Happy Horse Nutrition

Knowing better is one thing. Actually changing what we do is something else entirely. In Part 2 of this conversation, Dr Nerida and veterinarian and social worker Dr Katherine Goldberg go deeper into the very human reasons horse management practices can be so hard to change.
They use one of the simplest horse welfare changes as the perfect case study: feeding hay before you ride. Why does something so easy, with such clear benefits for our horses around gastric health, comfort and behaviour, still meet resistance? 
Then Nerida and Katherine jump back on after Pony Camp for a real-world update and put the psychology into practice, looking at decisional balance, why being the only person doing something differently can feel hard, and why sometimes the best way to create change is simply to keep modelling the better way, loudly and positively. 
Connect with Dr Katherine Goldberg Dr Katherine works with horse owners through Horses First Stewardship, helping people navigate horse care, feeding, track systems and those tricky situations where you know something needs to change, but you’re not quite sure what to do next. 
Website: ⁠https://www.horsesfirststewardship.com⁠   Email: ⁠horsesfirststewardship@gmail.com

Why is it that we can be told something is better for our horse... and still find it incredibly hard to change what we do?
In Part 1 of this two-part conversation, Dr Nerida is joined again by Dr Katherine Goldberg, veterinarian and social worker, to turn the microscope away from the horse for a moment and onto the humans making the decisions.
Because improving horse welfare and horse nutrition isn’t always as simple as giving people better information. Human behaviour is messy. We have habits, beliefs, identities, fears, practical limitations and social pressures, and sometimes the benefits of staying exactly where we are feel bigger than the benefits of changing, even when the science is telling us otherwise. 
Dr Katherine walks us through the psychology of behaviour change, including readiness for change, decisional balance and why some people simply aren’t ready to hear a new message yet. 
And then there’s information overload: the vet says one thing, the trainer says another, Facebook says something else again, and suddenly doing nothing feels easier than working out who to believe.
If you’ve ever wondered why you or the horse people around you resist change, why better information isn’t always enough, or why knowing better doesn’t automatically mean doing better, this episode is for you.
Part 2 continues next week.
Connect with Dr Katherine Goldberg
Dr Katherine works with horse owners through Horses First Stewardship, helping people navigate horse care, feeding, track systems and those tricky situations where you know something needs to change, but you’re not quite sure what to do next. 
Website: https://www.horsesfirststewardship.com  
Email: horsesfirststewardship@gmail.com

Bentley had been a healthy horse for years, until an injury, prolonged antibiotic treatment and a cascade of gut problems changed everything. Persistent colic, abdominal pain, diarrhoea, gastric ulcers and gas eventually led us to look more closely at his hindgut microbiome.
In this episode, Dr Nerida shares Bentley’s roller-coaster ride case study, from microbiome testing and low microbial diversity, through increasing dietary fibre diversity and two faecal microbiota transplants (FMT), to the gradual return of a comfortable, happy horse. We also look at free faecal water, faecal pH, vitamin B2, fibre-fermenting bacteria and what Bentley’s before-and-after microbiome results might tell us about equine dysbiosis, gut health and colic risk. 
It’s a brilliant example of just how complex the horse hindgut is, and how much we still have to learn about rebuilding a disrupted microbiome. Have a listen and be sure to hang on for the highs and the lows of Bentley’s story ❤️

Big thanks to Bentley's beautiful owner Saskia for allowing us to their incredible story! 🙏🏼🥰

When it comes to fuelling performance, muscle glycogen and grain feeding get most of the attention, but that’s only half of the story.
In this episode, Dr Nerida breaks down the dual fuel tank theory of performance horse nutrition: the finite store of muscle glycogen used for speed and high-intensity work, and the continuous supply of energy in the form of volatile fatty acids (VFAs) produced via fibre fermentation in the hindgut.
We explore how these two fuel systems work together, how forage is an essential performance fuel, how the VFA acetate contributes directly to working muscle energy, and why overfeeding grain can undermine the hindgut fuel system that helps horses conserve glycogen for when they really need it.
If you feed a racehorse, eventer, polo horse, endurance horse or other high-level athlete, this episode offers a different way to think about the way you structure your diets around forage and grain, to maximise muscle glycogen, gut health and performance.

This episode is proudly brought to you by EquiGI's microbiom analysis, order a test kit at https://www.equigi.com

📲 Download the MyHappy.Horse nutrition app to check your horse’s energy intake and build better, more balanced performance horse diets  https://apps.apple.com/au/app/myhappy-horse/id6633422324
 
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Has your horse suddenly become anxious, spooky, reactive or unpredictable... despite being normally calm and sensible?
In this episode, Dr Nerida explores how perennial ryegrass mycotoxins can affect horse behaviour, coordination and performance. Learn about lolitrem B and ergovaline, the toxins associated with ryegrass staggers, tremors, hypersensitivity, exaggerated startle responses, heat intolerance and dramatic behavioural changes.
We also look at when perennial ryegrass pasture and hay pose the greatest risk, how quickly horses may improve once exposure stops, and whether mycotoxin binders can actually help.
If your horse seems to have had a sudden “personality transplant”, their pasture or hay may be worth a closer look and this episode is definitely worth a listen!
Testing pasture or hay for perennial ryegrass toxins
Australia: Southern Scientific Services, Hamilton VIC – pasture toxin testing including lolitrem B and ergovaline. Phone 0408 363 061. Contact the laboratory before collecting/sending samples for current sampling instructions.
USA: Oregon State University Endophyte Service Laboratory – quantitative testing for lolitrem B and ergovaline in pasture, hay and feed. https://emt.oregonstate.edu/endophyte-lab
 
📲 For help balancing your horse's diet, download the MyHappy.Horse App https://apps.apple.com/au/app/myhappy-horse/id6633422324  
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