We’re talking about toxicity today.

I’ve been seeing several cases lately where toxicity plays a role, so I thought it was time to revisit the topic. In episode 53, I covered the definition of toxicity and what it means for your horse, so you can go back and listen to it after this episode for more details.

Stay tuned as I share the signs to look out for.

Understanding Toxicity in Horses

Toxicity in horses often develops slowly and subtly through accumulated exposure to feed contaminants, environmental chemicals, medications, or poor-quality diets. Unlike sudden poisoning, this buildup can take years to show outwardly. Younger horses may appear healthy despite ongoing exposure, but as they age, resilience drops and health issues surface, usually from around age 12 onward.

Early Warning Signs

Subtle behavioral and physical changes often signal toxicity. These can include fatigue, dull eyes, reduced social engagement, depression, or anxiety. Appetite changes are also key clues- horses that suddenly become picky or disinterested in food may be reacting to gut irritation or inflammation. Paying attention to these small shifts helps catch toxicity before it escalates.

Behavior and the Nervous System

Toxicity can impact the nervous system, leading to high anxiety and nervousness. While horsemanship helps build horses’ confidence, chronic anxiety can point to underlying health issues or an internal imbalance. Ulcers and overactive immunity often accompany this state, as pain and inflammation trigger more stress in a self-perpetuating cycle.

Inflammation

Inflammation is one of the most common consequences of toxicity. It often presents as laminitis or joint stiffness, even when blood work looks normal. Laminitis is particularly revealing as hoof tissues react early to systemic inflammation. Many arthritic horses may actually be struggling with toxic buildup rather than structural degeneration, and they often improve after detoxification.

The Liver

The liver detoxifies all chemicals entering the body, but chronic overload eventually leads to fatigue and dysfunction. As detoxification slows, toxins accumulate, affecting hormone balance, immune strength, and overall vitality. So, even when liver enzymes appear normal, the liver may still be under strain.

The Gut–Toxicity Connection

Gut health is often the first to suffer. Long-term exposure to irritants, sugars, or intolerant feeds leads to inflammation, leaky gut, and cecal acidosis. A damaged intestinal lining allows toxins to circulate through the body, causing hives, laminitis, or chronic infections. Gut inflammation also prevents nutrient absorption.

Nutrient Deficiency

Toxicity compounds over time. Horses with chronic gut irritation or sugar-heavy diets often experience nutrient depletion because their inflamed intestines cannot absorb key minerals and vitamins.

Common Physical Signs

Visible indicators include dull or coarse coats, cracking or separating hooves, weepy eyes (often linked to liver dysfunction), nasal discharge, and reduced energy. These may seem mild or age-related, but they could reflect systemic imbalance from long-term toxicity.

Reversing the Effects

Improvement begins with removing toxins from feed, water, and the environment. Cleaning up the diet allows the liver, kidneys, and gut to recover. Even older horses can regain their vitality after reducing their toxicity and with good nutrition.

Long-Term Prevention

Reducing toxicity is one of the most effective ways to prevent disease. By being mindful of feed quality, ingredient lists, and exposure sources, owners can dramatically improve their horses’ health spans and overall...

Today I’m sharing winter nutrition tips for horses.

As temperatures drop and the seasons shift, you will need to adjust your feeding to support your horse’s health through the colder months. I’m in Calgary, Alberta, where we experience extreme temperature swings. Wherever you live, the degree of cold you experience will influence how you should feed your horses for optimal health, and one of the most important factors to consider is your horse’s weight regulation.

Managing Weight in Winter

Winter poses challenges for both easy and hard keepers. Easy keepers often enter the season carrying extra weight, while hard keepers struggle to maintain condition due to increased energy demands for warmth. Managing both types requires paying attention to diet, sugar levels, and feeding strategies.

Easy Keepers: Use Winter as an Opportunity

Winter can help easy keepers lean out naturally. When grass is dormant or covered by snow, sugar intake gets reduced. That is ideal for managing insulin resistance, PPID, and equine metabolic syndrome.

Encouraging natural movement and moderate feeding

Encourage natural movement and moderate feeding by spacing hay stations far apart. Avoid free-choice hay for overweight or sugar-sensitive horses. Instead, feed in controlled portions, ideally using slow-feeding nets, ensuring they don’t stand for too long without food.

Leaner winter conditioning helps restore insulin sensitivity, supports metabolism, and prepares horses for spring.

Hard Keepers: Prioritize Calories and Warmth

For hard keepers, maintaining weight in cold weather is essential. Offer them free-choice hay or extra feeding sessions separate from easy keepers. Provide larger mashes (such as beet pulp or alfalfa cubes) to boost calorie intake and hydration. You can use extruded feeds temporarily for better absorption and calorie density. Even if the ingredient list is not perfect, the priority is to prevent weight loss and support their muscle mass through the winter.

Once spring arrives, you can detoxify them and move them back to cleaner feeds when forage becomes available.

Supplements to Prevent Deficiencies

When a horses shift from grass to hay, the levels of fat-soluble nutrients (especially essential fatty acids) drop sharply. Supplementation is the key to preventing deficiencies that affect skin, coat, and metabolism. Crushed flax, hemp hearts, or chia seeds are excellent plant-based sources of omega-3 and other nutrients. Oils, such as flax, camelina, or hemp, can be used short-term, but only in small amounts. They must be stored properly, however, and selected for stability.

Selenium and Vitamin E Support

Horses on hay-only diets are usually deficient in selenium and vitamin E, which are vital for immune function, circulation, metabolism, and hoof health. The two nutrients work synergistically, as selenium enhances vitamin E’s antioxidant action. Since hay rarely provides enough nutrition, consistent supplementation is essential. It is always best to use high-quality supplements that are free of unnecessary additives or preservatives.

Carrots and Beta-Carotene

Carrots provide beta-carotene, a precursor to vitamin A, and easy keepers can eat them in moderation. The fiber and phytonutrients in carrots prevent blood sugar spikes, making them a beneficial winter addition.

Winter Nutrition Takeaway

Winter is the perfect time to fine-tune your horse’s nutrition. Allow easy keepers to lose weight gradually on their own while ensuring hard keepers receive enough calories to stay warm and maintain their condition. Focus on good quality hay, balanced supplementation, and moderate feeding to support movement and metabolic health. By managing your horse’s sugar intake, providing...

This week, we’re tackling a question horse owners often ask, which is why their horses eat dirt.

Some horses only lick or nibble dirt occasionally, while others take it to extremes, even digging holes in their paddocks. The term for this behavior is geophagia, or pica, which in humans means eating things with little or no nutritional value. In horses, that behavior always points to an underlying cause that owners must explore.

Why Horses Eat Dirt

Horses that eat dirt are not just engaging in random behavior. They are seeking to soothe discomfort or fulfill a nutritional or emotional need. The causes often relate to mineral deficiencies, digestive issues, or stress and boredom. Identifying the reason involves careful observation and systematic elimination of possibilities.

Nutritional Deficiencies

When domestic horses eat dirt, it often signals unmet mineral needs, particularly sodium or selenium. Even horses on synthetic multi-mineral mixes may not be absorbing nutrients effectively, especially if their digestion is compromised or the mineral forms lack bioavailability.

Improving Mineral Intake

Offer free-choice salt, ensuring it’s free from unnecessary additives. Experiment with different salts for 10 days, adding 1–2 teaspoons to a mash if needed. Selenium deficiency is common. You can use organic selenium (selenomethionine) to correct it, even pairing mineral supplements with plant-based sources for better absorption. Products like Riva’s Remedies Happy Horse or Happy Horse Senior provide natural, bioavailable minerals and added herbs for cognitive support in older horses.

Digestive Health

When horses are getting adequate nutrition, eating dirt may stem from digestive discomfort or ulcer-related pain. Horses may also be searching for probiotics from soil or manure. Support their digestion with a high-quality probiotic, and notice whether the behavior occurs before or after meals, during stress, or when the stomach is empty.

Lifestyle and Environment

Horses in dry lots or dirt pens often experience boredom, stress, and periods of fasting between meals. Empty stomachs continually produce acid, which can irritate the stomach lining and lead to ulcers. Providing slow-feeder hay nets, extra hay feedings, turnout time, and social interaction can reduce stress-related behaviors. Ensure your horse has companionship and mental stimulation, as isolation and lack of forage contribute to habits like dirt eating.

Eating Manure

Dirt eating can also signal a lack of fiber or probiotics. Horses on lush pasture may need added fiber sources like beet pulp or timothy cubes to support hindgut health. You can give horses a human probiotic with 50 billion CFUs daily to help restore their microbial balance and reduce manure eating.

Balancing Behavior and Biology

Occasional dirt licking is normal. That behavior typically disappears once the nutritional and emotional needs of the horse are satisfied. Owners only need to be concerned when dirt eating becomes excessive or destructive.. Each horse is different, so resolving the issue requires observation, experimentation, and patience.

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