Happy Horse Nutrition
Happy Horse Nutrition
Podcast Description
Join Dr. Nerida McGilchrist, a world-renowned equine nutritionist with over 20 years of experience, as she simplifies the science of horse nutrition into actionable insights. Trusted by top trainers and breeders, Nerida combines her passion for data with engaging interviews of leading experts in the field. With her warm, humorous style, she uncovers the latest research and practical tips to optimise your horse's health and performance. Tune in for expert advice that you can apply today!
Podcast Insights
Content Themes
The show focuses on equine nutrition, veterinary science, and horse health, with episodes that include discussions on horse feeding practices like forage management and understanding equine digestive systems, alongside insights from leading equine experts.
The Happy Horse Nutrition Podcast with Dr Nerida McGilchrist makes horse nutrition make sense. A PhD equine nutritionist with more than 25 years of experience, Dr Nerida shares practical feeding advice, explains the science in plain English, and interviews leading experts in horse health, welfare and nutrition. From gut health and supplements to performance feeding and common mistakes, each episode helps horse owners, breeders and trainers feed with more confidence.
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 Nerida takes a practical, gut-first look at feeding horses for safe, effective and sustainable weight gain.
Because weight gain is not simply a matter of “just feed more”. Yes, a horse needs to eat more energy than they use in order to gain weight, but they also need to be able to digest and use that energy. And that is where so many weight gain diets go wrong. If the cause of weight loss has not been identified, the hindgut is struggling, the diet is unbalanced, or the horse is being pushed too hard with high-starch feeds, owners can end up feeding more and more, while the horse still fails to thrive.
In this episode, Nerida walks through the five key steps to feeding for weight gain, starting with identifying why the horse is underweight in the first place. From there, she explains why the hindgut must become a fibre-fermenting powerhouse, why forage variety and fibre diversity matter, how to balance the diet properly, why high-quality protein is essential for building muscle and topline, and how to add high-energy ingredients like super fibres, oils and well-cooked grains safely.
Nerida also talks about something every owner needs to understand before starting a weight gain diet: higher-energy diets can affect behaviour. The aim is not to create a fire-breathing dragon under saddle. The aim is to build a healthier horse who can gain condition, support muscle development, maintain better gut health and eventually hold weight without relying on huge amounts of supplementary feed forever.
📲 For help assessing your horse’s diet and building a balanced feeding plan, download the MyHappy.Horse app and let it help you feed with more confidence. https://apps.apple.com/au/app/myhappy-horse/id6633422324
💖 If you find this episode helpful, please follow the Happy Horse Nutrition Podcast and share it with a horse owning friend who is struggling with weight gain.
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