Fairy Tail Farm

10/05/2026

*** FEEDING STRAW TO HORSES ***

Following on from yesterday’s post about trying to never leave your horse in a stable without forage, I promised I’d do a post about feeding straw to increase low calorie forage supply.

Leaving horses without forage for prolonged periods of time is not okay, and can (and does) lead to:
- Ulcers
- Stress
- Colic
- Choke (when they finally get food again)
- Behavioural issues/vices

For any horses that need to gain weight, straw is absolutely not suitable, and you need to be feeding more hay. For any good doers, straw can provide an almost calorie free fibre source and help to prevent some of the above.

1. Straw is not suitable for every horse/pony.

2. Speak to your vet before starting to feed straw, to discuss if age/dentition/medical history make him/her a suitable candidate.

3. If your horse has previously suffered from impaction colic, then you will need to introduce straw extremely slowly, and may not be able to feed it.

4. If your horse has poor dentition (of the cheek teeth (molars)) then they may not be able to eat it. Although some straw can be softer and easier to eat than some courser hays.

5. Feed the best quality, softest straw you can find. Oat straw is thought to be the best, followed by wheat and barley, but the main thing is the softness and quality of the straw.

6. Introduce straw VERY SLOWLY to your horse’s forage ration. I normally advise mixing two handfuls into the haynet and monitoring for a week.

7. Monitor droppings on a daily basis whilst introducing and feeding straw, and if they start looking hard/dry or more “nuggety” than their normal droppings, then you’re feeding too much, have introduced it too quickly, or straw isn’t going to work for them. Stop immediately for a few days until droppings back to normal for that horse, and try again.

8. Personally I advise never feeding more than 25% of the forage ration as straw, although one study has shown that 50% straw:hay is safe, and has no increased risk of ulcers.

9. Straw can still be fed if your horse doesn’t like it, as it will slow down the amount of time it takes your horse to eat the hay, due to him picking around the straw.

10. Straw can be steamed to ensure as much dust as possible is removed, and to make it more palatable.

11. If your horse won’t touch his haynet with straw mixed into it, then obviously that is defeating the point of increasing forage, so pop a few handfuls into a separate net and go from there.

12. Always ensure easy access to fresh water (obviously this applies regardless of what you are feeding!).

13. Increase volume of straw fed by just a couple of handfuls every 7-10 days, or even slower if you have any concerns at all about droppings.

14. Ensure a good quality Feed Balancer is always fed, regardless of whether or not you are feeding straw. All of my good doers are on Baileys Lo Cal.

15. If you decide to feed straw, invest in some hanging luggage scales to ensure you don’t feed too much of the forage ration as straw.

16. If you currently need to feed soaked hay, then you will need to continue soaking your hay as you introduce straw, or it will defeat the object.

17. If your horse/pony is finishing all of his forage intake by 11pm/midnight, and standing in his stable with nothing until 7am (or even later) when you arrive, this is absolutely not okay, and you need to do something about it.

18. There are very few studies on feeding straw, so the above is based on a couple of studies and my experience of introducing straw into rations with my clients.

19. Chopped straw/chaff is an alternative (you may be able to leave your horse with a bucket of dampened down chaff overnight) but avoid chaff completely if your horse has been diagnosed with diastema. Again, you need to know about your horse’s dentition before introducing this.

20. Introduce good quality straw extremely slowly, and stop immediately if the droppings look very hard/dry.

Unrelated photo of beautiful Mabel ❤️

EDIT: You are obviously welcome to share this post directly, but not to copy and paste my words. I put a lot of effort into some of my posts, so sharing only. Thank you!

10/04/2026

Yesterday, a lesson with one of my regular students did not go to plan.

Honestly, though, it turned into something better—and exactly what that rider needed.

As instructors, we know plans change constantly in this world. There are so many factors involved on any given day that a huge part of what we do is adjust in real time and figure out what will create the best outcome for both horse and rider.

I had carefully chosen and set up the exercise pictured. I picked this one specifically because I knew my rider hadn't done it before, and he loves a fresh puzzle. I also know his horse responds really well to trot poles in sets of three or more. The middle triangle and slight curve added a new challenge to something they already understood well, so it seemed like the perfect exercise for the day.

We got started, and everything was normal.

Then something caught his horse's attention in the spooky line of trees alongside the arena.

This isn't unusual for that area. A lot of the barn's horses take a peek over there from time to time, and occasionally a deer will make an appearance.

So we stopped for a minute to see if there was a deer, or maybe something else we could identify.

Instead of settling, his horse became more on guard. She started letting out huge snorts of air, with her ears pricked, head high, and eyes completely locked on the trees.

My rider was getting uneasy, so I made my way back over and calmly took hold of his horse. After about the sixth big blow, we decided it was best for him to get off for a minute while we figured out what was going on. It was clear that he didn't feel safe, and safety matters above everything else.

Once he was on the ground, he walked her up to investigate. I had already gone partway over myself, and neither of us found anything obvious aside from a new—or newly painted—white window frame on a treehouse overlooking the arena, tucked just behind a few trees. The sun was catching it differently that day, and that very well could have been enough to bother her.

He took her closer on a long lead, let her look around, and by the time they came back to the arena he was feeling a little better.

But I could still see the worry lingering.

I gave him the option of moving inside for the rest of the lesson.

Maybe some people would consider that too cautious, but this is an older rider with physical limitations, and this particular horse can have a very big spook. I've seen it. I wasn't going to make that decision for him or pressure him into proving anything.

He chose to stay outside.

I stayed close while he mounted and walked on, and his hesitation was still very clear. I offered to use the long lead rope for a little extra support from the ground.

Then he told me something that mattered even more.

He needed me to stay alongside him.

That was huge.

It takes a lot of guts, self-awareness, and trust to tell your trainer, "I need you next to me." Especially in a horse world that can still be very quick to tell riders to toughen up, push through, or "man up."

So I stayed.

I kept them on the lead until he told me he was ready to try without it. Once I unclipped it, I stayed right at his horse's shoulder, talking to both of them and offering reassurance.

Then he got a little braver.

He wanted to try the exercise.

So I jogged alongside them, offering words of encouragement and support, while they went through it.

And each time, it got a little better.

His horse relaxed. He relaxed. Their confidence started coming back.

Slowly, I began giving them more space. I was still alongside them, but farther away each time, letting them start relying on each other again instead of relying entirely on me.

By the end, they completed the exercise beautifully—relaxed, successful, and proud of themselves.

I couldn't have been more proud of the pair of them, but especially of him.

He didn't overcome fear by pretending it wasn't there. He recognized it, communicated what he needed, accepted support, and then gradually chose to do a little more as his confidence returned.

The exercise I planned was supposed to challenge his riding.

Instead, the lesson challenged his confidence, communication, and ability to advocate for himself.

And sometimes, that's the much more important lesson.

10/04/2026

10/03/2026

For anyone who needs to hear this today…

Every dressage journey starts somewhere.

Before the flying changes, the passage, the big scores or the levels you dream about, there was a walk. A halt. A transition that probably wasn’t perfect. A circle that definitely wasn’t round.

We can get so caught up chasing the next movement or the next level that we forget what really matters.

Make the fundamentals great.

The rhythm. The balance. The connection. The communication between you and your horse.

Because the fancy stuff is only ever as good as the basics underneath it.

There is nothing wrong with going back. Nothing wrong with spending a session working on something simple. Sometimes that’s exactly where the biggest improvements come from.

Even the riders at the very top still work on transitions, circles, straightness and a good halt.

So wherever you are in your journey, don’t rush it.

Make the simple things good. Then make them better.

Make the fundamentals great. ❤️

10/02/2026

10/01/2026

Normalize being delighted by your own horse.

Not because they won something… not because they’re the fanciest one…

Just occasionally looking at them and thinking, 🤩🥰🤩🥰, I cannot believe I get to have you.

Maybe it IS their movement.

Maybe it’s their adorable face.

Maybe they’re a decidedly blah mover with a face only a mother could love AND YET you remain completely convinced they are the greatest creature to ever walk the earth. 😜🥰

Horses give us plenty of opportunities to want more, improve more, accomplish more.

But don’t forget to be a little irrationally obsessed with the horse you already have.

They don’t have to be exceptional to anyone else for you to think they’re special. ❤️

Featuring my squishy Veritas H2O, who has yet to be convinced that all of my affection and endearment toward her is actually a good thing. 😂😂

09/29/2026

I’ve gotten on him thinking, “Okay, I actually know what I’m doing now.” And then he reminds me that I am, in fact, still learning. 😂 But honestly, that’s one of the things I love most about him. He’s made me a better rider because he doesn’t let me fake it. If I’m unclear, he knows. If I’m tense, he knows. If I think I have everything figured out… he definitely knows. And then every once in a while, we have one of those rides where everything clicks and I think, “WAIT. Maybe I actually CAN ride.” Only for him to humble me again approximately 24 hours later. Wouldn’t trade him for anything. 🤎🐴 Anyone else have a horse who keeps their confidence appropriately regulated? 😂