1. Forage First: The Forgotten Foundation of Equine Nutrition
“The horse’s digestive tract truly is dedicated to microbial fermentation of forage, and it’s the foundation that everything else is built on.”
– Dr. Clair Thunes, Equine Nutrition Consultant with Clarity Equine Nutrition
Dr. Clair Thunes takes a deep dive into one of the most overlooked — but essential — components of equine nutrition: forage. She explains why forage is the true foundation of every horse’s diet, highlighting how the horse’s digestive system is built for continuous fiber intake and microbial fermentation. Throughout the presentation, Dr. Thunes connects modern feeding practices to common health challenges like ulcers, laminitis, and colic, emphasizing the importance of feeding horses in a way that aligns with their natural biology.
She also breaks down how to evaluate forage quality, from understanding plant maturity and hay composition to interpreting forage test results and carbohydrate levels. Along the way, she offers practical guidance on selecting the right forage for different types of horses, managing pasture effectively, and addressing nutritional gaps that forage alone may not meet.
Watch this presentation to learn why forage should come first, how to assess hay and pasture quality, what key nutritional values to look for, and how to tailor forage programs to support overall horse health and performance.
2. Beyond the Label: Determining Efficacy and Safety in Equine Supplements
"If I'm looking at places to go to buy supplements, I might want to consider someone who's a founding member of the National Animal Supplement Council."
– Dr. Randel Raub, Director, Research and Nutrition with Kent Nutrition
Dr. Randel Raub takes a no-nonsense look at equine supplements, helping horse owners cut through the noise and make more informed decisions. He explains that while supplements can have value in certain situations, they should never replace a well-balanced, high-quality feeding program.
Throughout the presentation, Dr. Raub explains how to evaluate supplements, from understanding regulatory gaps and ingredient quality to identifying misleading claims and calculating the true cost of active ingredients. He also highlights common pitfalls like over-supplementation, inconsistent product labeling, and limited research backing many products on the market.
He further explores specific categories like joint supplements, electrolytes, probiotics, and minerals, highlighting where evidence supports their use — and where it doesn’t — while emphasizing the importance of safety, bioavailability, and proper dosing.
Watch this presentation to learn how to assess supplement efficacy and safety, spot red flags on labels, avoid over-supplementation, and make smarter, more cost-effective decisions when supporting your horse’s health and performance.
3. Exploring Postbiotics in Equine Gastrointestinal Health
“The microbiome actually behaves like its own organ system, and the more diverse the microbes, the more resilient.”
– Dr. Liz Schatz, Staff Veterinarian with Smart Equine
Dr. Liz Schatz explores the growing role of postbiotics in equine gastrointestinal health, beginning with a clear overview of the horse’s digestive system and the critical role of the hindgut. She explains how microbes in the hindgut ferment fiber to produce essential compounds like volatile fatty acids, which serve as a major energy source and play a key role in supporting both digestion and immune function.
Throughout the presentation, Dr. Schatz highlights the importance of the equine microbiome — an incredibly complex community of microorganisms that acts almost like its own organ system. She outlines how factors like diet, stress, age, medications, and management practices can disrupt this balance (a condition known as dysbiosis), potentially leading to issues ranging from digestive upset and colic to immune challenges and even behavioral changes through the gut-brain axis.
She then breaks down the often-confusing world of prebiotics, probiotics, and postbiotics, using clear definitions and practical analogies to distinguish how each supports gut health. Focusing on postbiotics, she explains how these beneficial byproducts of microbial fermentation can be supplemented directly to help support gut integrity, immune response, and overall health — especially when the microbiome is compromised.
Watch this presentation to learn how the equine microbiome functions, what impacts gut health, how pre-, pro-, and postbiotics differ, and when postbiotic supplementation may help support digestion, immunity, and performance in horses.
4. Prevention of Equine Gastric Ulcer Syndrome (EGUS)
“Anytime we talk about gastric ulcers in horses, it’s really important to start with recognizing that we need to separate that terminology. We effectively have two separate diseases in the stomach, and we need to talk about them as two separate diseases.”
– Dr. Ben Sykes, Equine Veterinarian and world-renowned expert in Equine Gastric Ulcer Syndrome
Dr. Ben Sykes delivers an insightful overview of equine gastric ulcer syndrome (EGUS), emphasizing that what’s commonly grouped as “ulcers” are actually two distinct conditions — equine squamous gastric disease and glandular gastric disease. Each has different causes, risk factors, and management strategies.
He explains that equine squamous gastric disease is largely driven by management practices, particularly diet and exercise, and occurs when stomach acid repeatedly splashes onto the unprotected upper portion of the stomach. Throughout the presentation, Dr. Sykes highlights the critical importance of forage, showing how adequate hay intake, chewing behavior, and feeding strategies help form a protective “roughage mat” that buffers acid and reduces ulcer risk. He also explores how factors like meal size, carbohydrate intake, feeding timing, and exercise duration can significantly influence disease development.
Shifting to glandular disease, he describes it as a more complex, stress-related condition influenced by how individual horses perceive and respond to their environment. He outlines the roles of routine, social interaction, rest, and overall management in reducing stress, along with the importance of addressing underlying issues like pain or poor saddle fit that can contribute to disease.
Watch this presentation to learn how to distinguish between squamous and glandular ulcers, how feeding and exercise impact ulcer risk, and what practical management strategies can help prevent these common conditions and support long-term equine health and performance.
5. The Lowdown on Low-Starch Diets
“The only regulation for a product that’s being sold or marketed as low-starch feed is that the manufacturer lists a maximum starch and sugar content in the guaranteed analysis.”
– Dr. Jyme Nichols, Director of Nutrition with Bluebonnet Feeds and Host of the Feed Room Chemist podcast
Dr. Jyme Nichols breaks down one of the most misunderstood topics in equine nutrition: low-starch diets. She explains how the term “low starch” is widely used but lacks any true industry definition, leading to confusion among horse owners about what it actually means and when it matters. Throughout her presentation, Dr. Nichols clarifies key concepts like starch, sugar, and nonstructural carbohydrates (NSC). She highlights how inconsistencies in labeling can impact feeding decisions and emphasizes the importance of evaluating the total diet — especially forage, which is often overlooked.
She walks through practical examples to show how starch and sugar levels should be tailored based on the individual horse, particularly for those with metabolic conditions like equine metabolic syndrome or laminitis. Along the way, she outlines how to interpret feed tags, why testing hay is essential, and how feeding rates influence what’s truly safe for a horse. She also shares visual and clinical signs that may indicate a need to better manage starch and sugar intake.
Watch this presentation to learn what “low starch” really means, how to confidently evaluate your horse’s diet, how to balance forage and feed, and how to make informed decisions that support long-term health and performance.