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), so it’s a fast-paced, practical chat that bounces from industry ethics to real-life feeding decisions you’ll recognise instantly.

We start with a big one: what actually makes someone a “nutritionist” in the horse world, and why that label can be meaningful… or totally meaningless. Nerida unpacks the difference between qualifications, experience, and the uncomfortable reality of “armchair experts” giving confident advice that can cost horses their health.

From there, the conversation gets wonderfully hearty:

• Raw/cracked grains (especially corn): why this can be a hindgut wrecking ball when fed inappropriately, and what “gold standard” feeding looks like when welfare and performance matter.
• Hair analysis: when it might be useful (think toxins/heavy metals), why it often isn’t reliable for everyday nutrition decisions, and why diet analysis beats guessing, every time.
• Metabolic ponies + ulcers: why so many EMS “good doers” end up with serious gastric ulcers, and the management patterns that quietly set them up to fail (hello, long hours without forage).
• Orphan foals: Nerida shares a practical, “doable in the real world” approach to feeding orphan foals, including a simple milk-mixing recipe and how frequency of feeds can make or break a foal’s gut.

If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed by conflicting advice, marketing masquerading as science, or you just want a clearer path to feeding with confidence—this one’s for you. 🐴💛

Here is the link to the 'How to feed an orphan foal' article from Dr Nerida: https://www.myhappy.horse/blog-posts/rearing-the-orphan-foal

Want to analyse your horse’s diet properly (without the stress)? Download MyHappy.Horse here: https://apps.apple.com/app/myhappy-horse/id6633422324

And if you enjoyed the Q&A chaos with Orla 🤪🧡, we'd be so grateful if you'd leave a quick review on Apple or Spotify, it helps other horse owners find the show 🙏🏼