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Calm Healthy Horses, Rangiora (2025)

30/10/2025

The Complete Transformation of Pippi

She is back to the sweet girl she really is!

Her owner Caitlyn contacted us back in early August
Up until then, Pippi had been out on long, lush rye/clover/brown top/paspalum.

Over the previous 18 months Pippi had experienced episodes of explosiveness:
- twice she exploded in the horse-float
- and in the pasture - for 'no reason' she blind-bolted right through a gate!
She was head-flicking, hypersensitive (see video), sometimes aggressive, sometimes anxious
-she was itchy and girthy
-Pippi had canter transition issues and in the canter she was bunny-hopping

Caitlin said "Over the summer months she was fine to ride and handle – but then it was more of a drought.
I had vet checks, blood tests, physio and chiro.
The vet ultra-sounded the areas where she was particularly sensitive (pecs/girth) but no issues found. Prescribed prozac for the horse which I didn't want to do.

It took me awhile to finally do it but once I took her off the grass completely. For 2 months now Pippi has been living in a grass free lane with free access to hay and water. There has been a DRAMATIC change in her behaviour and her paces!
I am back riding her now.

I have my beautiful but somewhat goofy horse back - it was a subtle creeping transition from the horse I knew so well to an out of control crack head! It had to be something! The fact the trust is back is BRILLIANT!

She briefly relapsed when I made the mistake of putting her in an ‘eaten out’ paddock for a couple of days but the sensitivity and the head flicking / shaking came back straight away.

And the last bag of Timothy chaff I purchased was so bright green and she immediately got sensitive and head flicky
I really appreciate the help with her nutrition regime

Sunday 26th Oct - Took Pippi on her first float ride since her last spin out in July 2024!! I’ve been practicing and today she went on like she used to - calm, relaxed. We took our time and she travelled well there and back. She was rewarded with a lovely hack at a place we used to go to all the time.

She really enjoyed it! THANK YOU"

For help getting your horse back to normal please fill out our Enquiry Form so we have all the info needed. Here is the link: https://forms.wix.com/70c7cae9-bec0-444a-b26e-7da5ba4e6762:9c61e4d3-2e6b-4825-9b94-bf9c0e57e82c

23/10/2025

Signs of 'Tetany' caused by Cape-Weed

In case this happens to a horse near you!

Cape-weed, especially when it has been mowed, can cause ‘neurological’ issues in horses. See our previous post.

Sometimes signs are only mild as in being spooky but occasionally they are far more serious as in the case of the pony in the photo.

Numerous horses grazing cool season grasses show signs of ‘walking stiffly’ (can be first sign of impending laminitis for instance) or being ‘bad with needles’.

The pony in the photo had spent less than an hour grazing the recently mown grass riddled with capeweed. Soon after, he was observed walking stiffly with his head arched back, locking up and tipping over on his side. He managed to get himself up again but it would take very little stimulation to set him off again.

The vet was called, bloods were drawn and results were negative for various mosquito-born viruses.

However, the blood tests did reveal LOW blood calcium levels* (while magnesium levels were good).

Having seen these same kinds of ‘Grass Tetany’ type symptoms’ multiple times over the years we knew what to do.

The hallmark signs that this was a ‘tetanic’ episode being the:
-spasmodic bouts of rigidity, ‘locking up’ and tipping over (as in the photo)
-being highly adrenalin reactive. The pony was very easily startled which would instantly trigger an ‘episode’.
-being extremely averse to needles!
-bloodshot eyes
-the positive response to the appropriate mix of minerals/vitamins his owner syringed into him multiple times per day over the next week.

I have to say this pony’s owner was amazing, despite, as you can imagine, this not being an easy task with the pony so easily triggered.

Amounts were adjusted according to the improvement observed while this regime was kept up until he was no longer having episodes.

By the time bloods were re-run he was absolutely calm and fine about needles!

His blood calcium level had come back up to where it should be.

We also took a sample of the offending ‘grass/cape-weed’ and had it sent away for analysis:
Results were not unexpected:
Potassium 3.75% (far too high)
Crude protein 30%(far too high)
Nitrates 2890 mgs/kg (far too high for equines)
DCAD ……………700 (through the roof – needs to be closer to100 for horses)

ALL of these serious imbalances of nutrients collectively caused the low blood calcium. The very high potassium being of major concern.

From Andre Voisin “Grass Tetany” :
*Tetany, therefore, is not a disease but a symptom that may be the result of several causes, one of the best known being disturbed calcium metabolism. the animal ‘will walk very stiffly, their hind legs having lost flexibility’.

(Acute Grass Tetany occurs more commonly in cattle under certain conditions, where they can succumb and die very quickly).

Broadleaf plants like cape-weed, cat’s ear (abundant here in NZ atm), clover, trefoil and plantain pose no problem to horses if they only eat a few plants here and there. The trouble arises when the conditions favour their proliferation to where they out-compete the grass. Ideally steps are taken to make sure this doesn’t happen especially where horses are grazed.
Be aware these plants become far more potent after being mowed!

If you are not sure about the grazing your horse is on please contact us via our Enquiry Form so we have all the info needed.
Here is the link: https://forms.wix.com/70c7cae9-bec0-444a-b26e-7da5ba4e6762:9c61e4d3-2e6b-4825-9b94-bf9c0e57e82c

Photo: 1. Note the rigidity and posture during an 'episode'. (Colour photoshopped)
2. The grass/cape-weed mix that brought this on

19/10/2025

Grass-related ‘Neurological’ Issues in Horses

Neurological means ‘relating to disorders of the nervous system’.

When you add them all up these disorders are very common in our domestic horses:

Spooking, anxiety, over-reactiveness, hypersensitivity, excessive separation anxiety, digestive disturbances related to gut motility, travelling hollow, sacro-iliac issues, tail clamping/scooting off, muzzle sensitivity, head-flicking/shaking, staggers, grass tetany, eye-sight is affected, claustrophobia, itchy, tender on hard ground, ‘bad’ with needles, explosive, canter transition issues, locking stifles, stringhalt and many more.

When you feed ‘plain feeds’ or ‘straights’ (eg grains, protein meals including linseed/sunflower, copra, rice bran) it is necessary to balance the calcium:phosphorous ratio.

When feeding green grass it isn't just about sugar levels. You need to be aware of certain other nutrients that need balancing. Potassium, sodium, calcium, magnesium - these elements run the nervous system and imbalances in these are a major cause of the neurological issues listed above.

Neurological issues are not caused by high sugars.

Our CHH nutritional recommendations take both the grass and the supplementary daily feed into account, with particular emphasis on the minerals that run the nervous system. After all for most horse owners, grass and /or hay make up the largest proportion of their horse’s daily food intake and their influence on health, movement and behaviour is significant.

As we have said many times previously ‘grass (unless it is mature and stalky)’ is the most unbalanced item you can feed a horse but it can work for many horses if you understand it and know what to feed to lessen potential adverse effects on the horse’s metabolism and nervous system.

Just one obvious example being to add salt to feeds rather than relying on salt licks.

For horses with serious issues it is actually easier not to use green growing grass as their primary forage. For these horses hay is naturally so much better balanced for the equine metabolism to process.

Horses that are ‘down’ on their nutrition tend to be affected more often and more seriously. Especially when it rains after a dry spell and the grass greens up!

Well mineralised horses are more resilient and tend to be less affected.

If you are not sure if your grass is affecting your horse or for more specific help with what your horse needs and quantities, please fill out our Enquiry Form so we have all the info needed. Here is the link:
https://forms.wix.com/70c7cae9-bec0-444a-b26e-7da5ba4e6762:9c61e4d3-2e6b-4825-9b94-bf9c0e57e82c

14/10/2025

Spring Series 2025

Last Spring/Autumn, we put up a series of posts about the various aspects of GRASS that affect your horse's health, movement and behaviour - The 'Get Grass Smart' series.

For those who are new to our page, we thoroughly recommend that you go to the following link:
https://www.calmhealthyhorses.com/blog/categories/get-grass-smart
and read through these posts as there is a lot of valuable and RELEVANT knowledge to be had - especially if your horse has any issues.

This year we have more informative posts coming up around feeding horses to be Calm & Healthy.

Here is a brief Overview

The majority of our domestic horses live in very small areas on a green carpet of grass. Being confined behind fences, they cannot free range. They are totally dependent on us to provide them with the ESSENTIAL NUTRIENTS FOR LIFE.

In our experience the absolute essentials are not items you should leave up to the horse to ‘choose if he thinks he needs them’. Lets’ face it when presented with any Buffet you tend to over-eat the things that please your palate and miss items that would be good for your health.

Being approached by horse owners for help solving issues caused by unsuitable grazing, CHH advocates a High Hay diet – fundamental to the health of the microbiome by ensuring fibre intake.

This year’s series are to make sure everyone, whether you own your land or rent grazing, understands what to feed their horses in order to MAKE SURE you provide the Fibre/Carbs, Protein (for the Amino Acids), Fats, Minerals & Vitamins first.

Then you can add items the horse can ‘choose’ from but at least you KNOW they have all the essentials.

Feeding a random collection of this and that with no understanding, can be detrimental because many items have drawbacks.

One example - feeding Brewer’s yeast for B vitamins is far from ideal because Brewer’s Yeast doesn’t include vitamin B12 which means you then have to feed something else to ensure they get this.

Another is using protein sources without knowing what constitutes quality protein for horses. This can lead to loss of muscle mass (top line) & hoof quality, a poorly functioning immune system and suffering a general deterioration in health.

It would seem ideal to grow grass from which the horse can derive as much of his daily requirements as possible. However this requires sufficient land to be able to keep mature grass ahead of your horses, a luxury most horse owners do not have.

It is a big advantage if you can grow your own ‘ideal’ hay. This takes considerable knowledge of your soils and growing grass - our agronomist friends have achieved this and they have succeeded in growing ideal hay for their working Clydesdales (see Photos).

It is a lengthy process to get the soils ‘right’ and it is necessary to have sufficient land to put aside to grow the grass and make it into hay.

Regenerative agriculture focuses on improving the health of the soil and thereby the grass grown in it. This is another excellent path way to healthy forage for horses - BUT it is very easy to create a situation where the grass becomes high nutrient density – the horse ingests too much nutrition with each mouthful, easily gets over-weight with all the associated issues and grazing access still needs to be controlled.

The most successful systems for our domestic horses involve the use of Tracks & Dry Lots combined with growing healthy plain grass hay on the rest of the land.

Photo - John & Sharon Chynoweth's magnificent Clydesdales live on their Track and thrive on their home-grown hay

09/10/2025

From Spooky to Focused: Dez’s BN Double Clear

This is Cam and Dez, producing a lovely double clear at British Novice after nine months of steady, sensible management. Dez’s owner wrote:

“Barefoot horse at his best today—couldn’t be prouder of them. This time last year Dez wouldn’t even start over fence one, he was too spooky with no concentration. Now he’s a different horse: double clear in the BN with a place. I always tell people, ‘Do it the right way, do it the CHH way!’”

What’s worked for Dez
• Managed grass turnout and plenty of clean hay
• Simple daily feed with plain salt
• GrazeEzy daily, Alleviate C as needed
• Consistent training and patient riding from Cam
No fads—just good basics, the right minerals, and careful horsemanship.

GrazeEzy and Alleviate C (SOS) are formulated to help keep horses soft, rideable and focused. Their mineral profiles support normal muscle and nervous-system function—useful at home and when travelling or competing.

07/10/2025

Those Pesky Spring/Autumn Green Shoots!

They can literally appear over-night in your ‘grass free’ area!

When rehabbing horses and ponies from laminitis, head-shaking and many other issues we categorize as ‘grass-affected’, these new ‘green shoots’ can cause a relapse.

Check the table below** - you can see how this very young green grass is so imbalanced even a small quantity can cause trouble for compromised horses and ponies.

Hence the best strategy is to ‘COVER THEM UP’ – having a pile of spare sawdust is very handy, otherwise use straight salt. (No harm for them to ingest the salt)

**The Forage Analyses we conducted (which involves crawling around using nail scissors to get samples) clearly show that there are other aspects besides sugar levels that contribute towards laminitis and head-shaking and many other issues afflicting our domestic horses.

To determine exactly why they are extremely ‘potent’ – we had some Autumn & Spring shoots analysed:
Autumn Spring
Dry Matter………….22% …………19% - way too low
CP……………………...26% …………36% - way too high (should be

02/10/2025

Early Indications of Laminitis Susceptibility - 'Pinking'

One of these is ‘Pinking’ of the White Line

The white line is the waxy substance at the base of the laminae between the wall and the sole. (photo 1)

When it is intact and tight it ‘seals’ this area and functions as a barrier preventing dirt, bacteria/pathogens, or any foreign material from entering the hoof capsule via this route.

A ‘stretched’ white line (photo 2) affords no such protection and is a precursor to ‘white line disease’, seedy toe and hoof abscesses. Not only that but little stones tend to get stuck in there and sooner or later splits in the hoof wall appear.

A very good reason to insist on a trim cycle that maintains the integrity of the white line. (Usually 4-5 weeks).

So what causes the ‘pinking/staining’ of the white line?

Sub-Clinical Laminitis is a metabolic state where there have been changes to the biochemistry which precede any early physical signs such as a shortened stride, stilted movement, reluctance to turn, or an easily detectable digital pulse.

‘Pinking’ of the white line is a Red Flag because it means that blood supply to the laminae has been compromised, even if it was temporary.

Metabolic changes caused by diet (see previous post) cause microscopic changes, increased permeability of the epithelial lining of the tiny capillaries (micro-vasculature) that feed the internal hoof structures including the laminae, causing them to leak blood/fluid and this sometimes stains the white line.

Should you be concerned? In our experience it is a sign that adjustments to forage and feed are needed as outlined in the previous post.

For specific help with your horse best way is to fill out the Enquiry Form so we have all the info needed. Here is the link: https://forms.wix.com/70c7cae9-bec0-444a-b26e-7da5ba4e6762:9c61e4d3-2e6b-4825-9b94-bf9c0e57e82c

Photo 1 White Line with Pinking
2 Stretched White Line

23/09/2025

Feeding the EMS horse

The horse’s body, like ours, is a sophisticated biochemistry machine.

In fact, life runs on biochemical reactions: eg breaking down food for energy. Enzymes do the work.

- DNA and RNA are biochemical molecules that store, copy, and transmit information.
- Hormones (eg insulin, adrenaline) & neurotransmitters (eg dopamine, acetylcholine) are all part of the biochemistry.

The goal when feeding horses is therefore to not unduly disturb the biochemistry.

The horse's metabolism can cope with temporary disturbances but not chronic ones.

Keeping the biochemistry right for horses principally relies on consumption of HIGH FIBRE forage in conjunction with being on the move.

Their metabolism can easily handle temporary exposure (a few weeks here and there) to low fibre (

15/09/2025

Understanding Equine Metabolic Syndrome

Horses who show signs of Equine Metabolic Syndrome are prone to laminitis any time of the year but the risk goes up in spring and autumn.

Laminitis aside, a horse with EMS is not a healthy horse but the condition can be successfully reversed with dietary and lifestyle adjustments.

Understanding the syndrome is Step 1.
Most people know these horses need a diet which is low in sugars and starches (

08/09/2025

Think Twice About Resowing

Horse owners start thinking about renovating their horse paddocks in Spring & Autumn.

However, resowing is a lengthy and expensive process so you don’t want to be doing it unless absolutely necessary. It is not just a matter of sowing ‘horse-friendly’ grasses and letting horses graze it when it has reached 6”!

In fact that is a very unsafe thing to do as brand new grass is EXTREMELY potent in Potassium and Crude Protein/Nitrogen and can cause all sorts of issues including grass tetany.

New grass should be grazed by sheep or mowed when it is 6” high to boost root development, then left and harvested for hay, then allowed to mature again – then is safe to allow grazing access by horses.

A better strategy for most horse owners on small blocks is to improve the grass you have.

1. Do a soil test – the soil may be lacking in nutrients critical for grass growth
It is better not to just assume it needs lime. For example our recent soil test revealed a lack of Phosphorous so adding lime would have made matters worse.

2. When growing grass for horses, the goal is not to maximise yield as you would for fattening livestock. People with an agricultural background will automatically think this is what you want. Depending on where soil levels are to start with, adding too much nitrogen and potassium can render the grass/hay unsuitable for horses.

3. While there is merit in the idea of organically tending the soils and encouraging soil health, be aware that doing so will result in PROLIFIC growth. Good for growing hay but not so good for grazing the average riding horse.

As horses do not self-regulate when it comes to the quantity of grass consumed, they will be getting far too much nutrition per mouthful and access to this pasture will need to be severely restricted. You will need a means of doing this such as a Dry Lot.

When it comes to species, we talk about ‘Horse-Friendly’ grass but what exactly is that?

It is grass that horses can consume every day, all year round, without developing any of the issues that horses grazing unsuitable grass inevitably do. (See Health Check Link below).

Apart from Rye-grass, the vast majority of GRASSES ARE suitable for the vast majority of horses to graze so long as they are at a mature stage of growth – when there is more stem than leaf (indicating a high Dry Matter content) and yellowed off (nitrogen and potassium and sugar levels have dropped).

If your land is fertile or ex-dairy (ie has been fertilised) native/older grasses/brown-top/poa’s etc will not establish as they need the soil pH to be < 6.

You will need to stick with the bromes, fescues, timothy & cocksfoot (don’t go overboard with cocksfoot if you use small-mesh hay-nets as it tends to make coarse hay)

What IS necessary is Pasture Management so that the horses aren’t grazing short, green, stressed grass all year round, because they are susceptible to the changes in such grass with the season and the weather.

Let us know in the comments any issues you would like us to cover

Health Check: https://www.calmhealthyhorses.com/health-check-list

Photo Credit: John T Humphrey
https://www.facebook.com/john.t.humphrey

www.akaJT.com

03/09/2025

Tips for when you need to Soak the Hay

Soaking takes out 20-30% of the soluble sugars and 50% of the potassium. It is beneficial particularly when you are feeding horses/ponies who need to lose weight or who have EMS or laminitis. Especially when you are not sure of the nutrient composition of the hay.

There are also benefits for head-shaking/flicking horses and those with PSSM, not from a point of view of weight loss but for reducing potassium intake until they are back to normal.

Soaking is usually a short term measure. There is no need to soak the hay for healthy horses who don’t have any issues..

When soaking hay make sure you have a large soak bin/tub because you need a high water:hay ratio (a good amount of water compared to hay).

Small tubs don’t work as well because the water to hay ratio is too low. You need quite a lot of water compared to hay otherwise the water becomes saturated too quickly and therefore limits how much sugar/potassium can transfer from hay to water.

It should be noted that soaking does not guarantee that the hay will end up less than the 10% sugars recommended for equines with laminitis.

For recovering laminitis cases this is where it can be worth the effort to double soak rather than soaking for long periods as fresh water has ‘more room’ to soak out more sugars/potassium.

Soaking for long periods (up to 12 hours) is not best practice because while it doesn't affect Calcium levels, it significantly reduces Phosphorous and Magnesium levels causing for example, a high Ca:P ratio.

Here are some other points to be aware of:
1. Soaking doesn’t affect the CP/Nitrogen levels (the greenness)
2. Soaking is less effective the colder the water
3. Soak a manageable quantity of hay because it is much heavier when it is wet
4. Put the hay in the hay-net ready for feeding post-soaking.
5. Station your tub near the hose and somewhere the water can drain away when you tip it out/pull the plug
6. An old bath makes an ideal tub, we use half a mussel buoy. Put something heavy on top to help submerge the hay
7. Make sure it is in the shade when temps are on the warm side
8. Leave the hay soaking for 45-60 minutes in cold water (Katy Watts) Soaking hay for longer can lead to loss of other minerals)
9. Empty the water out of the tub (it is great for watering plants if practical)
10. Use the hose to rinse the sugary water off the hay
11. Leave to drain for a few minutes, this reduces the weight ready for transport
12. Place on a tarpaulin and drag over to horse or use a wheelbarrow/trolley
13. Any darkening of the colour of the water is due to pigments leaching out of the hay and bears no relation to sugar content
14. It is important not to reuse the same water. The sugars that have leached out will have started to ferment. Fill the tub with fresh water each soak.

SOAKING VS ‘WETTING’ OR ‘STEAMING’
‘Soaking’ is different to merely ‘wetting’ the hay to get rid of dust or ‘steaming’ which is a sterilizing process for horses with respiratory problems. Neither wetting nor steaming reduces sugars or potassium content.
SOAKING HAY IS QUITE HARD WORK
If you have any great ideas on how to make it easier let us know

Calm Healthy Horses

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