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ES Epigenetics: equine nutrition programs the foal of the future.
December 19, 2023
How nice that you are here. Because if you are looking for reliable information about horse nutrition, you are not alone.
The world of equine nutrition is a jungle of conflicting opinions, commercial interests and online self-proclaimed "experts. You just want to know: how do I feed my horse properly? What is really important in a ration? And above all, who can I trust anymore?
With this monthly column - Mira finds some - I share my vision. Not a sales pitch, but an honest look at what strikes me. Today: why Equi Nutri Care exists. And why a revolution in equine nutrition advice is not a luxury, but a necessity.
"You a nutritionist too? They seem to be sprouting out of the ground these days."
I get that reaction. I really do. I hear it, too. Whispering or out loud. And I don't blame you. There are a lot of them. Too many, perhaps. Anyone who thinks they can say anything about horses and nutrition calls themselves an expert. That only makes it harder for you as an owner. Because who are you supposed to believe anymore?
By the way, I don't call myself a nutritionist. That feels uncomfortable. As far as I'm concerned, that title is for people who spent years at a university taking subjects like biochemistry, microbiology, pharmacology, nutritional sciences. Not for those who "just know something about horses. That may sound harsh. But I think it's important that we dare to be honest again about what we know - and what we don't.
The problem with horse nutrition today? If you ask me; too much hype, too little knowledge. Every day I fall over backwards at the amount of nonsense sold online as truth. Dubious therapies, overpriced jars with trendy names, fables masquerading as facts. And on top of that: influencers who make tons of money - on the back of your well-meaning concerns and the health of your horse.
Take an herbal blend, for example. For "more resistance," or "rest," or "detoxification. Will cost you 180 euros for 500 grams. Looks wonderful. But if you look up the ingredients, you see that you can get exactly the same thing at the drugstore - for 50 euros. More than double the content. Less than a third of the price. For that, though, you still have to mix it yourself. The only thing you throw in is the label.
Not to mention the real dangers. About claims that not only hit your wallet, but can harm your horse. Because people think in business models instead of biological systems.
Look at KPU, or kryptopyrroluria. You've probably heard of it before.
The fact that it is still circulating today I find extraordinary.
Some say it is a "forgotten disorder" that leads to a variety of symptoms in horses, such as behavioral problems or deficiencies in zinc and B6. Treated with supplements and urine tests - expensive to test, expensive to treat....
Only ... there is no scientific evidence that KPU exists at all in horses. In fact, the substance they claim to measure in the urine can't even be in there. And that whole story about binding to zinc and B6? Never demonstrated. Not even likely.1
Right? No. That statement was never attributed to him.
He did write that nutrition plays an important role in supporting health - not as a substitute for medicine, but as a foundation.2
What nutrition is? Essential. And powerful. If applied properly. I believe in that too. And that is what Equi Nutri Care was born out of.
My journey began with a growing stallion with growth retardation due to a life-threatening liver-bone infection. A head full of questions and zero guidance. Everyone said something different. Every producer shouted that only his feed was suitable. Every vendor recommended exactly what had the most margin. I read online that I should learn to read labels - but I didn't understand a thing. And then this little Shet with chronic laminitis and PPID came along. Everything repeated itself. Even more confusion. Even more conflicting advice.
So I started studying. Not an hour of googling, but hundreds of hours of study on nutrition, pasture management, biochemistry, digestion, nutritional science. And I keep learning. Every day. Not because I want to know everything. But because I don't want to stop while horses are still suffering unnecessarily due to wrong nutrition or lack of information.
Equi Nutri Care is my answer to what is going wrong in the industry. No brand, no sales pitch, no hidden agenda. Just nutrition. The way nutrition is meant to be. The way nature intended. For the good of the horse.
We work from three basic principles:
Transparency: you know what you're getting, and why.
Affordability: good does not have to be expensive.
Substantiation: we rely on facts, not hypes.
My mission? To help you. To show you the way. Teaching you to look at things with a critical eye. So that you - and no one else - can decide what is good for your horse. Not because someone is selling it, but because it's right.
From now on, I will write an opinion piece every month. Because it's necessary. Because I see things I don't want to stay quiet about. Because there is still so much to say about horse nutrition, supplements, labels, roughage, digestion, behavioral changes caused by nutrition, and so on. Because I believe things can be better - and must be better.
So that horses are really helped.
So that owners no longer have to forfeit their trust.
For an industry where honesty becomes the norm again.
For a revolution in equine nutrition.
I am that woman who constantly loses her glasses, forgets her keys, never finds her phone. But my opinion? I always have it ready.
Half wolf, half woman - literally in my Facebook profile picture, figuratively in everything I do. I am someone of extremes. Intuitive and astute. Calm and storm. Silence and voice. Soft to what is vulnerable. Tough on what deliberately damages. I am not a perfect version of myself. An honest one, though.
I work with people, systems, food, chaos and vision. Sometimes with horses, often with principles. I believe in truth over diplomacy, and in nuance without wooliness.
Here I share what concerns me. What chafes, what moves, what knocks. Welcome to my head. It's a little wild there - but always real.
#more than power supply #MIRA
Yet it is sold as truth. Because it sells. Not because it is true. And you as the owner, who would do anything for your horse, are left with confusion, guilt and an empty wallet. Because, "What if it works after all?"
We would like to believe in that one solution. That one supplement. That one "expert. Because honestly? Horse nutrition is complex.
But nutrition is not magic. Nor is it medicine, as is often claimed with the famous (but misattributed) Hippocratic quote, "Let food be thy medicine." ((Cardenas, D. Let not thy food be confused with thy medicine: The Hippocratic misquotation [↩]