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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Episoder(60)

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

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59. Feeding Pregnant Mares & Why Balanced Nutrition Matters From Day One

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30 Jun 55min

58. Feeding horses for Weight Loss and Why “Just Feed Less” is Not the Answer

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23 Jun 1h 11min

57. Feeding Horses for Weight Gain and Why “Just Feed More” Is Not the Answer

Is your horse underweight, a classic hard keeper, or one of those horses who seems to need a ridiculous amount of feed just to hold condition? In this episode of the Happy Horse Nutrition Podcast, Dr ...

16 Jun 1h 8min

56. Do Calming Supplements for Horses Actually Work?

Do calming supplements for horses actually work? Or are we sometimes asking them to do a job they were never going to be able to do?In this episode, Dr Nerida takes a practical, science-based look at ...

9 Jun 1h 4min

55. Horse Nutrition Q&A: Feeding horses with dental issues

What do you feed a horse that can’t chew properly?In this episode, Dr Nerida McGilchrist is joined by Jess, an equine science student from Charles Sturt University, for a practical Q&A on dental issue...

2 Jun 41min

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...

26 Mai 45min

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...

19 Mai 55min