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Feed Your Steed - Equine Diets Based on Science
- Qualified Independent Equine Nutritional Advice Horses are more than just performers, they are family.

Equine Nutrition is predominately a biological science, & as such, influences the entire horse’s body & cognizance. When helping horse-owners, I try to take exceptional care to achieve a thorough understanding of all the aspects of your horse's unique lifestyle, whether it is a competition horse or a retiree. This holistic approach permits me to analyse each horse's specific & individual situation. Horses are special & the bonds we form with them are like no other. For all their large size, they are really quite delicate & do rely on us to keep them healthy. Feeding horses appropriately for their age, body condition, physical requirements, & even their emotional temperament, requires more than hug & a smile ……. Horse’s, like people, are individuals & should be fed as such. What applies for a particular horse, may not work for another. This is why it is baffling to buy a supplement, let's say, based on the promoted benefits alone. Or, feeding the new wonder horse supplement on the market as your friend does to their horse. This may not work for your horse. This is where comprehensive nutritional advice from a qualified equine nutrition professional is advantageous. The advice you receive should be designed for your horse & no one else's. So, if you find you need friendly, practical advice & information in maximising & maintaining your horse's health through dietary means consider obtaining qualified equine nutritional support from Feed Your Steed, to help you make sense of it all.

21/11/2025

🌾 NIR vs Wet Chemistry — Why WA Hay MUST Be Tested Properly
(And Why Some Reports Can’t Be Taken at Face Value)

🎯 WA horse owners — if you’re relying on NIR hay reports, you may be making feeding decisions on numbers that aren’t real. WA hay is unique, and because it’s not in national calibration libraries, NIR often produces misleading results.

I’ve had a few of our WA hay producers ask why I send so many of our hay samples over to the USA for testing, and I completely understand the question. From the outside, it can look unusual, or like we’re being awkward or making things harder than they need to be.

The truth is much simpler. We use overseas labs because they give us the most accurate numbers for the unique chemistry of WA hay — especially for sugars, starch, and minerals. Our goal is never to complicate anything; it’s to protect horses, give producers honest data, and make sure the results we’re using are scientifically reliable. There are very real reasons why we choose these labs, and why it matters for equine health in WA.

☕ Settle in with a cuppa or a tipple of whatever takes your fancy. This Facebook post is for every WA horse owner, hay producer, and equine professional.

🔍 The Two Testing Pathways
🔬 Wet Chemistry (WC)
• Chemical digestion + combustion + enzymatic assays for sugars
• Proper mineral testing via ICP-OES or ICP-MS
• ⏳ Slower & pricier
• ✅ Globally the gold standard (Williams & Norris, 2001)

🌈 NIR (Near-Infrared Spectroscopy)
• ⚡ Quick, cheap, repeatable
• ❌ Does not measure nutrients — it predicts them using calibration libraries (Saha & Lumburg, 2016)

⭐ Why WA Breaks NIR
Most commercial NIR systems were built using east-coast forages such as ryegrass, lucerne, clover, vetch and east-coast oaten hay (Jeong et al., 2024).

WA forage grows under completely different conditions:
• 🟤 Iron-rich sands
• 🥉 Low copper & zinc soils
• ☀️ Hot, dry Mediterranean climate
• 🌾 Different cereal cultivars
• ⏱️ Rapid curing due to dry air + strong sun, which increases:
– bleaching (UV)
– leaf shatter (legumes & soft oaten cultivars)
– loss of soluble carbohydrates
– higher fibre from leaf loss
• 🌱 Variable ryegrass presence depending on paddock history

➡️ The spectral fingerprints don’t match.
NIR begins guessing outside its experience — and accuracy collapses.

📊 Calibration Reality
A valid NIR model requires:
• 800–1,000+ wet-chemistry samples per forage type (Saha & Lumburg, 2016)
• 200+ new wet-chem samples per year to stay accurate (AFGC, 2019)

❌ No Australian NIR system has this for WA hay.
➡️ NIR numbers drift — badly.

⚠️ Typical WA NIR Distortions
• 💪 Crude Protein → +15–20% too high
• 🍬 WSC + Starch → 20–30% too low
• 🌾 Fibre → underestimated
• 🧪 Minerals → not measurable
👉 This is why hay that “looks laminitis-safe” on NIR can still spike insulin.

❌ Why NIR Cannot Measure Minerals
NIR only detects vibrations of organic molecules — chemical bonds like
C–H, O–H, N–H.

What does “C–H, O–H, N–H” even mean?
These are the tiny chemical bonds inside plants that NIR can detect:
• C–H → found in carbohydrates, fats, fibre
• O–H → found in water, sugars, cellulose
• N–H → found in amino acids & proteins

When NIR light hits these bonds, they vibrate.
That vibration is what the machine “reads.”

But here’s the important part:
Minerals don’t have ANY of these bonds.
No C–H, O–H, or N–H bonds =
❌ no vibration
❌ no absorbance
❌ nothing for NIR to detect

Minerals like sodium, iron, zinc, copper iodine, selenium & cobalt are inorganic (Williams & Norris, 2001; Meyer & Coenen, 2014).
They cannot be measured by NIR under any circumstances.

👉 Only ICP-OES or ICP-MS can measure minerals accurately.
🧪 ICP Explained — Plain English

ICP-OES
The sample is vaporised in a plasma flame (~10,000°C).
Each mineral glows with its own colour.
The machine reads the colour spectrum → mineral levels.

ICP-MS
Same plasma, but the machine weighs each mineral ion individually.
Ultra-sensitive — parts per billion.

If your minerals were tested with ICP → they’re real.
If they came from NIR → they’re predictions, and for WA usually wrong.

🟡 The Elephant in the Room — Marketing Bias
Many WA hay producers avoid sending hay to USA wet-chemistry labs because those results often show:

• 📈 Higher NSC %
• 📉 Lower crude protein%
…which is the true chemistry of WA hay, but not ideal for marketing.
So some hay buyers are shown NIR results because they look “prettier.”

⚠️ The Cut-and-Paste Problem

• Over the years we’ve seen:
• 📑 Copied hay & ARGT reports
• ✏️ Numbers altered
• 🔤 Fonts altered in results
• 📄 Word docs pretending to be lab reports
• 🏷️ Samples rebranded
• ❌ Missing lab headers / sample codes

➡️ Always demand the ORIGINAL PDF, showing:
✔ Laboratory name
✔ Sample code
✔ Method (NIR vs WC vs ICP)
✔ Full carbohydrate panel (ESC, WSC, starch)

If any of that is missing — it’s not reliable.
This is why I now watermark all hay results being posted on social media or that are sent out to customers.

🐄 Ruminant vs Equine Reports
Many hay tests are designed for cattle/sheep, not horses.
Some Equine-unsafe reports may:
• ❌ Omit starch
• ❌ Omit WSC
• ❌ Omit ESC
• ❌ Use ME instead of DE

👉 Horse nutrition requires DE, starch, WSC and ESC — non-negotiable for EMS/IR horses.

🧪 Our Own Comparison
We sent the same bale:
• 📦 To an east-coast lab
• 🌍 To a USA wet-chemistry lab

Results? Wildly different.
👉 NIR smoothed out the sugars
👉 Wet Chemistry showed the truth

✅ WA Truth in One Line
🌈 NIR = screening only 🔬 Wet Chemistry = truth 🧪 ICP = the only way to get real mineral values 🐴 Horse reports must include starch, WSC, ESC, and DE — not ruminant figures.

📌 Summary
WA hay is chemically and environmentally unique. Because calibration libraries don’t include WA forage, NIR consistently produces inaccurate — and sometimes dangerously misleading — results.

For safe equine feeding decisions:
• Use Wet Chemistry for sugars and NSC (WSC, ESC, starch).
• Use ICP OES / ICP MS for minerals.
• Treat NIR as screening only, never decision making.
• Ensure reports are equine specific — not ruminant reports missing starch, WSC, ESC, or using ME.

WA hay is fantastic — but unique. When we use the right testing methods, we protect our horses, support honest hay producers, and keep the whole WA horse community better informed. Horses first, always.

📚 References (APA 7th Style )

American Forage and Grassland Council. (2019). Forage analysis by near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) vs. wet chemistry: Proceedings of the AFGC annual meeting. AFGC Press.

Forage & Feed Testing Consortium. (2013). Accurate analysis: NIRS versus wet chemistry. Rock River Laboratory.

Harris, P. A., Ellis, A. D., Fradinho, M. J., Jansson, A., Julliand, V., Luthersson, N., Santos, A. S., & Vervuert, I. (2018). Review of the equine digestive system and associated nutritional implications. Animal, 12(8), 1727–1740.

Jeong, E. C., Lindquist, A., & Kallenbach, R. L. (2024). Application of near-infrared spectroscopy for hay evaluation at the farm level. Animals, 14(7), 122848.

Kellon, E. M. (2020). The importance of accurate forage testing for horses with insulin resistance and laminitis. ECIR Group Technical Bulletin.

Meyer, H., & Coenen, M. (2014). Forage analysis and calibration challenges in arid regions. Equine Veterinary Nutrition Review, 9(3), 44–51.

Saha, U. K., & Lumburg, R. K. (2016). Development and validation of NIRS calibration models for forage quality analysis. Journal of Near Infrared Spectroscopy, 24(5), 421–430.

Williams, P. C., & Norris, K. H. (2001). Near-infrared technology in the agricultural and food industries (2nd ed.). American Association of Cereal Chemists.

12/11/2025

🧲 Feed Smart, Not Fast — Why Small Hard Feeds Matter (Even on Low-Starch Diets)

Even low-starch feeds can trigger insulin spikes if they’re fed in one big hard feed. Here’s why smaller, more frequent hard feeds keep your horse’s gut — and metabolism — calmer 👇

🐴 Horses are trickle feeders by design
Their stomach produces acid constantly — even when empty. They’re built to graze, not gorge.

🧪 Small intestine: can only handle limited starch and sugar before overflow to the hindgut.
🌱 Hindgut microbes: need a steady fibre flow to stay balanced and prevent acidity.

🍽️ Large hard feeds = insulin spikes
📈 Larger hard feeds mean faster glucose absorption → sharper insulin curves.
Even low-starch feeds can overload the system if fed in one bolus.

🌾 Fibre first, starch last
🐎 Continuous forage = slow-release energy (VFAs)
⚖️ Stable gut hormones (GLP-1, GIP) = calmer metabolism
🧬 More small hard feeds = healthier hindgut pH + reduced endotoxin leakage

📏 Practical guide for easy keepers / EMS horses
✅ ≤ 0.1 g starch per kg body weight per meal (≈ 50 g starch max for a 500 kg horse)
✅ ≤ 1 kg concentrate per 100 kg BW (dry matter basis) — less is better
✅ Base feeds on forage, beet pulp, soy or lupin hulls, and low-NSC balancers
🕑 Split into 2–3 small hard feeds/day + ad-lib forage (1.5-2% BWT. intake per day)

📚 Science behind the feed bin
Bamford, N. J., Potter, S. J., Harris, P. A., & Bailey, S. R. (2015). Effect of increased meal frequency on plasma glucose and insulin responses to concentrate feeding in Thoroughbred horses. Journal of Animal Science, 93(3), 1504–1510.
Borer, K. E., Bailey, S. R., Harris, P. A., & Menzies-Gow, N. J. (2012). Insulin and glucose responses to meal frequency in horses. Equine Veterinary Journal, 44(S43), 130–134.
de Laat, M. A., & McGowan, C. M. (2016). Insights into the pathophysiology of hyperinsulinemia-associated laminitis in horses. Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine, 30(3), 831–838.

07/11/2025

🌾 You’d think WA’s dry summer would be kind to older horses.
But when the lush, moist grass disappears and hay takes its place, seniors face the hardest digestive shift of the year — tougher fibre, less water, and more work for ageing, worn molars.

🦷 Transitioning from Pasture to Hay Season for the Senior or Dentally-Compromised Horse

Fibre isn’t just “roughage” — it’s the engine, buffer, and ballast of your horse’s hindgut.
When fibre intake drops — whether from poor teeth, limited hay, or restrictive slow-feed nets — the entire system begins to unravel within hours (Harris et al., 2017; Julliand & de Fombelle, 2016).

1️⃣ Why Seasonal Change Matters
As WA pastures dry off in late spring, horses shift from fresh, moist C3 and C4 grasses to hay or conserved forage.
For horses with normal dentition, this mainly alters water and sugar content; for senior horses or those with Equine Odontoclastic Tooth Resorption and Hypercementosis (EORTH) or worn molars, it can mean the difference between maintaining weight and rapid condition loss (Collins et al., 2018).

🌱 Fresh pasture = 70–80 % water, soft fibre, easy to shear.
🌾 Hay = < 15 % water, lignified fibre that takes effort to chew and lessens salivary buffering.

When chewing efficiency drops, so does fibre fermentation — leading to lower volatile-fatty-acid (VFA) energy, higher hindgut acidity, and reduced hydration (Julliand & de Fombelle, 2016).

💧 Hydration & Fibre Moisture
Fresh pasture provides 20–30 L of internal water daily to a 500 kg horse (Geor & Harris, 2020).
Switching to hay removes this silent hydration source — meaning older horses must drink more just as the weather dries out.

Encourage water intake with multiple buckets, soaked hay or fibre cubes, and adding salt or isotonic electrolytes (Sykes et al., 2014).

🪶 Practical Tips for Seniors in WA’s Hay Season
• Offer soaked hay or fibre cubes/pellets for easy chewing.
• Feed smaller, wetter feeds more often.
• Keep fibre available at all times to maintain hindgut motility.
• Ensure vitamin A and E supplementation, since hay loses these fat-soluble vitamins quickly after cutting.
• Regular dental checks — even minor uneven wear compounds fibre inefficiency.

📘 References available in the first comment below.

05/11/2025

🐎 Let’s talk about how WA’s crazy spring weather quietly affects hydration, forage moisture, and electrolyte balance.

💧 When WA Weather Can’t Make Up Its Mind
Hydration, Pasture Moisture & Electrolyte Balance for Horses

🌦️ Western Australia’s late-spring weather swings from warm winds to cool nights and patchy rain. Grasses aren’t quite dry, but they’re slowing down — and that subtle shift can quietly tip horses toward dehydration, electrolyte imbalance, and digestive unrest.

🌾 Pasture Moisture: Hidden Water Loss
Fresh pasture = 70–80 % water, supplying 20–30 L/day to a 500 kg horse (Geor & Harris, 2020).

As the season dries, the moisture content is 30–50%. Hay only 10–15 % (Walthall & McKenzie, 1976; NRC, 2007).

💡 When that water disappears from forage, horses must drink it instead — but most don’t.

🩸 Less moisture = thicker digesta, slower gut movement, higher impaction-colic risk (White, 2021). Horses can quietly lose 5–10 L before you see signs.

🧠 How Horses “Decide” to Drink
Thirst relies on blood osmolality (saltiness of plasma) + blood volume (Sosa-León et al., 2019).

Cool nights blunt both signals → horses may not feel thirsty even as body water drops.

🧂 Plain salt (sodium chloride, NaCl) keeps thirst switched on (Meyer et al., 2013).
👉 450kg–500 kg horse at rest: 25–30 g/day.
👉 Warm/windy weather: 40–60 g/day, split between feeds.

🐴 The Hindgut: Nature’s Water Tank
Large intestine = over 60 L fluid reservoir (Frape, 2010).

Less water intake → smaller reservoir → slower fermentation → less energy + higher hindgut acidosis risk (Dougal et al., 2014).

🪣 Soaked hay, lupin fibre cubes, and beet pulp = safe ways to restore moisture (Longland et al., 2011).

⚡ Electrolytes: The Horse’s Electrical Grid
Electrolytes are charged minerals that keep the body’s “wiring” running:

🔹 Sodium (Na⁺)
🔹 Chloride (Cl⁻)
🔹 Potassium (K⁺)
🔹 Calcium (Ca²⁺)
🔹 Magnesium (Mg²⁺)

They power nerves, muscles, and pH balance (Meyer et al., 2013; NRC, 2007).

🌿 WA pastures/hays = high potassium (K), low sodium (Na) and chloride (Cl) (DAFWA, 2023; Geor & Harris, 2020).
👉 Horses can’t balance sodium:potassium from forage alone. Grains don’t help (Frape, 2010).

💦 Sweat: Salt Leaving the Building
Moderate work @ 25–30 °C = 5–10 L sweat/hour (Geor & Harris, 2020).

Each litre ≈
🔹 3.5–4 g sodium (Na)
🔹 6–7 g chloride (Cl)
🔹 1.5–2 g potassium (K)
🔹 traces of calcium (Ca) and magnesium (Mg) (McCutcheon & Geor, 2008; Sosa-León et al., 2019).

➡️ 10 L sweat = 40 g sodium + 70 g chloride lost.

👉 Rule of thumb: ≈ 60 g salt (NaCl) per feed (~120 g/day total) for working horses.
⚖️ Split doses over feeds = better absorption, less gut upset.

🧂 When to Use Electrolytes (Not Just Salt)
Salt = sodium (Na) + chloride (Cl) only. Sweating also drains potassium (K), magnesium (Mg), and calcium (Ca).

Ideal electrolyte mix:
🔹 Sodium + chloride ≈ 60 %
🔹 Potassium ≈ 20 %
🔹 Magnesium ≈ 2–5 %
🔹 Calcium ≈ 1–3 %
🔹 Sugar < 15 % (carrier only)

🚫 Avoid sugar-heavy mixes — they can slow rehydration (Geor & Harris, 2020).

🚱 Golden Rules of Rehydration

🪣 Always offer two buckets when using electrolytes:
🔹 one with plain fresh water, and
🔹 one with electrolyte water.

Some horses prefer plain; others like the salty mix first. Offering both lets them self-regulate and prevents over-concentrating the gut (McCutcheon & Geor, 2008).

💧 For fussy drinkers, let them sip the salty bucket first — it triggers thirst — then provide plain water right beside it to encourage ongoing drinking.

🚫 Never offer only electrolyte water.
If the horse is already dehydrated, concentrated salts draw water out of the hindgut and bloodstream into the intestine, worsening dehydration (Sosa-León et al., 2019; White, 2021).

Start rehydration with plain water + soaked fibre (lupin fibre cubes, beet pulp, hay cubes, wet chaff). Once drinking resumes, reintroduce electrolytes to maintain balance.

☀️ Shade troughs — black troughs in WA sun can hit 30 °C (DAFWA, 2023).
🔍 Watch early signs: dry gums, reduced manure moisture, skin tent > 2 s.

🧩 Behaviour & Metabolic Ripple Effects
Even mild dehydration (2–3 %) = ↑ cortisol, ↑ heart rate, ↓ and work tolerance by 10–15 % (McCutcheon & Geor, 2008).

Cranky or “off” horses may just be dehydrated, not difficult.

🌾 WA Twist
Sandy soils drain fast; low humidity = higher water loss.

Drying grasses = ↑ potassium (K), ↓ sodium (Na) → worsens Na: K imbalance (Jacobs et al., 2020).
✅ Daily salt + balanced electrolytes = simple antidote.

💧 Hydration & Electrolytes for EMS / IR Horses

When WA weather swings hot–cool and pastures dry off, hidden dehydration creeps in.
As grass moisture drops from 70–80 % to under 20 %, horses can quietly lose 15–30 L of daily water (Geor & Harris, 2020).

🥤 Tempt the picky drinkers
For EMS / IR horses, skip sugary mixes. Instead, add a trace of no-sugar raspberry cordial (e.g. Bickford’s No Sugar with Stevia). Just enough flavour boosts drinking without spiking insulin (Elzinga et al., 2017; Harris et al., 2017).

⚗️ DIY isotonic electrolyte — light-sweat days
Mix ≈ 9 g plain salt / L water (0.9 % saline) to match body fluids.
Add 1 g KCl (LoSalt) + 0.5 g MgSO₄ per L for a balanced 90 % sodium blend (Sykes et al., 2014).

🚰 Always offer choice
Provide:
✅ One bucket with the electrolyte or flavoured water.
✅ One plain bucket.
Never give only electrolyte water to a dehydrated horse — it can draw more fluid from the hindgut (Geor & Harris, 2020).

⚠️ For EMS / IR horses
Sweeteners are for taste, not sugar loading. Hydration first, glucose last.

🧮 🔑 Feed-Room Recap
🧂 Add loose salt (NaCl) daily (25g–60 g).
💧 Provide shaded, fresh water always.
🥣 Split salt across feeds.
🍃 Soak hay or fibre cubes.
⚡ Use low-sugar electrolytes for sweating horses.
🚫 Never replace water with electrolyte solutions.

👉 Hydration = foundation of gut health, calm behaviour, and performance.

💬 If your horse’s water bucket looks untouched tonight, add a tablespoon of salt tomorrow — it’s the simplest dehydration insurance you can buy.

🏷️ Suggested Hashtags

📚 References
DAFWA. (2023). Seasonal horse management guide for Western Australia. Department of Agriculture and Food WA.
Dougal, K., Harris, P. A., Edwards, A., Pachebat, J., Blackmore, T., Worgan, H., & Newbold, C. J. (2014). A comparison of the microbiome and metabolome of different regions of the equine hindgut. FEMS Microbiology Ecology, 93(3), 1–11.
Elzinga, S. E., Rohleder, B., Schanbacher, B., McQuerry, K., Barker, V. D., & Adams, A. A. (2017). Metabolic and inflammatory responses to the common sweetener stevioside and a glycemic challenge in horses with equine metabolic syndrome. Domestic Animal Endocrinology, 60, 1–8.
Frape, D. (2010). Equine nutrition and feeding (4th ed.). Wiley-Blackwell.
Geor, R. J., & Harris, P. (2020). Equine applied and clinical nutrition: Health, welfare and performance. Saunders Elsevier.
Harris, P. A., et al. (2017). Dietary glycaemic index and insulin response in horses with equine metabolic syndrome. Equine Veterinary Journal, 49(4), 507–514.
Jacobs, J. L., Ward, G. N., & McKenzie, F. R. (2020). Pasture non-structural carbohydrate dynamics and implications for equine feeding. Animal Production Science, 60(1), 37–45.
Longland, A. C., Barfoot, C., & Harris, P. A. (2011). Effects of soaking on water-soluble carbohydrate and crude protein content of grass hays. Veterinary Record, 168(23), 618.
McCutcheon, L. J., & Geor, R. J. (2008). Thermal and cardiovascular responses to dehydration in horses. Journal of Applied Physiology, 104(1), 76–83.
Meyer, H., Coenen, M., & Hintz, H. F. (2013). Horses: Nutrition and feeding (2nd ed.). Blackwell.
NRC. (2007). Nutrient requirements of horses (6th rev. ed.). National Academies Press.
Sosa-León, L. A., Valenzuela-Medina, M., & Romero-Solís, D. (2019). Water and electrolyte homeostasis in equids. Journal of Equine Veterinary Science, 79, 102–110.
Sykes, B. W., et al. (2014). Electrolyte supplementation and hydration strategies in exercising horses. Journal of Equine Veterinary Science, 34(5), 576–584.
Walthall, B., & McKenzie, R. A. (1976). Water content changes in pasture and implications for horse hydration. Australian Veterinary Journal, 52(3), 145–149.
White, N. A. (2021). Equine colic: A practical guide to diagnosis and management (3rd ed.). CRC Press.

24/10/2025

💊 Feeding the EMS Horse in WA – Part 4: Supplements & Balancers

If you hang around an equine nutritionist, you hear us say, "Not all supplements are created equal.”
Recently, magnesium has been in the spotlight — but phosphorus is often overlooked as the forgotten key to gut health.

Rhodes & Meadow hay are safe, low‑sugar base — but it leaves big gaps in the diet. WA hays are high in calcium, iron, and potassium, but low in phosphorus, sodium, magnesium, copper, zinc, selenium, and iodine. That imbalance means hay alone is never the full answer.

🌾 Why Hay Alone Isn’t Enough when grass is cut and stored as hay:
💊Vitamins A, D, E, and K are lost
🍊Vitamin C levels drop
🐟Omega‑3 fatty acids vanish

👉Key minerals & trace elements, e.g. P, Mg, Na, Cu, Zn, Se, and I, are already low in WA soils.

️🚨 Red Flag Minerals:
Both Selenium and Iodine are critically low in WA forage.
️🛡️Selenium supports antioxidant defence and muscle recovery — but WA levels hover around ~0.05 ppm, far below safe thresholds.
🔥 Iodine is essential for thyroid and hormone regulation — and WA soils consistently fail to supply enough.
👉 That means hay‑only diets leave horses short of essentials for metabolism, immunity, muscle recovery, and gut health.

📋 The Forgotten Nutrient: Phosphorus (P) Magnesium gets plenty of press, but phosphorus is often overlooked.
👉Yet it’s vital for:
⚡Energy metabolism (ATP)
🦴Bone strength (works with calcium)
🦠Gut health (supports microbial fermentation)
⚖️Balance with calcium (too much Ca without enough P disrupts absorption & gut function)

👉Don’t Forget Vitamins & Omegas
💊Fat‑soluble vitamins (A, D, E, K): lost in hay, essential for immunity & muscle
🐟Omega‑3s: pasture is rich, hay is poor → vital for anti‑inflammatory balance
🍊Vitamin C: horses make some, but levels drop off grass or under stress

🐴 Takeaway: A WA‑formulated feed supplement or balancer should add what’s missing — especially phosphorus. Without it, horses may survive on hay, but they won’t thrive.

✨ Hashtags:

📌 Save this post for later as your quick reference to WA hay gaps

17/10/2025

🌼 Capew**d in WA : What It’s Really Telling You (and How to Get Rid of It for Good)

✨ Capew**d (Arctotheca calendula) isn’t just a w**d — it’s your soil waving a big yellow flag saying “⚠ I’m unbalanced!”
✨ Each rosette hides a story of compacted soil, lost biology, and nutrient imbalance (DPIRD WA, 2024; Hoyle et al., 2016).

🔬 Why Capew**d Loves WA Horse Properties

💨 Acidic, compacted soils: Most WA horse paddocks sit below pH 5.5 (CaCl₂) — perfect for capew**d but toxic to grass roots (Hume et al., 2002).

🧫 Bacterial domination: Hooves + manure destroy fungal networks that perennials need; capew**d thrives in this bacterial soup (Verma et al., 2020).

🐴 Horse habits: Selective grazing + constant traffic = bare patches, compaction, and manure hotspots rich in nitrogen but poor in phosphorus.

🌦️ Seasonal setup: Capew**d germinates within days of the first autumn rain, fills every gap, then seeds before summer — leaving thousands of viable seeds for next year (GRDC, 2022).

🧪 Why It’s a Problem for Horses
⚗ High sugar + nitrate spikes during stress, spraying, or slashing → laminitis risk (Longland & Byrd, 2006).
🧬 Low fibre, unbalanced minerals → gut instability, poor coat, muscle soreness (Harris et al., 2006).
💩 Low calcium : phosphorus ratio → weak bones and hoof quality.
Capew**d = poor forage + hidden metabolic stressor.

🧠 The Science of Getting Rid of Capew**d

1️⃣ Correct the Soil First
Test pH, organic carbon, and phosphorus every 2 years.
Apply ag-lime to lift pH above 6 (CaCl₂); capew**d hates neutral soils (Hume et al., 2002).
Add composted manure, humate, or biochar to rebuild fungal life (Hoyle et al., 2016).

2️⃣ Starve the Seed Bank
Mow or slash before flowering (Sept–Oct).
Spot-spray rosettes early (MCPA or clopyralid) + keep horses off 4–6 weeks post-spray (Bayer Crop Science, 2023).
Reseed immediately with competitive low-NSC grasses; otherwise the bare patch just grows more capew**d next year.

3️⃣ Re-seed with the Right Mix

Use WA-approved, horse-safe blends like
🌾 Irwin Equi First or Bell’s Low NSC Horse Mix — certified seed, suited to rainfall and soil zone.
Target species: Rhodes Grass (Chloris gayana), Cocksfoot (Dactylis glomerata), Tall Fescue (EF-free).
Add sub-clover or strawberry clover for nitrogen.
Exclude horses until new pasture is ≥ 15 cm tall and rooted.

4️⃣ Rebuild Biology
After spraying, re-introduce microbes with compost extract or biological soil stimulants.
Maintain a fungal : bacterial ratio > 1.0 to favour perennials (Verma et al., 2020).

5️⃣ Manage Grazing Pressure
Rotate horses: short graze (2–4 days) ➜ long rest (25–40 days).
Keep at least 70 % ground cover year-round.
Use a sacrifice paddock or track system for high-traffic zones.

6️⃣ Expect the Long Game
It takes 2–4 years to deplete the seed bank and stabilise soil.
Each year of healthy grass reduces capew**d seeds > 90 % (GRDC, 2022).

🌿 Bonus Tips
🧪 Test soil before autumn reseeding — correct pH before you plant, not after.
💧 Keep troughs clean post-spray; wash off drift and residues.
☀ Never graze horses on wilted, sprayed, or freshly slashed capew**d — sugar and nitrate levels can triple in 48 hours.

⚖️ Key Takeaway
✨ Capew**d doesn’t invade healthy pastures — it fills the gaps left by poor soil, poor grazing, and poor biology.
✨ Fix the soil, reseed smart, rest the land and capew**d simply runs out of excuses to grow. 🌾🐴

If any one is interested I will try and place the link to the PDF in the first comment.

**dControl

📚 References:
Bayer Crop Science. (2023). Capew**d growth physiology under stress.
DPIRD WA. (2024). Capew**d ecology and management in Western Australian pasture systems. Government of WA.
GRDC. (2022). Managing capew**d seed banks in southern farming systems.
Harris, P. A., Ellis, A. D., & Fradinho, M. J. (2006). Fermentation, gas production and colic in horses. Equine Vet J., 38(S36), 26–32.
Hoyle, F. C., Murphy, D. V., & Fillery, I. R. (2016). Microbial dynamics and carbon–nitrogen interactions in sandy soils of SW Australia. Soil Research, 54(3), 231–243.
Hume, I. H., Dolling, P. J., & Porter, W. (2002). Soil pH management in pasture systems of south-west WA. Australian Journal of Soil Research, 40(1), 123–135.
Longland, A. C., & Byrd, B. M. (2006). Pasture non-structural carbohydrates and equine laminitis. Journal of Nutrition, 136(7 Suppl), 2099S–2102S.
Verma, S., Paterson, E., & Murphy, D. V. (2020). Shifts in fungal : bacterial dominance explain w**d resilience in degraded pasture soils. Applied Soil Ecology, 156, 103708.

15/10/2025

🌾 Feeding the EMS Horse in WA – Part 3: Fibre & Protein Balance

💬 “A question I’m asked time and again is whether straw is a safe option for horses, especially those with EMS.

Fibre is the cornerstone of every horse’s diet — but not all fibre is created equal.
In Western Australia, barley and oaten straw can look like “safe low-sugar forage,” yet behave very differently from the conditioned straw used overseas.

🌏 UK vs WA Straw — Not the Same Product

In 2020, a University of Edinburgh / Redwings trial fed ponies a 50 : 50 barley straw + hay mix for weight control.
📖 Result: No colic, no laminitis (Dosi et al., 2020, Vet Record doi: 10.1136/vr.105793).

👉But our WA straw is a different animal 👇
🔬 UK trial straw (conditioned & treated):
✅ Conditioned → lignin partly broken down, softer fibre, better digestibility.
✅ Reduced dust & mould.
✅ Consistent, tested nutrient quality.
✅ Clean, short-cut barley straw fed under supervision.

⚠️ WA straw (raw & untreated):
❌ Straight from harvest (barley, oaten, wheat).
❌ Coarse, high in lignin & silica → poorly digestible and abrasive to teeth.
❌ Often contaminated with grain heads 🌾, w**ds 🌿 or twine 🧵.
❌ Very low protein (< 4–5 %), low energy (< 7 MJ DE/kg).
❌ NSC can range 10–18 % 😳 — test to be safe.
🚨 Feeding > 25 % of the forage as untreated straw raises risk of impaction and Free Faecal Water (Lindroth et al. 2021).

💧 Hydration & Testing Matter
👉Dry, fibrous straw + low water intake = colic risk.
🧂 Always provide ample fresh water and salt, especially in WA’s heat.
👉Before feeding, send a sample for analysis — it tells you everything you need to know.

📊 What to Check on a Straw Analysis
🔹 NSC % (WSC + Starch): High NSC (> 10–12 %) = laminitis risk.
🔹 Crude Protein %: Often too low (< 5 %) → poor muscle tone and hoof quality.
🔹 Lignin %: “Woody” fibre horses can’t digest; > 6 % = reduced fermentation and hydration.
🔹 NDF %: Bulk measure; > 65 % = gut fill but low energy.

👉 Straw can help dilute calories and slow intake — but only when used in moderation and balanced with protein and minerals.

💪 The Protein Problem

👉WA barley straw averages ~4 % crude protein — far too low for any horse or pony.
👉Low protein = weak hooves, dull coat, poor topline and reduced immunity.
👉Every horse still needs amino acids (lysine, methionine, threonine) for tissue repair — add a balancer or quality protein source.

🐴 Why It Matters
❌ Too little fibre → ulcers & stress.
❌ Too much of the wrong fibre → impaction & nutrient gaps.
✅ Balanced protein → strong muscles, healthy hooves, robust gut health.

✨ Healthier horses in WA come from simple choices: the right fibre, feeding the correct proteins, and minerals that support the whole horse.

📚 References & Further Reading

Feed Your Steed Wet-Chemistry Straw Dataset, WA 2024.

Equi-Analytical Laboratories (2019 – 2024). Cereal Straw Feed Profile (ID 518). https://equi-analytical.com

Dosi M.C.M. et al. (2020). Inducing Weight Loss in Native Ponies: Is Straw a Viable Alternative to Hay? Vet Rec. 187 (7): e37.

Jansson A. et al. (2021). Straw as an Alternative to Grass Forage in Horses. Animals 11 (7): 2108.

Lindroth K.M. et al. (2021). Feeding and Management of Horses With and Without Free Faecal Liquid. Animals 11 (8): 2245.

Van Soest P.J. (1994). Nutritional Ecology of the Ruminant. Cornell Univ Press.

National Research Council (2007). Nutrient Requirements of Horses. Natl Acad Press.

Santos J. et al. (2015). Risk Factors for Colic in Horses. Equine Vet J. 47 Suppl 48.

Getty E. (2020). Feeding Straw to the Insulin-Resistant Horse — May Be a Mistake. https://gettyequinenutrition.com

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