer supplement, there are three far more important foundations to get right.
In this episode, Dr Nerida explains why forage is central to preventing equine squamous gastric ulcers and reveals the three practical steps every horse owner should prioritise: feeding enough forage, minimising the time horses spend without something to chew, and feeding hay before, and ideally after, exercise.
You’ll also learn why simply providing hay does not necessarily mean your horse is eating enough, how herd dynamics and restrictive hay nets can reduce forage intake without you actually noticing, and why weighing your horse’s hay may be one of the most useful things you can do for their gastric health.
Here is the link to free full text research study mentioned in the podcast: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/13/22/3512
 
📲 For help assessing your horse’s diet and making sure you are feeding enough forage to prevent gastric ulcers, download the MyHappy.Horse App https://apps.apple.com/au/app/myhappy-horse/id6633422324 
💖 If you found this episode helpful, please follow the Happy Horse Nutrition Podcast and  share it with a horse owning friend who is struggling with gastric ulcers.
🌟 And we'd love you to leave us a rating and review, it helps us help more horse owners to find practical, science-based nutrition advice.

Orla is back on the Happy Horse Nutrition Podcast, and this time she and Dr Nerida are answering listener questions, sharing stories from the behind the gastroscope, and chat themselves down a number of rabbit holes.
In this (very 😂) relaxed Q&A episode, Nerida and Orla talk about sand, gravel and soil in the gut, when psyllium may be useful, and why forage and fibre are so important for helping horses move dirt through the digestive tract. They also discuss the tricky balance between using haynets to slow intake, while still keeping horses comfortable, chewing and ulcer-free.
They answer a listener question about lucerne/alfalfa and whether it is actually too high in sugar for metabolic horses (spoiler alert, it's not but there are so many misconceptions!). Nerida explains why lucerne can be a useful low-NSC forage, and how it can help add protein, calcium and fibre diversity to the diet.
The conversation also wanders into fasting horses for gastroscopy, soaking hay, muscle cramping, potassium, PSSM and HYPP, because one good horse nutrition question always seems to lead to five more 🙈😄.
This is a fun episode with some useful info and interesting stories 💖
💛 If you enjoyed this episode, please follow the Happy Horse Nutrition Podcast and share it with a horse-loving friend 🙏🏼
📲 For help assessing your horse’s diet, download the MyHappy.Horse app ⁠https://apps.apple.com/au/app/myhappy-horse/id6633422324⁠.
🩺 And if you’d like to get in touch with Orla, Orla.lyons@randlab.com.au