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 “whoops” moment and use it to teach one of the most overlooked fundamentals in horse gut health: fibre diversity.

They break down why straw is a very different beast to hay (hello, lignin), why some horses cope while others fall apart, and why “just add a product” isn’t always the smartest first move. From there, the conversation goes behind the scenes of the feed industry, mixed-species feed mills, the very real risk of ionophore contamination, and how to ask the right questions of manufacturers. Then it gets nerdy (in the best way) with least-cost vs set recipes, why crude protein can be misleading, and the lysine + leucine muscle-building “bricklayer and bricks” analogy you’ll love.

In this episode you’ll learn:

Why restricting forage to one source can trigger loose manure/free faecal water in some horses
Why gut “fixes in 3 hours” are usually not how physiology works (and when electrolytes can confuse the picture)
How to read a feed label to spot vague “least-cost” ingredient wording
Why protein quality matters (especially for young horses, broodmares, and performance horses)

🐴💛 Want help making sense of your horse’s diet? Download MyHappy.Horse on the Apple App Store (link below) and take the guesswork out of balancing protein, lysine, and the bigger nutrition picture.

And if this episode made you go and check the back of a feed bag… we’d love you to leave us a quick rating and review. It helps other horse owners find science-based feeding help. 🧪❤️

Download MyHappy.Horse here: https://apps.apple.com/app/myhappy-horse/id6633422324

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66. Horses, Laminitis & Hoof Health with Dr Luke Wells-Smith

In this episode, Dr Nerida is joined by Dr Luke Wells-Smith, dual qualified equine veterinarian and farrier, for a unique perspective on laminitis.Dr Luke unpacks what’s happening inside the hoof dur...

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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 div...

4 Elo 46min

63. Preventing Gastric Ulcers in Horses: Nutrition Strategies Beyond Forage

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 ...

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62. Preventing gastric ulcers: The top 3 things you must do for your horse

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21 Heinä 38min

61. Horse Nutrition Q&A: Gravel in the Gut, Lucerne Myths and Haynets

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 ...

14 Heinä 37min

60. Rebuilding a Horse’s Gut After Racing - Allay's Story

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 ...

7 Heinä 1h 22min