Clare MacLeod MSc RNutr Independent Equine Nutritionist

22/01/2026

WINTER WEATHER COPING IDEAS

Help! The rain is just not stopping...

Further to my video post with some tips of how to help keep our horses and ponies healthy when they have to be in more than usual, I've compiled a list of enrichment ideas:

🍏 Introduce a variety of forages, e.g. some haylage, straw, a different type of hay, dried grass/alfalfa, to encourage browsing (but be sure all are part of the well-balanced diet)
🍏 Variety of feeders and feeding heights eg net, floor, haybar/hay tub, other forage slow-feeder
🍏 Forage split into several feeds across the day and to last the night
🍏 Treats hidden inside chopped fibre or hay (from their balanced diet intake)
🍏Veg / fruit threaded onto rope or buried in (clean) bedding
🍏Safe tree or shrub branches to chew eg willow, hazel
🍏Feed /treat balls (with balanced-diet appropriate treats)
🍏Introduce different scents with herbs eg mint, rosemary, aniseed, fenugreek seeds - either in a bowl or as a tea on forage or in the water (but always offer plain water as well)
🍏Hand-grazing on grass/hedges if appropriate
🍏 Plenty of clean, fresh water - checked twice daily

🐴 A stable mirror (for horses that find them calming)
🐴 Stable toys (used sensibly — not all horses love them)
🐴 Clean, deep bedding for lying down and rolling
🐴Social contant - visual and ideally touch too eg could you put a window or bars between stables?
🐴Regular grooming sessions (great for bonding too) - plus allowing their pair bond to groom each other over stable doors
🐴Static exercises and massage - get ideas from your physio/bodyworker or see Horses Inside Out resources
🐴 Teach your horse new things eg backing up, standing flexions. lifting legs, moving the forehand or hindquarters with the lighest touch - or even without touching!
🐴 In-hand walking around the yard
🐴Quiet time out of the stable to stand and watch the world
🐴 Calm background noise (radio or familiar voices)
🐴 Consistent routine and familiar people handling them
🐴 Extra time for slow, calm interactions - sometimes even just sitting in the corner of your horse's stable and not asking anything of them can be fulfilling for you both (your horse might not be used to you hanging out with them, asking for nothing)

Please do add your ideas below!

Let's all help each other cope with this deluge of rain we've had, causing many horses and ponies to have to be shut in more than is ideal...

And feel free to share (or tag) to a friend who might benefit!
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21/01/2026

3 tips to help winter-imposed sudden routine changes 😬🍏🐴

20/01/2026

Horse owners!! a message from me to you......🦄🐴🍏 x

19/01/2026

FILTHY FEED BUCKETS

Don't be disgusting.

Clean.

Your.

Feed.

Buckets.

STANDARDS!

Tough love?
Maybe.

But our horses deserve better.

🐴🍏

18/01/2026

If you want a happier, healthier horse for 2026, it starts with nutrition.

I made 21 ways in 21 days to boost your nutrition and feeding clarity, so that you can do even better for your horse.

It's completely free.

Feed your Horse Healthier in 2026.

Comment 21 and I'll get you started straight away
🐴🍏

17/01/2026

Ragwort is deadly. Please take it seriously! (Here you'll see the first year rosette stage) 🐴🍏☣️💀

15/01/2026

Poor doer in a herd of good doers?? ✔️🐴🍏

14/01/2026

ONE FOR YOU TODAY, NOT YOUR HORSE!

I regularly get asked about human nutrition, and when I don't have the time or opportunity to give a full answer, I can be heard to say ' eat more broccoli'.

Sometimes it's what we do rather than what we stop doing that can help us make positive changes to our health habits.

Eating more broccoli (and other veg) is a helpful healthy habit that has positive effects in a number of different ways.

And who doesn't love an apple, especially when you share it with your horse 😁🥰🦄

Oh, and if you've eaten a bit too much over Christmas, remember this:

"It's what you eat between New Year and Christmas that matters much more than what you eat between Christmas and New Year"!
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13/01/2026

'Coblet' 😆🐴

No such thing as 'Just a Cob.'

©️ Emily Cole Illustrations

13/01/2026

📣🐴🍏📣

Gastric ulcers, keeping hindguts and hooves healthy, and a horse feed reset.

You joining us?

Comment webinars for all the details.

11/01/2026

NUTRITION EXPERTS? OR NOT? BE CAREFUL!!

It's great when livery yard managers and practitioners such as farriers, trimmers, physios and saddle fitters show an interest in nutrition.

But livery yard managers who offer full livery where they choose your horse's diet need to have a basic understanding of nutrition, or a regular visit/consult with a nutritionist (company or independent).

Sadly, some professionals make poor decisions on nutrition because they don't take advice, and don't realise they don't have the understanding or knowledge to make good decisions.

If you're on a full livery or track system livery where the owner or manager makes your horse's diet decisions, do you know if they are qualified or knowledgeable enough, or taking correct advice if not?

Here are some examples of poor nutrition decisions which I have come across on full/track liveries:
☹️ no supplementary minerals for a forage only diet
☹️ no supplementary vitamins for a conserved forage-only diet ie no grass, only hay/haylage
☹️ less than the full recommended amount of a vitamin/mineral fortified feed with no top up to ensure the diet is balanced for micronutrients
☹️ all horses have access to dry hay, whether or not they have RAO (recurrent airway obstruction or equine asthma, used to be called COPD and is an allergy to dry hay)
☹️ offering salt in blocks/water/loose and not monitoring working horses' intake - research shows that working horses and ponies (who sweat) may not take in enough sodium from free-choice salt
☹️ not feeding anywhere near enough bucket feed to a poor doer (because they're so used to good doers)
☹️ feeding a whole yard of stabled horses a set amount of hay rather than adjusting to the individual's needs

If our horse's or pony's diet is in the hands of someone else, it is worth assessing it carefully and not assuming it will be well balanced.

Feel free to share, and comment below on how your full livery feeds your horse or pony! Let's get some positive stories too.

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