38. Danger in the Grass: High-Oxalate Pastures, Calcium Deficiency & Bighead Disease in Horses
Happy Horse Nutrition2 Helmi

38. Danger in the Grass: High-Oxalate Pastures, Calcium Deficiency & Bighead Disease in Horses

In this episode of the Happy Horse Nutrition Podcast, Dr Nerida tackles a pasture risk that catches many good horse owners out: high-oxalate warm-season grasses that can block calcium absorption, slowly weaken bone, and set horses up for nutritional secondary hyperparathyroidism (Bighead disease).

You’ll learn the simple physiology behind it (the “bone calcium bank” concept), why blood calcium can look normal even when bones are being depleted, and the real-world signs that are easy to misread; shifting lameness, sore or grumpy behaviour, odd gait, skull changes, loud breathing noise under work, dental issues and poor hoof quality.

Nerida walks you through practical pasture ID tips for the big culprits—kikuyu, buffel, couch/bermudagrass, and the high-risk one: setaria! And explains how oxalate levels and risk change with growth stage and location (including cooler regions in summer).

Finally, she outlines prevention: targeting a calcium: oxalate ratio of at least 0.5:1, keeping calcium balanced with phosphorus and magnesium, why lucerne/alfalfa helps on multiple fronts, and when it’s smarter to use a properly formulated balancer or get expert help… especially if setaria is involved.


✅ Want help checking whether your horse’s diet is actually balanced for these pastures (without doing the maths)? Download the MyHappy.Horse app: https://apps.apple.com/app/myhappy-horse/id6633422324


❤️ If this episode helped, please follow the podcast on Apple Podcasts/Spotify and share it with a horse owner in warm, wet coastal regions (or anyone feeding teff or bermudagrass hay).

🕖 Until next time… go have a quick paddock walk! Your feed room decisions should always start with your grass. 🌱🐴

Jaksot(47)

47. Horse Nutrition Q&A: Hair Analysis vs Diet Analysis, Raw Grain Risks, Ulcers & Orphan Foals

47. Horse Nutrition Q&A: Hair Analysis vs Diet Analysis, Raw Grain Risks, Ulcers & Orphan Foals

Orla is back in the Q&A seat… and she’s come armed 😅 In this episode of the Happy Horse Nutrition Podcast, Orla has curated a stack of listener questions (and kept Dr Nerida completely in the dark), ...

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46. Horse Depression, Behaviour and Nutrition with Joanna Lepiarczyk

46. Horse Depression, Behaviour and Nutrition with Joanna Lepiarczyk

In this episode of the Happy Horse Nutrition Podcast, Dr Nerida is joined by Joanna Lepiarczyk from Horses Explained for a fascinating and deeply important conversation about horse mental health, equi...

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45. Feeding Grain Safely to Horses: Cooked vs Uncooked and Why It Matters (a lot!) for Gut Health

45. Feeding Grain Safely to Horses: Cooked vs Uncooked and Why It Matters (a lot!) for Gut Health

Grains are one of those ingredients that get demonised in the horse world… or are fed completely on autopilot. And neither is an ideal situation.In this episode of the Happy Horse Nutrition Podcast, D...

23 Maalis 52min

44. Species-Appropriate Horse Keeping & Why Track Systems Work

44. Species-Appropriate Horse Keeping & Why Track Systems Work

Track systems (perimeter grazing systems) can look deceptively simple… but when they’re designed well, they deliver things horses are wired for: friends, freedom, and forage… with extra movement built...

16 Maalis 1h 34min

43. Free Faecal Water in Horses: Causes, Diet Fixes and What to Try First

43. Free Faecal Water in Horses: Causes, Diet Fixes and What to Try First

Free faecal water (also called free fecal liquid) is one of those horse problems that looks “not that bad” on paper… but how 'bad' is it? 🐴💦In this episode of the Happy Horse Nutrition Podcast, Dr N...

9 Maalis 1h 2min

42. Horse Nutrition Q&A: Straw, Diarrhoea, Feed Safety & Muscle Building

42. Horse Nutrition Q&A: Straw, Diarrhoea, Feed Safety & Muscle Building

What happens when your horses live on mostly straw for 10 days… and one of them decides to protest with full-blown diarrhoea? 😅 In this Q&A-style catch-up, Dr Nerida and Orla unpack a very relatable ...

2 Maalis 46min

41. OTT Horse Nutrition: The First 12 Months Off The Track

41. OTT Horse Nutrition: The First 12 Months Off The Track

Feeding an Off The Track (OTT) in the first 12 months can be a worry inducing juggle… appetite, behaviour, ulcers and those classic “why won’t you hold weight?” situations. In this episode of the Happ...

23 Helmi 59min

40. What is NSC? And is it bad for my horse?

40. What is NSC? And is it bad for my horse?

NSC is one of those three-letter acronyms that pops up on feed bags and hay reports… and consistently manages to confuse even the most dedicated horse owners. In this episode of the Happy Horse Nutrit...

16 Helmi 52min

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