DL Equine Nutrition

08/10/2026

🌿🐴 **DON’T MISS THE NEXT DL EQUINE PASTURE & HAY ESSENTIALS COURSE!** 🐴🌿

📅 **Monday 9th - Friday 13th Nov**
💰 **$121**
💻 **Online — learn at your own pace**

Grass is the **majority of most horses’ diets**.

So… wouldn’t it make sense to actually understand what your horse is eating? 🌿

It’s time to move away from the **trial-and-error, scattergun approach** to feeding and start making decisions based on what is really growing in your paddock.

# # # 🌿 What will you learn?

🕵️‍♀️ **How to identify the types of grass your horse is actually eating**

🌱 **Why pasture species matter — and how this knowledge can help you graze more effectively**

🐴 **How understanding pasture can help you make better feeding decisions**

🍭 **Sugars, starch, fructans & fibre** — I’m basically the **W***y Wonka of pasture!** 😂

🌾 **Is there such a thing as good hay vs bad hay?**

🌾 **Should you buy first-cut or later-cut hay?**

📊 **How pasture and hay can influence your horse’s overall diet**

💡 And **more information than you can poke a grass leaf at!** 🌟

# # # 💰 AND YOU COULD SAVE MONEY TOO!

When you understand what your horse is actually getting from pasture and hay, you can make much more informed decisions about what — if anything — needs to be added to the diet.

That can mean **less guessing, fewer unnecessary feeds and supplements, and more targeted nutrition.**

I’ve taken years of study, research and practical experience** and packed it into one easy-to-follow online course that you can work through from home — or even learn alongside your friends.

🌿 **Private Facebook group**
📥 **Downloadable course material**
⏰ **Learn at your own pace**

You could spend years and thousands of dollars learning about pasture and nutrition through higher education…

OR…

You could spend one week learning the **practical pasture and hay knowledge that you can actually use with your horse.** 🐴🌿

**$121**

👇 **JOIN THE NEXT COURSE HERE:**
https://dlequine.co.nz/product/pasture-hay-nutrition-essentials-week/

🌿☘️ **Know your grass. Know your hay. Know what you're feeding your horse.** ☘️🌿

06/10/2026

Do you make your own hay? 🌿

Or do you buy from a regular supplier?

Are you locking up your paddocks now in preperation? What do you do? 🙋‍♀️🐴

05/10/2026

Check out my nutrition articles in The Foundation Rider and Pony Rider mags for Spring!

🌸 WE MADE IT TO SPRING! 🌸

Our spring issue is officially IN STORES from today! 🎉

After everything it has taken to get here, seeing another mega-merged issue of The Foundation Rider & The Pony Rider sitting on shelves feels pretty special to us 🙏

So if you’ve been waiting for it... go grab yourself a copy! 🛒

Inside you’ll find all the usual things you love - horses, ponies, riders, stories, inspiration and plenty to get you through the spring season 🌼

There are some changes coming for TFR & TPR, and we’ll be sharing more about those over the coming weeks... but for today, we just want to celebrate that we’re here, we made it to spring, and our latest issue is waiting for you in stores ❤️

Go get a copy in store or buy online 👉 www.thefoundationrider.co.nz/product-page/spring-issue-2026

04/10/2026

Dont miss out on the next DL Equine Nutrition Pasture & Hay Essentials Course!

Nov 9th - 15th 2026

Gain critical knowledge of the grass your horse is eating via the On line Pasture and Hay Essentials Course!
🌿🌿☘☘

Grass is the majority of your horses diet .
Isnt it time to empower your feeding decisions by knowing the facts about pasture?🙋‍♀️
The days of feeding by trial & error, scattergun approach can be over when you have great knowledge about pasture!

If you really know what types of grass your horse is eating then you can make way more informed choices about how much grass your horse should eat & when. 🐴

Plus you can save your self loads of $ on unnecessary feeds and supplements when you balance the diet.💰

*Private fb group
**Download and learn at your own pace!

I will teach you:
🌿How to identify what type of grass your horse is actually eating🕵️‍♂️
🌿Why its important to know & how this helps you graze
🌿How this helps you feed your horse
🌿All things sugary, starchy ,fructany & fibrey = I am the W***y Wonker of Pasture🍭
🌿Is there such a thing as good hay vs bad hay?
🌿Should I buy first cut or late cut hay?
And more information than you can poke a grass leaf at 🌟✨

I have gathered together years of learning and put this into one easy to learn in the paddock course!
Grab your friends and learn together!
$121

Join here👇
https://dlequine.co.nz/.../pasture-hay-nutrition.../

Of course you could learn this via spending loads of $ completing higher education courses or spend hours on google and reading information from both educated and 'other' sources, OR

You could join up for a one week on line course and get all the information you need from one knowledge based source!
🌿🌿☘☘

https://dlequine.co.nz/.../pasture-hay-nutrition.../

01/10/2026

Read yours today! 📑☘🌿📊

29/09/2026

Tell me what is your biggest concern about Spring this year and your horse?😨

Mine is colic (and laminitis), but especially colic due to an overdose of some lush grass. ☘🌿☘
Although I strip graze pretty strongly at this time of year I do worry when the horses are presented with too many mouthfuls of grass that is growing at a rate we cant keep up with!

To combat what I can, I feed a lot of hay due to the high fibre content, which keeps the hind gut happy, and keeps them drinking, which all aids to keep the gut moving.

💩Despite this I find myself becoming the 'p**p police', watching the state of everyones p**p - even more than usual - which is going to give me a good sign if the gut is unhappy pretty quickly.

Horses should not have to put up with unhappy guts and loose poo! Its not a normal sign. It can take some work to prevent it, but to me its worth it!

Colic and laminitis are the pits!

So whats your worry and what to you do with your horses at this time of year?👇👇

27/09/2026

🌧️ **HAY — THE FACTS, THE MYTHS & YOUR HORSE** 🌱🐴

As we balance our way across paddocks, trying not to get blown away in the freezing spring rain and wind, we're also being warned to prepare for what could be a very dry summer.

For many horse owners, that immediately means one thing:

**How much hay am I going to need?**

I've had a lot of conversations about hay over the past month, and it's really highlighted just how many misconceptions there are about this simple but incredibly important feed.

So let's start with the good stuff…

# # # 🌾 DRY MATTER!

Hay is essentially pasture that has been cut, dried and baled.

Good quality, properly dried hay is typically around **90% dry matter (DM)**.

And that dry matter is important.

The fibre in hay provides the substrate for the horse's hindgut microbes to ferment. The by products produced, **volatile fatty acids (VFAs)**, are an important energy source for the horse.

And fibre fermentation is about much more than just calories.

A healthy hindgut microbial population contributes to the horse's digestive health and provides products that support energy metabolism, body temperature, hoof health and immunity 🦠💚

For many horses, a useful starting point for total daily dry matter intake is around **1.5–2% of bodyweight per day**, depending on the individual horse, workload, body condition and health requirements.

This is why I've had many clients find that **feeding enough appropriate forage (hay) can make a bigger difference than reaching for another fancy supplement.**

More appropriate forage → better fibre intake → happier microbes → a happier, healthier horse. 🐴

# # 🚨 NOW FOR THE HAY MYTHS…

Unfortunately, hay isn't a magic food.

And there are two myths I hear regularly:

❌ **“An overweight horse can eat unlimited hay.”**

❌ **“Hay is low sugar, so it is safe for metabolic horses.”**

Neither statement is automatically true.

# # # 🌱 HAY IS STILL JUST GRASS

Hay is simply grass that has been cut and dried.

🍬The drying and baling process does **not magically remove the energy, sugars or starches** that were present in the pasture.

What was in the grass before it was cut can largely still be in the hay.

So a horse can absolutely gain weight from eating too much hay.

And a bale of hay is **not automatically low NSC (sugars)** just because it is hay.

# # 💧 WHAT ABOUT SOAKING HAY?

Yes, soaking can reduce water-soluble carbohydrates (WSC).

But here's the important part:

**The amount removed has been PROVEN in research to be highly variable.**

It depends on the original hay, soaking conditions, duration, water temperature and other factors.

Research has shown that even several hours of soaking does not guarantee that enough sugar will be removed to make unsuitable hay suitable for a horse that needs tightly controlled NSC intake.

Longer soaking periods (16hrs!) can remove considerably more WSC, but soaking hay for very long periods — particularly in warm summer conditions — also creates practical hygiene and microbial risks.

So don't assume:

**“I soaked it, therefore it's low sugar.”**

You don't actually know that unless you **test it**.

# # 🧪 THIS IS WHY HAY ANALYSIS MATTERS

For a horse that is prone to laminitis or requires tightly controlled NSC intake of @10% NSC, knowing the nutritional composition of the hay can be extremely valuable.

If your hay starts at **20% NSC**, for example, and soaking for 5hrs only reduces it to **15%**, you've still got hay that may be considerably higher in NSC than your target.

Compare that with starting with hay that is already appropriately low NSC.

**The starting hay matters.**

And that's the bit that is often missed.

# # # 🍎 SO… IS HAY GOOD OR BAD or MAGIC?

None of the above; While hay can be the best thing since sliced apples for your horse, keep in mind the hay facts.

**Hay is simply a feed.**

Its value depends on:

🌱 What plant material it came from
🌾 When it was cut
☀️ How it was dried
📦 How it was stored
🧪 Its nutritional composition
🐴 And, most importantly, **the horse eating it**

Hay can quite literally be one of the most valuable feeds in your horse's diet.

But don't assume that **all hay is the same**.

✔Know what you've got - get an analysis!

✔Know what you're trying to achieve.

✔And feed the hay to suit **the horse — not the label on the bale.**

💚 **Feed the horse from the inside out.**

23/09/2026

Hey folks,

Here is a genuine Q for you...
If you are feeding hay, how much do you feed and what do you think it does does for your horse? 🐴

20/09/2026

Here at DL Equine Nutrition I learn from as many sources as possible!

Yes even the chicken!
Chickens are often used in research and the information gained can be helpful in understanding the hrose hind gut processes....🐔

🐴🌱 **Did you know horses and chickens have something surprisingly important in common?**

They both rely on **microbes to help them get energy from fibre!** 🦠

Horses don’t digest fibre themselves. Instead, beneficial microbes in the **caecum and large colon** ferment fibre and produce **volatile fatty acids (VFAs)**, which the horse uses as an important source of energy.

Chickens do something similar in their paired **caeca**.

So when we talk about **feeding the horse’s gut microbes**, we’re not talking about a trendy extra.

👉 **We’re feeding an essential part of the horse’s digestive system.**

The more we understand about the microbes, the more we understand why **fibre is the foundation of the horse’s diet.** 🌱

**Feed the horse from the inside out.** ❤️

15/09/2026

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