31. Is This Horse Fed Right? A Vet's Guide to the Rapid Assessment of Nutrition

When a horse presents with ulcers, colic risk, poor performance, slow healing,  unexplained weight change or a plethora of other health conditions, nutrition may be part of the story—even if it isn’t the primary cause. In this episode, Dr Nerida, PhD shares a practical, vet-friendly framework for a rapid field assessment of diet: the same fast mental checklist nutritionists run through when they first meet a case.You’ll walk away with three high-impact screening steps: (1) is there enough forage (and are there long fasting gaps that increase gut risk), (2) is grain being fed appropriately and in a digestible form (to avoid starch overflow into the hindgut); and (3) is the horse actually receiving correct supplementation—meaning a fortified feed/balancer/vitamin-mineral supplement at the proper feeding rate to cover common nutrient gaps and prevent “silent” deficiencies.✅ See all the figures and tables used in Dr Nerida’s AAEP presentation and read more about the rapid diet assessment framework https://www.myhappy.horse/rapidassess👇 Download the MyHappy.Horse app and use the Rapid Diet Assessment tool to quickly find red flags and decide when a full nutrition assessment is needed.https://apps.apple.com/app/myhappy-horse/id6633422324