Equine Nutritionist

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peanutsmumma

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Has anyone had a consultation with an Equine Nutritionist? Do you think it was worth the money?
Has it made a difference to your horse?

If so.....who do you recommend? (I'm in Dorset so the closer the better 😁)
 
I think it depends on whether there's something specific you're after. A friend with a fit but a bit flat cob (who has EMS) was just told to increase grass pellets and change balancer - she was underwhelmed. I've known some horses really turn around though, especially if the nutritionist realises there's a possible issue. The German lady many itf the PSSM forum use insists on hay analysis and blood tests and that's really valuable if £££
 
A genuine degree qualified equine nutritionalist we have had such great value from. Really knows her content, spends the time educating and is logical/pragmatic in her delivery. Our feed bill dropped by 25% and our horses flourished.

She was also brilliant helping with specific nutritional advice for a rehab case. Her skills were far superior to the advice we were receiving from the vet on nutrition for recovery.

Having said all this, prior to finding our qualified equine nutritionalist, we had a couple of fails with people who carried the title of nutritionalist but were aligned to feed companies and had no formal qualifications. Nice people but less than two questions deep.
 
Bonnie Allie said:
A genuine degree qualified equine nutritionalist we have had such great value from. Really knows her content, spends the time educating and is logical/pragmatic in her delivery. Our feed bill dropped by 25% and our horses flourished.

She was also brilliant helping with specific nutritional advice for a rehab case. Her skills were far superior to the advice we were receiving from the vet on nutrition for recovery.

Having said all this, prior to finding our qualified equine nutritionalist, we had a couple of fails with people who carried the title of nutritionalist but were aligned to feed companies and had no formal qualifications. Nice people but less than two questions deep.
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Can I ask who you used?
 
Without sounding rude, assuming equine nutritionists recommend a change of feed/supplements? Is there anything else?

I feed Dengie, pelleted balancer, vit E and salt. I shop around for the best prices and have done quite a bit of research into it but always interested in qualified experts thoughts.
 
Hormonal Filly said:
Without sounding rude, assuming equine nutritionists recommend a change of feed/supplements? Is there anything else?

I feed Dengie, pelleted balancer, vit E and salt. I shop around for the best prices and have done quite a bit of research into it but always interested in qualified experts thoughts.
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The reason I am interested is because my boy is barefoot and can be sometimes be quite 'footy' on stony ground....he has been like this since he was backed(6 now)

I have been advised that it may be to do with his diet and the fact he is out on grass!

I would just be really interested to see what a nutritionist recommends and if it changes anything.
 
I have one that comes to my horses every three months. She also weighs the horses and condition scores them too. This is dispite me having an equine science degree. Its her job to keep up with new feeds on the market and to analyse each one for vits and minerals etc so I know what she recommends is up-to-date.
 
I have used Clare MacLeod a couple of times and found her helpful. She has an MSc in equine nutrition and is independent so won't recommend any one brand over another. She is very pro barefoot but also very sensible and debunks a lot of the nonsense that you see on the barefoot Facebook pages. She won't tell you that all grass is the enemy for example, but would probably suggest restricting via a muzzle or strip grazing etc if your horse is overweight or has metabolic issues. She has a website and a Facebook page if you want to find out more about her. She regularly posts common sense stuff on her Facebook page so you could have a look at that to get a feel for if you think she might be your kind of person or not.

She will do a face to face consultation but also a virtual one at less cost where you send in photos of your horse and fill in a questionnaire about diet and lifestyle etc.
 
I
HelenBack said:
I have used Clare MacLeod a couple of times and found her helpful. She has an MSc in equine nutrition and is independent so won't recommend any one brand over another. She is very pro barefoot but also very sensible and debunks a lot of the nonsense that you see on the barefoot Facebook pages. She won't tell you that all grass is the enemy for example, but would probably suggest restricting via a muzzle or strip grazing etc if your horse is overweight or has metabolic issues. She has a website and a Facebook page if you want to find out more about her. She regularly posts common sense stuff on her Facebook page so you could have a look at that to get a feel for if you think she might be your kind of person or not.

She will do a face to face consultation but also a virtual one at less cost where you send in photos of your horse and fill in a questionnaire about diet and lifestyle etc.
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I did look at Clare but it would be another £50 in travel for her to come to me 🫤
 
I used Fiona Watkins https://www.thehorsenutritionist.co.uk/ I think she is in Surrey but does travel (I was in Hampshire). You do need to make sure they are independent. My horse had a specific (life threatening) need but she really helped to formulate a really low calorie diet that still gave her everything she needed. I also learnt a lot from her where I felt I could adapt as time went on without needed additional consultations. I would recommend, it's worth the money IMO.
 
I use Equinutrition who does virtual checks on my boys. Well worth it and is always on hand if I have an urgent issue
 
I think the added value will depend on how knowledgeable you are about equine nutrition in the first place and any specific issues you are hoping to fix.

If you have a fairly standard horse, on a high fibre, low sugar and starch diet, already add salt and micronised linseed, and a good forage balancer based on expected UK forage values, have an idea of protein needs, add vitamin E when not getting access to fresh grass etc. I am not sure how much value will add.

Though if you are feeding for example decent amounts (>1kg per day) of micronised linseed / copra / oats and not supplementing calcium or offsetting e.g. with Alfa A, you are possibly not knowledgeable enough to go solo, and should seek professional advice.
 
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