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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Episoder(64)

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

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

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7 Jul 1h 22min

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