Happy Horse Nutrition

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

What really happens inside an off-the-track’s gut when you take away the racing diet and start to rebuild the horse from the hindgut up?
In this episode of the Happy Horse Nutrition Podcast, Dr Nerida is joined again by Dr Belinda to talk all about Allay, Nerida’s daughter's beautiful off-the-track Thoroughbred mare, and what happened inside her gut as she transitioned from racehorse life into life after racing.
Allay’s story gives us a rare look at the hindgut microbiome in real life. Over her first 12 months with Nerida, her diet, behaviour, condition and microbiome were tracked, showing what can happen when an off-the-track horse is given time, fibre, forage diversity and the right nutritional support.
Nerida and Belinda unpack how Allay’s microbiome changed over time, why fibre comes first when rebuilding the hindgut, how forage diversity helps support microbial diversity, and why microbiome recovery does not always happen in a perfectly straight line.
They also talk about behaviour, manure, ryegrass curveballs, microbial resilience, and why feeding the microbes in the hindgut is such an important part of supporting the whole horse.
If you own an off-the-track, work with them, or simply want to better understand how the gut can influence condition, health, behaviour and long-term resilience 

🐎 To watch Allay's full story, see Allay: The First 12 Months 
 
📲 For help assessing your horse’s diet and building a balanced feeding plan, download the MyHappy.Horse App and let it help you feed with more confidence https://apps.apple.com/au/app/myhappy-horse/id6633422324
💖 If you find this episode helpful, please follow the Happy Horse Nutrition Podcast and  share it with a horse owning friend who is struggling with feeding their OTT.

🌟 And we'd love you to leave us a rating and review so more horse owners can find practical, science-based nutrition advice.

How much does broodmare nutrition really matter?
In this episode, Dr Nerida is joined again by Jess, an equine science student from Charles Sturt University, for a practical Q&A on feeding pregnant (and lactating) broodmares.
They unpack the idea of “feeding for two”, and why pregnant mares do not need large amounts of extra energy and protein from day one, but absolutely do need a balanced diet from the very beginning.
Nerida explains how nutrients such as copper, iodine, calcium, phosphorus, protein and lysine can influence foal development, joint health, milk production and mare condition. The discussion also explores lactation, foal growth rates, the importance of the mare’s microbiome, and why nutrition during pregnancy may have long-term effects on the foal’s health and future performance.
A must-listen episode for breeders, stud staff and horse owners wanting to give mares and foals the best possible start.
📲 Download MyHappy.Horse to help you keep broodmare diets balanced: https://apps.apple.com/app/myhappy-horse/id6633422324
🦠 And if you want to look into your broodmare’s microbiome, get in touch with EquiGI - https://www.equigi.com