If you have concerns about your horse’s behaviour, digestion or general wellbeing, the Calm Healthy Horses Plan provides a structured approach to reviewing their diet, pasture and daily management.
Start by ticking any symptoms you notice on the Horse Symptom Checklist.
Follow the recommended diet changes in the Calm Healthy Horses Plan for one month, then revisit the checklist to see whether you notice any changes.
For more complex or longstanding issues, it may be useful to continue the process for several months while monitoring your horse's overall wellbeing.
Introducing Feed Changes Gradually
Any new feeds or supplements should be introduced gradually, generally over one to two weeks. This gives the digestive system and hindgut microorganisms time to adjust to dietary changes.
If you are changing your horse from an ‘all green grass’ diet to an ‘all hay’ diet, introduce hay for at least a week before removing access to grass completely.
The same principle applies when reintroducing pasture. Increase grass access gradually over several weeks, beginning with short periods such as 10–15 minutes morning and afternoon.
The Principles Behind the Calm Healthy Horses Plan
A key principle of the Calm Healthy Horses Plan is to simplify the diet and remove foods that may be contributing to dietary imbalance.
The plan focuses on providing plenty of fibre while reducing reliance on green, rapidly growing pasture and other feeds that may contribute significant amounts of potassium or protein.
The approach generally includes mature grass or hay, suitable plain feeds, and the Calm Healthy Horses supplements where appropriate.
Because the mineral and nutritional composition of pasture and feeds can vary considerably, consistency is important when assessing how your horse responds to dietary changes.
The Eight-Step Calm Healthy Horses Plan
1. Provide Plenty of Fibre
Horses need a fibre-rich diet. Provide plenty of suitable forage such as mature grass, hay, chaff and unmolassed beet.
Fibre is particularly important for maintaining a healthy hindgut environment and supporting normal digestive function.
2. Support Vitamin and Mineral Requirements
Provide appropriate vitamins and minerals according to your horse’s individual diet and circumstances.
Supreme MVA can be used as part of the Calm Healthy Horses approach to help provide vitamins, minerals and amino acids.
Horses naturally obtain a wide range of nutrients by grazing and browsing different plants. Domestic horses may have a much more limited range of forage available to them, depending on their pasture and management.
3. Provide Salt and Fresh Water
Salt provides sodium and chloride, both of which are important electrolytes for horses.
The amount of salt required will depend on the horse, their diet, weather and activity levels. As a general guide, the Calm Healthy Horses Plan recommends:
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1 tablespoon of plain salt daily for large ponies and small horses
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2 tablespoons daily for larger horses
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Fresh, clean drinking water available at all times
Electrolyte products may be useful when a horse has genuinely lost significant amounts of electrolytes through sweating, such as following strenuous exercise.
Steps 1–3 form the foundation of the plan. Steps 4–7 can then be adjusted according to pasture, season, weather, workload and the individual horse.
4. Consider Grass and Pasture Support
When horses are grazing pasture, particularly rapidly growing grass, the Calm Healthy Horses approach may include GrazeEzy and SOS.
These products are intended to form part of the overall Calm Healthy Horses feeding approach, particularly when you have identified increased excitability or other changes associated with pasture.
GrazeEzy can be adjusted according to the individual horse and the manufacturer's feeding directions. Some owners also monitor urine pH as an additional way of observing changes while adjusting the diet.
Urine pH test strips can be used if you wish to monitor urine pH as part of this process.
5. Consider Feed Quality and Mycotoxins
Moulds and fungi can develop in feeds and forage, particularly in warm and humid conditions.
Mycotoxins are naturally occurring compounds produced by some moulds and fungi. For this reason, good feed storage and forage quality are important parts of horse management.
ToxDefy can be included in the Calm Healthy Horses approach as a mycotoxin-binding supplement.
This can be particularly relevant during periods of warm, humid weather when mould and fungal growth may be more likely.
6. Keep Alleviate Gold Available for Stressful Situations
Some horses become more anxious or unsettled during stressful situations such as travelling, competitions, trail rides or changes in their normal routine.
Alleviate Gold can be kept on hand as part of the Calm Healthy Horses approach.
Follow the product's recommended feeding directions and consider your horse's individual response. It can be particularly useful to have available when you know your horse is likely to experience a stressful event.
7. Consider Additional Calcium
Some horses may require additional calcium depending on their diet, stage of life and the type of pasture they are grazing.
Xtra-Cal contains calcium along with magnesium, phosphorus, boron and vitamin D.
The Calm Healthy Horses Plan particularly considers additional calcium for:
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Pregnant and lactating mares
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Young, growing horses
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Horses whose diet may be low in calcium
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Horses grazing oxalate-containing grasses such as Setaria, Buffalo, Kikuyu, Green Panic, Pangola, Para Grass, Guinea Grass, Signal Grass and Purple Pigeon Grass
The overall diet should always be considered when deciding whether additional calcium is appropriate.
8. Review Your Pasture Management
Pasture can have a significant influence on a horse's diet.
Grass type, growth stage, season, rainfall, soil conditions and pasture management can all affect what your horse is consuming.
Read our guide to Making the Change to Safer Pasture for more information about developing a pasture management plan.
Monitoring Your Horse's Progress
The aim of the Calm Healthy Horses Plan is to make gradual, consistent changes while observing your horse's response.
After following the plan for around one month, return to the Horse Symptom Checklist and compare it with your original assessment.
You may choose to continue monitoring for another month or longer, particularly where changes have been longstanding.
Keep in mind that every horse is different. Diet, pasture, exercise, environment and individual sensitivities can all influence how a horse responds.
Feeding Grass-Affected Horses
If your horse appears particularly sensitive to pasture, our guide to Feeding Grass Affected Horses provides further information about managing grass intake and making appropriate dietary changes.
Have You Tried the Calm Healthy Horses Plan?
We would love to hear about your experience with the Calm Healthy Horses approach.
If you have questions about your horse's diet or would like to share your experience, Contact Us or complete our Horse Health Questionnaire.