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calmhealthyhorses.com provides a new perspective on how grass affects horses thereby solving the vast majority of health and behavioural issues.

Save time, money and stress with our simple feeding recommendations.

06/11/2026

Grassmanship – Learn About Your Horse’s Grass!

With all the grasses going to seed, now is an ideal time to see what you have out there.

Check out the LEARN YOUR GRASSES GUIDE Link in Comments

Brown-top, Sweet Vernal, Meadow fescue, Crested Dog’s Tail are all ‘non-production' grasses which have NOT been selected for traits that promote rapid weight gain and milk production. Not favourites with farmers!

They grow on unimproved, less fertile land where the soils are slightly acidic (around 5.8 – 6.2). Except brown-top these aren't grown for seed, generally they just 'appear' on such land from seeds in the ground.

They tend to grow more slowly than ‘high production’ rye-grasses/tall fescues. Land which has been fertilised or limed to where the pH is higher than 6.2 will tend not to suit these grasses.

These grasses make IDEAL hay for many horses – perfect for minis, ponies and those horses who are obese, EMS, prone to laminitis or head-shaking.
(Remembering it still needs grazing access managed because ANY grass species when it is vegetative (short, green and growing) is not suitable for equines with these issues).

Ideal when made into hay because they are comparatively low nutrient density - allowing ponies to consume hay for more hours of a day.

Of course they will also need a supplementary feed to supply protein and daily essential nutrients.

Think twice about advice to promote the health of the pasture and to increase yield.

Whilst this can be a good thing if you are going to harvest the grass as hay, if it is intended for grazing then access needs to be carefully managed according to individual requirements because horses grazing such ‘healthy pasture’ are just as prone to laminitis, EMS, Head shaking, tight muscles, behavioural issues etc….
Photos:
1. Brown-top 2. Sweet Vernal 3. Meadow Fescue 4. Crested Dog's Tail

27/10/2026

Excessive Separation Anxiety, Fence Walking & General Agitation
What is going on?

Here in NZ it has been a great spring for grass growth! The trouble is mineral imbalances in the grass can disturb the chemistry of nerve function which shows up in a variety of ways.

Whilst it is normal for horses to want to go with their friends, it is NOT NORMAL for them to be frantic about it!

When they are frantic they literally think they are going to die if they are left behind in the paddock/field or if their companions go even a few yards away let alone out of sight when you are out hacking.

Some people have to take special friends along with them to events in order to keep their competition horse in the right frame of mind.

Having experienced horses in this state personally we know how exasperating it is to see your fields getting churned up by a horse racing around getting himself in a total lather because his friend has gone out somewhere.

For example, a friend’s horse, very unhappy about being left alone, (screaming and tearing around like a mad thing according to her husband), actually jumped out over the corner of his paddock and galloped down the road after her.

This same horse, after adjusting the salt and minerals in his feeds for a week barely lifted his head when she went out the next weekend.

In our experience, this is a ‘chemistry’ problem not a ‘behavioural’ one. It is caused by mineral imbalances, usually coinciding with spring and autumn grass growth, which impair brain function so that the horse cannot ‘think’.

Horses who cannot think are reactive and can easily become ‘frantic’.

How do we know this? Because, if you make appropriate diet changes without doing anything else, the issues disappear on their own.

Appropriate diet changes consist of feeding more brown hay, less green grass (to lower potassium and nitrogen intake), adding salt plus GrazeEzy and SOS to help offset the mineral imbalances in the grass.

Check you are not inadvertently adding even more potassium and nitrogen from unnecessary outside sources such as Lucerne/alfalfa.

The challenge for many people, especially when on rented grazing, is to be able to sufficiently restrict (or completely eliminate for serious cases) the grass from the diet until the horses behaviour is back to normal.

Stay This Side of Trouble!

It is your responsibility at these times to support your horse and keep him safe while his metabolism adjusts back to normal so he can think straight again. This may take anywhere from a few days to several weeks.

In the meantime BE EXTRA CAREFUL! For example, when going through narrow spaces like gateways, open them properly.

Grass-Affected horses are liable to rush through, run you over or worse, catch their hip on the gate, panic and severely injure themselves and you in the process.

What NOT to do:

- Isolate the horse on his own to ‘teach’ him to be independent. This is both distressing for the horse and completely unnecessary. It is not a ‘learned’ behaviour, it is a chemistry problem and when they are no longer affected the problems simply are not there.

- Force the horse away from his ‘cling-on’ friend, as he will buck you off and run back to him somehow anyway. Also unnecessary when simple diet changes will do the trick.

- Confine the horse in any way by trying to force him to accept handling of any sort.

-Tying him up could result in violent pulling back.

-Somehow getting him in a horse trailer and doing the back bar up quickly can result in disaster

-Tight reins and gadgets will further magnify his distress and ‘resistance’ and increase the chance of accidents.

- Don’t even think about riding if he is exhibiting ANY extreme behaviours such as being excessively spooky, reactive or herd-bound. Horses who can't think REACT rather than RESPOND. Reactions are unpredictable, fast and dangerous.

**We can check out your horse's forage and feed via the Enquiry Form on the home page of the website

22/10/2026

SPOOKING - Be One Step Ahead!

It’s not a matter of being a better, more confident rider.

It is about RECOGNISING and being able to DIFFERENTIATE ‘normal’ behaviour from that caused by changes in the grass.

While it IS normal for horses to 'notice' and 'look at' unfamiliar objects, a normal horse, even if he is young and inexperienced will quickly conclude there is no threat and carry on.

And when a normally functioning horse does a spook, it is relatively easy to ride.

What is NOT normal, especially for well-educated horses, is to NOT be able to assess the object because he is on high alert with his eye-sight affected – instead the reaction goes to next level - a BIG spook out from underneath you, or a 180 ‘wheelie’.

Or have you been on a horse when he 'turned into a statue' - fixating on something imperceptible in the distance? Scary because you know they are about to explode and you can’t dismount safely either.

Yet riders are so often told:
“He’s picking up on your nerves.”
“You just need to be more confident.”
“Ride him through it.”

Such ‘advice’ puts people at unnecessary risk.

SAFETY is paramount! Unpredictable, over-reactive ‘behaviours’ are a clear sign that the horse isn’t functioning normally.

Once this is understood, it is a ‘no-brainer’ that the horse is not safe to ride!

The warning signs often appear before you mount:

• When you catch him his ‘energy’ feels wrong, he has grown a whole hand, you can’t keep his focus, his head is in the air, his steps are quick.
• He doesn’t want to be brushed, twitches when touched and his muscles feel tight
• He snatches his feet away, threatens to bite or is ‘fidgety’ when saddled.
• He doesn’t respond to familiar groundwork.
• He has become ‘hyper-sensitive’ to sounds and it is like his eye-sight is affected.

FOLLOW YOUR GUT INSTINCT and forget riding for now…………….

If you fail to take heed, it only takes a dash of adrenalin to cause LITTLE things to escalate into BIG spooks, bucks and bolts.

Instead choose to put your horse away for the day. Doing so will prevent the horse from having a negative experience too.

As riders, we have all been there at some point. But think about it - no-one should have to ‘pluck up courage’ to ride their horse.

For help to establish if your horse is functioning normally or not, contact us via the Enquiry Form (no fee) on the Home Page of the website.

Picture: As amusing as this looks, there is clearly something wrong with this horse’s ability to judge the height of these poles! Thank you Treena for giving us this picture to use as a great example.

“This is my horse, with me riding. he was just wild that day. This was 45 mins into the pole lesson. The first 30 mins he was like a fire breathing bronco.

We do pole-work all the time at home. These poles are a whole stride in between for him. He took off from the first pole and jumped the lot.

Bucked on landing, then spun to the left dumping me on the floor.

Grass really does play its part in this - he had just moved to a different field with loads of grass. Won't make that mistake again!

14/10/2026

Spring Troubles – ‘Difficulty with Canter’?

Every Spring there is an upsurge in queries from owners experiencing:

Reluctance to ‘go’, kicking out at leg, disuniting, cranky as Vinny is exhibiting in first part of video.

Not ideal when you have competitions coming up!

The good news is these issues are relatively easily resolved with simple diet changes.

As was the case for Vinny:

“He had had maybe 2-3 weeks on ex dairy farm type grasses. He hated being brushed, kept trying to bite me, was very aggressive around his food, and even towards us at times.
He was seriously herd-bound and it was dangerous to leave him alone in the paddock. Under saddle, he wasn’t overly spooky or explosive. (Many people think is the only sign of being grass affected).

He was just genuinely tight and very unhappy going forward. He had no “go” and constantly tried to buck and ‘carry on’ when you asked him to do anything.”

His initial diet consisted of 2x feeds daily:
2 slabs each of silage and hay. A reasonable amount fresh green ex-dairy grass (!).
FiberPro, Beet, Showtorque, Muscle building supplement

The changes made were:
Grass was restricted as much as possible, switched silage for hay.
Swapped the fibre-pro for Meadow Chaff thereby eliminating lucerne
Continued the beet & Showtorque
Added GrazeEzy & SOS plus two tablespoons of salt.

The result:
“To say he was a different horse in just 6 days was a huge understatement. Without your help we would still be bunny hopping around 70 and 80cm classes however he has blossomed and within 5 weeks of his 70cm show he has just jumped his first 1.10cm class with ease!” Amanda, Taranaki

For help with simple changes to your horse’s diet that could make all the difference please contact us via the Enquiry Form on the Home Page of the website.

10/10/2026

Protein and Top-Line

Top-Line refers to the group of muscles which run along a horse’s back - from the top of the neck to the top of the hip and along to his tail.

“The best indicator of good quality protein consumption is top-line” - Dr Geoff Tucker DVM

Ben, the horse in the photos, was not ridable at the time so was not in any kind of ‘correct work’ so that didn’t contribute to his improvement in top-line and overall health. He was on pasture turnout but with no supplementary daily feeds.

Amino Acids are the building blocks of protein and protein is a major building block of muscles. Of course, fats, appropriate carbohydrates, vitamins & minerals are also part of the structure and functioning.

When Protein is digested it is broken down into amino acids for absorption into the bloodstream where they can be reassembled into various body tissues – muscles, ligaments, tendons, joints, hooves, skin, hair, organs, hormones, enzymes etc etc.

The purpose of meeting protein requirements in horses is for construction and repair.

The horse doesn’t ‘store’ amino acids for future use. If there is inadequate ‘quality’ protein in the diet the body starts breaking down its own tissues; such as muscle, and recycles them into more urgent purposes such as enzymes or hormones.

Body structures like hair-coat and hoof horn are not high on the priority list for existence so lack of protein shows up peripherally first.

Lack of quality protein also affects tissues you can’t see – for example, the manufacture of blood components is also compromised and this is why numerous recreational horses are border-line anaemic and have low immune function.

You will observe this as GRADUAL general deterioration of health - loss of top-line, poor hoof quality and hair-coat. This is how the dreaded 'hay belly' happens - it is a lack of QUALITY protein.

Such deterioration can occur when horses are on poor pasture, or are consuming late-cut hay with a low Crude Protein content without adequate supplementation in their daily feed.

It is not advisable to over-supply protein. (as a rule of thumb 1-1.5g protein per kg BW for a horse in light work).

This is because amino acids cannot be stored - their nitrogen must be removed, and the liver uses energy to convert potentially toxic ammonia into urea, for excretion in urine. This additional nitrogen disposal represents an ‘expensive metabolic cost’ caused by excess protein intake

A daily bucket feed should suit the individual horse’s age, size, workload and metabolic status, and complement the rest of the diet.

Since all protein sources are higher in Phosphorous than Calcium, this needs to be considered in the overall diet too.

The signs of Chronic Protein Deficiency are very obvious from looking at the horse. Ben in the photos is a good example.

Ben had been on pasture turnout for the previous year without any supplementary feed. Four months after moving to a 100% hay diet with a daily feed which included crushed linseed and Premium MVA
(Minerals, Vitamins, Amino Acids) he is a new horse.

For guidance with your horse’s protein requirements please contact us via the Enquiry Form on our Home page so we have all the info needed.

05/10/2026

Head-Flicking - Strongly Correlated with Imbalances in the Grass

A big thanks to Di for sharing her head-shaking/flicking story with her beautiful horse ‘Rum’.

We have a high incidence of HS horses here in NZ, highly correlated with short or lush grass, especially ‘dairy’ type pasture.
Grass with a similar nutrient profile to the grass analysed in the last post.

When such grass is their predominant forage the same nutrient excesses/imbalances outlined in the previous post are what cause the systemic (body-wide) disturbance to the biochemistry that AFFECTS the trigeminal nerve (but is not caused by it) and causes the head-flicking/shaking in many HS horses.

A ‘biochemistry injury’ is not obvious to most people but there are major clues – eg urine pH which reflects blood pH and many of the associated symptoms – nose-rubbing/muzzle twitching

Fortunately Di had a friend who pointed her in the right direction. She found a way to remove the cause even though it wasn’t ideal until she got something more permanent in place.

“Rum has just turned 4.

Approx 4 months ago he began acting like he'd had a sting up his nose. Trying desperately to rub his nose on me which looking back it's so obvious, hindsight is a wonderful thing.

I had his teeth done, his alignment checked and an overall check. Nothing noted but the ‘head jerk’ was present and obvious.

Whilst on a video call to my best friend I asked her opinion, she knew instantly what it was and told me to keep him off all grass.

This is where my journey with the team at Calm Healthy Horses began.

The website information gave me forewarning of what was coming, emails with amazing encouraging support arrived and into lockdown he went.

All his previous food changed, we sourced new hay as ours was all rye/clover from our property and we built his jail cell (9x6) yard so he wouldn’t be in mud.

I would be lying if I said this was easy. There have been tears and stress but looking back now I'm so grateful for all the wonderful support and guidance I received.

My advice to anyone on this journey....block out everyone around you for a wee while. Trust the process and remember good things take time and has its good days and not so good days.

We have since built a beautiful track that's grass free and Rum is truly loving life. He gallops around, plays with glee and he looks amazing.

He's back in ridden work and I'm looking forward to our first A&P Show this season.

We will never forget your kindness and support
Di, Gisborne, NZ

For guidance when your horse has issues please contact us via the Enquiry Form: Here is the link:
https://www.wixforms.com/f/7424581212632515616

01/10/2026

THE FACTS ABOUT SHORT, GREEN GRASS AFTER DROUGHT-BREAKING RAIN

This post covers aspects of pasture which are too often, completely over-looked but which, in our experience, are especially relevant to how ‘grass’ affects the health, movement & behaviour of domestic horses.

Just being made aware can save you and your horse significant time, money and stress.

It is also further evidence of how misleading the assumption "the shorter the grass the higher in sugars" actually is.

After the recent drought-breaking rain, we collected pasture samples from a small UK paddock that had up until 3 days prior been continuously grazed by horses.

The grass was only 2–4 cm long. It looked sparse and would commonly be described as “short” or “stressed”, the sort of paddock many owners might think had very little grass.

There were 3 days of rapid growth between these photos, two samples were taken, one at 6pm (24 hours since horses grazed) and one at 9.00am the following morning

We sampled carefully across the paddock, avoiding visible soil contamination. The results are extremely interesting.

The sugar content was not ‘high’ – (this does not mean it would be ‘safe’ for turnout of good-doers, EMS or laminitis prone equines)
Evening grass: 7.6%
Morning grass: 7.1%

But the rest of its nutritional profile is problematic:
Dry Matter ………………………………… LOW

27/09/2026

How Diet Can Influence the Horse’s Experience

Taking on a horse like Koa requires a person with excellent horsemanship skills AND knowledge about how diet influences the biochemistry of nerve and muscle function.

The nutrient composition of the domestic horse’s forage is the ‘wild card’ because of chronically high potassium & nitrogen levels which also vary with the season and the weather. A horse with a healthy metabolism can handle the inevitable variations – but you can tell when the metabolism is no longer coping because the consequences, like hyper-sensitivity as in Koa’s case, become obvious ‘on the outside’.

Koa, an unhandled 4 year old standardbred cross stallion with a history of anxiety,

Because the horse's skin is densely populated in nerve endings, when these are 'on fire', which is a common bio-chemical response to potassium spikes in a horse, they often CAN'T STAND to be touched. It is not hard to see how progress is much more readily possible when they return to normal sensitivity.

Hence when Madeleine took him on, one of the first steps to make the whole process easier on horse and handler was changing his diet at the Rodney Animal Rescue Base the week before he was transported to Madeleine's place by stock-trailer.

His lucerne chaff was replaced with Timothy chaff, measured SALT was added, along with non-potassium-spiking feed. Since being at Madeleine's he has been off green grass too. He settled very quickly and Madeleine was able to make great progress.

The change in Koa was RAPID. In Madeleine's words, "It felt like cheating."

Interestingly he immediately relapsed when he had to spend the night in the ‘grassy lane’ (see first part of the video) and it took another 48 hours OFF that grass to get back to where they had been prior.

They are signs of mineral imbalances which cause disturbances to bio-chemistry, affecting the horse's nervous system including ALL his senses: his eyesight, his hearing, his co-ordination and ability to properly operate his muscles and since, his sensitivity.

Not only is his perception altered, but also his awareness and his sensitivity. He will tend to 'react' instead of 'respond'.

If these issues aren't addressed with some diet changes first, the horse may be having a whole different ‘learning’ experience to what he should be having!

When thus 'Affected' it can be a waste of time, unpleasant for the horse and potentially very risky, to be trying to 'work through' any of these issues because they are not 'training issues'.

A 'Grass-Affected' horse can really struggle to process information and often is simply NOT ABLE to be in a 'learning frame of mind'.

Having the knowledge and experience to recognise the difference between 'bio-chemistry' and 'training' issues is a vitally important aspect of the horsemanship skills that have enabled Madeleine to make great progress with Koa.

Follow Madeleine and Koa's progress at A Horse Called Feijoa

If you would like to check your horse's diet isn't causing any issues please fill out our Enquiry Form. Here is the link: https://www.wixforms.com/f/7424581212632515616

25/09/2026

Looking Terrific AND Jumping Terrific!

Leanne’s daughter Kate has a blast riding her pony!

“Griffin is a rising 8 year old Westphalian papered German Riding Pony ‘Penmain Pitch Perfect’.

We imported him from Penmain Riding Ponies in the Yarra Valley Melbourne when he was 3.

We’ve been taking him slowly up the levels in Show Jumping, Dressage and Eventing.

Aside from his huge talent he’s a really lovely boy too.

He thrives on Premium MVA and GrazeEzy. We know when he has the incorrect minerals as his Palomino coat changes to a washed out Krispie biscuit kind of colour.

Definitely pleased to have found mineral supplements that work for him!

When I don’t have him on GrazeEzy I can’t touch his skin".

For help feeding your child’s pony please complete our Enquiry Form.
Here is the Link: https://www.wixforms.com/f/7424581212632515616

20/09/2026

We’d like to help Madeleine with these challenging Rescue Cases!

Madeleine is outstanding at handling the unhandled Kaimanawa horses, and rehabilitating Rescue Cases from Rodney Rescue.

Recently Madeleine took on a particularly difficult case from Rodney Rescue. Koa is an unhandled, 4-year-old Standardbred-cross stallion.

These horses take more time than normal and there are several more such cases to follow after Koa.

Go to Madeleine’s FB page ‘A Horse Called Feijoa’ to read about ‘Koa’.

The costs of taking on these cases ‘comes out of Madeleine’s pocket’.

Madeleine uses our Calm Healthy Horses feeding regime and supplements as an integral part of their return to optimal physical and mental health.

If you would like to help Madeleine by purchasing some Good2Go or a supplement for them we have some special prices whereby we are helping too:

Just PM us or write Koa on the comments and we will message you the Koa Special price list.

We will send your purchase directly to Madeleine so there will be no added freight cost.

OTHER OPTIONS TO HELP:

- Hay, haylage, or Timothy chaff
- Calm Healthy Horses feed or supplements
- Unused Equestra Omeprazole sachets
- Financial donations to Rodney Animal Rescue earmarked for him
DONATE:
Rodney Animal Rescue Trust
06-0383-0980543-00
Reference: Koa
Message Madeleine for local feed drop-off or for her to collect. She is Pukekawa based, near Mercer in the North Waikato.

Address

Rangiora
7440

Telephone

+6433125567

Website

http://www.calmhealthyhorses.com/

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