43. Free Fecal 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 Nerida unpacks potential reasons why FFW is suddenly being talked about everywhere, from first hearing it at a conference in Dijon (2016) to seeing it dominate conversations at AAEP Denver (2025). And yes… she asks the uncomfortable question: is this another disease of modern management impacting an ancient gut?

You’ll learn:

What FFW is
Why it’s likely multifactorial (forage changes, fibre variety, grain load & digestibility, sand irritation, ulcers, nitrates…)
The practical “low-hanging fruit” steps to try first, in a logical order to help resolve FFW
Why microbiome research can be misleading when it’s only measured at broad levels (and why species-level testing may be the next big breakthrough); and
When to loop in your vet (sand assessment, ulcer scoping, more advanced options like faecal transplant)

If you’re dealing with FFW, this is your calm, evidence-informed roadmap to helping your horse.

As always, please follow the podcast so more horse owners can find this, and if it helped, share it with a friend (or your whole agistment chat 😉). 💛

💖 Want to see how your current feeding program stacks up for gut health? Pop your horse’s diet into MyHappy.Horse and check the gut health score (7-day free trial availabile): https://apps.apple.com/app/myhappy-horse/id6633422324

🦠 Want to know which species of microbes live in your FFW horse's gut, grab a test kit from Dr Belinda and EquiGI - https://www.equigi.com

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56. Do Calming Supplements for Horses Actually Work?

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54. Rethinking Yearling Horse Sales Prep: Less Grain, Better Gut Health

What happens when a thoroughbred breeding farm reduces grain, increases forage diversity, and prepares yearlings with gut health in mind?In this episode, Dr Nerida is joined by Zac Harris, a thoroughb...

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53. Feeding Horses in Winter

Winter can be one of the biggest challenges when feeding horses. So in this episode, Dr Nerida talks all things winter feeding. You’ll learn why preparation matters, that forage is your horse’s intern...

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