HSF Equine Nutrition

01/28/2026

I've been out of touch the last few days, apologies to anyone waiting on a reply from me!
It's been a very long few days doing my main job as a barn owner, this snow storm and the freeze & ice it's left us with has been pretty brutal, but the horses must be cared for 🐴

I'll be back to regular posting soon, for now all of my energy has gone into making sure all of our horses, goats, chickens & cats are warm, hydrated and fed in this crazy snow ❄️

01/25/2026

01/22/2026

01/21/2026

Something I LOVE talking about as a nutrition consultant is hooves!

I am absolutely not a farrier, nor am I looking to criticize anyone's farrier.

Just the opposite!

In fact, my goal is to assist your farrier by helping make sure your horse has the correct nutrition to support the work your farrier is putting into their feet!

I am just a "horse girl" that is fascinated by farrier work 🤗

Far too often I meet horses who are cited on their intake form to have trouble holding shoes, and it's often blamed on their breed or the farrier needing to tweak something, or simply the owner has zero idea why their horse can't hold nails/shoes. When I meet these horses they frequently have other issues such as dull coats, skin issues, weight issues (on either end of the spectrum), and even behavioral issues. Not all of them have other issues, but many do. Now there may not seem to be a direct connection between these symptoms, however it's my opinion based on experience as well as the facts of their diet analyses that often these horses have an unbalanced or deficient diets.

🐴Fun Fact: Did you know horses can actually synthesize (chemically create) their own biotin in their bodies?
This means that while added Biotin can absolutely be helpful in hoof growth support, it is unlikely to be the main reason for poor hoof quality in healthy horses with decently balanced diets. 🐴

The way that the diet is deficient or unbalanced can vary, but frequently it comes down to a lack of essential minerals and amino acids. Since hooves are ever growing, it's important that our horses have the proper nutrients available to grow healthy hooves. Lack of proper nutrients can manifest in shelley & flakey hooves, soft or thin walls and soles, poor growth, inflammation, infections, and difficulty with nailing shoes on.

Of course nutrition is not more important than the work your farrier does - proper trimming and balancing along with any needed shoeing on a proper 4-6 week cycle is incredibly important, and your farrier can also guide you in topical treatments and even environmental changes that may aid in your horse's hoof health.

Nutrition IS, however, the necessary base for all bodily growth and functions and hooves are no exception!

If you have a horse who is having issues holding shoes or if your horses hooves seem to always be in poor condition despite diligent farrier work, a diet analysis can be a great first step in figuring out WHY.

Schedule a consultation with me and let's figure it out together!

I am also always happy to work closely with vets and farriers to figure out how to keep your horse at their very best.

01/21/2026

Temperatures here in Maryland have plummeted and there's more snow coming this weekend!
Here are some things you can do for your horse to help them during this cold front 🥶🐴

❄️Provide plenty of forage, ideally free choice hay during deep cold & snow, in order to help your horses stay warm

🐴Provide ice-free water as much as possible! Winter hydration is super important, so thawing the ice with hot water, breaking the ice, replacing cold water with warm water frequently, using bucket heaters and bucket insulators, using a water bottle full of salt or and air stone agitator to keep an opening in the ice are all just a few ideas.
Just be sure your heated buckets won't shock or bother your horses

❄️Adding warm (not hot) water to your horse's meals can help keep them both warm and hydrated

🐴Adding salt to their feed and continuing to provide free choice salt can help with hydration, the main reason for winter colic episodes.
(Salt blocks can be a helpful addition in the field, but should not be their main source of salt.)

❄️Blanket horses at risk, and those who need it. This means senior horses, horses with clipped or naturally thin coats, horses new to winter weather, and horses who are sick. Of course, plenty of healthy horses will also need blankets, each horse will need an individual blanket program

🐴Keep an eye out for shivering, tucked tails, tucked up tummies, abnormal behavior and soreness as these can all be signs your horse is too cold

01/19/2026

It's getting COLD again this week/weekend, and good feeding practices can make a huge difference in how your horse deals with the dip in temps 🥶

For anyone looking to check in on their horse's feeding plan during this next cold snap, reach out to set up a consultation!

01/14/2026

If your horse is pinning their ears when you saddle and instead of taking that as information you mock it, that is exactly what is wrong with the horse world.

That is not a funny moment.
That is not a “red mare.”
That is communication.

I am exhausted by videos of horses showing clear signs of discomfort or distress while humans laugh, tease, or dismiss it as personality. Even worse are the people openly admitting they post these clips because it makes them more money. Because it is controversial. Because it drives engagement.

When profit matters more than listening, welfare stops being the priority. And when money is prioritized, empathy erodes and welfare becomes negotiable.

A horse pinning their ears while being saddled is telling you something is wrong. Pain, fear, or anticipation of discomfort. The correct response is curiosity and concern, not ridicule.

Listening is the bare minimum of welfare. Mocking is a failure to meet the bare minimum.

01/12/2026

BE CAREFUL NOT TO CONFUSE A 'HAY BELLY' WITH FAT!

I regularly see horses with quite large bellies, but who are not particularly fat. I also sometimes see horses with 'streamlined' bellies, who carry a moderate or high level of body fat.

In fact, out of two horses I saw on a yard whilst out doing Consultation visits a wee while back, the one with the larger (relative) belly had the lower external body fat level.

A 'hay belly' - a distended abdomen - tends to occur in horses who are not worked in such a way to tone their abdominal muscles, and who have a large intake of fibrous forage. Forage holds water in the horses' gut and the higher in fibre it is, the more it holds. The horse's hindgut has a volume of around 150 litres (half a large bathful).

Fat does not get laid down in significant amounts on the horse's belly, until they are extremely obese.

That said, overweight horses often have a 'hay belly' as well as excess fat, because many are out of work, in light work and/or are fed unrestricted forage.

There are exceptions to the above, but the key is to feel for fat (or condition score), and not just look at the horse's belly. Feel for fat in the neck crest, behind the shoulders and over the ribs, over the pelvis and at the top of the tail.

Feel free to share!

Also feel free to share your 'hay bellies' below!
🐴🍏

01/12/2026

I love watching my seniors eat their soaked feeds 🥰