Maybelle Farm Equestrian Centre

08/04/2026

With Sydney Equestrian Supplies – I just got recognised as one of their top fans! 🎉

07/04/2026

06/04/2026

All our diets follow this principle. We start with the hay/bulk, add Robank Balancer Plus then add the energy/ weight gain feed if required.

Friday focus…balancers will not make your horse fat!!

I know I can be a bit repetitive with this at times, but it is for good reason as feed balancers still seem to be very much misunderstood!

Balancers have been a fabulous addition to the equine feed room and they have made it easier than ever to provide your horse or pony with a nicely balanced diet (as long as it is a good balancer!). The overall calories they contribute to the diet is very small and they provide a balanced diet in a small amount of feed.

However, they need to be fed at the recommended rate to provide your horse or pony with the nutrients they need; typically 100g per 100kgs of bodyweight, so a 600kg horse, needs 600g per day and a 250g pony, needs 250g per day.

Balancers unfortunately still seem to be very much understood and underfed! If you are not feeding the right amount and giving just a handful of balancer or half the required amount, you are wasting your time feeding it!

They will not contribute to weight gain; it is the forage side of the diet so hay, haylage and grass that will have the biggest influence on your horses weight along with exercise and over rugging! If your horse is on box rest or poorly, they need those nutrients more than ever to help their bodies recover, so please do not reduce it or cut it out if they are not working.

So if you are feeding a balancer as the sole source of vitamins and minerals, please do feed it at the recommended rate or your horse will not be getting the benefit of it and his or her diet will be missing vital nutrients!

05/04/2026

Just listened to the brand new podcast from Fiona Hughes and Prue Barrett; ‘Between the Flags’. It’s a great listen. So good to hear Fi back on the airways!!

04/04/2026

PLEASE DON'T DO THIS!

Take your horse to an hour-long polework lesson or clinic that involves trotting and cantering, when they're not used to polework.

Or indeed take your horse to any lesson, clinic, competition or fun ride that they are not fit (physically conditioned) for.

Apart from an increased risk of injury, it is just not fair to expect your horse to undergo such a physical workout that is going to cause them discomfort during the session, and definitely discomfort and possibly pain afterwards.

It's no different to you going to a 5K park run when you do hardly any exercise, or being forced to do a full hour long hard gym workout when you've never done it before.

It will feel miserable and you'll feel really sore afterwards.

The same applies to your horse.

I appreciate we want to have fun with our horses, but I see this far too often - riders who use lessons, clinics, or fun rides as a reason to get in the saddle, rather than preparing for them properly to ensure their horse's well-being is protected.

Now, I appreciate there is some nuance to this - there are some instructors who take the participants' fitness into account, and some riders may not wish to or be able to ride without an instructor present.

But we do need to carefully consider what we are asking our horses to physically do, if we are to give them a good life (good welfare).

Although I work as a nutritionist, my qualifications include exercise and sport science, and I have a good understanding of physical fitness, strength and exercise capacity.

I've also successfully rehabbed my own sport horse post-surgery and post injury. And rehabbed myself post-injury!

We owe it to our horses not just to give them a good environment, diet and social contact, but also to prepare them physically for what we expect them to do.

I don't think this is talked about nearly enough.

What do you think?
🐴🍏

03/04/2026

Performance horse feed at its finest!!Pro Gold features a high calorie, non oat formula for horses performing at top level. All grains are micronised for digestability and palatability plus super fibre beet pulp for added digestible energy. With the addition of vitamins and minerals plus Yea-sacc & Bio-Mos for gut health this really is the gold standard for sport & performance horses.

https://robankfeeds.com.au/our-products/sport-performance/robank-pro-gold/

20kg $32.50

26/03/2026

The latest edition of Beyond the Bell, our judges’ newsletter is out now! 🔔

Packed with updates, insights and helpful guidance, it’s a great way to stay connected and informed as a judge or even a rider or supporter of the sport! You’ll even get to know a little more about our judges subcommittee.

https://www.dressagensw.equestrian.org.au/content/judges-newsletter

Happy reading! 📚

26/03/2026

Thanks ENSW for a great conference. Lots of enthusiastic people from all disciplines coming together and sharing ideas. Love it!

20/03/2026

Such a good product!

FIXINE Digestive Probiotic back in stock 5kg, 10kg & 20kg
Promotes beneficial gut flora & gastric system.
Coat, skin & hoof conditioning.
Recovery from work, injury, stress.
Support for long distance travel.

10/03/2026

Great weekend out at SIEC Sydney Eventing helping our groom and rider Tylae Crean. She and Swift had a great event and came 4th in the 60cm
Brilliant job Tyls and Swift 👏👏👏