Antoinette Foster
Horse Health / Care
Dip. Nut. BSc Nutrition, Equine Nutritional Therapist, Medical Herbalist, Product Formulator and Human Nutritionist.
Antoinette founded Hi Form Australia in 1990, Since then, Antoinette has provided nutrition and integrative health programs to the equine industry. Her approach blends a nutrition and herbal medicine background with the natural, science-based therapies of progressive Functional Medicine.
“Treating each horse as an individual is paramount, we must pay attention to many aspects of the horses’ temperament as well as work demands and most importantly diet. What is most important in this process is what horse owners are feeding their horses. Feeding a horse, a nutritious diet has an impact on their mental and physical state and will have a long-term positive effect.
‘In my time as a practitioner, I have seen dramatic changes in the long-term health of thousands of horses’. Antoinette studied nutrition at Adelaide University, and over the years has expanded her knowledge studying herbal medicine, nutritional therapy, nutritional therapy and genetics and she is also a qualified Nutrigenomics practitioner. Antoinette and her fellow practitioners will be launching the first ever Rider and Horse Health program at Equitana this year, with the aim to educate riders and their equine partners to live their best life.
She has also begun research work into the gut microbiome and the connection between the gut brain axis, inflammation, immune function, skin condition, laminitis, digestive health issues and ulcers in horses.
Antoinette writes for publications such as Hoofbeats magazine, Equestrian Australia, The Horse Report, Chaff Chat and has had several articles published internationally. She has also been a regular speaker at many events both in Australia and internationally and is the author of the successful book ‘Eat Like a Horse’. More recently Antoinette has launched the Horse Life weekly podcast series which cover a wide range of topics.
She is a keen horse rider and in March 2021 Antoinette followed her desire to enter the sport of reining from dressage and purchased a lovely, educated horse Yarraleigh Lethal Maximus, she has competed in a few small shows and is working towards the Victorian State show in 2023. Antoinette also owns a beautiful warmblood by Fidertanz, who is being campaigned by close friend, trainer and sponsored rider David Boyle.
Antoinette is a member of Nutrition Australia, Nutrition Society UK, American Society of Animal Science, IICT and The College of Integrative Therapies.
Antoinette has a great passion for research and learning. ‘The more I know the more excited I become about the possibilities and the ability to share that knowledge with my clients’.
Visit Antoinette Foster at the following sessions
Details
Thursday November 14th
Ariat Theatrette, Ariat Building
Equine Asthma
Equine asthma is a serious condition that requires proper diagnosis, management and treatment. Can complimentary therapies be an effective treatment?
Ever tried breathing though a straw while running, it is almost impossible to do, it forces you to suck as much oxygen into your lungs as is possible and achieve a deep breath. Expelling the air out through that little straw is just as exhausting, this is what asthmatics go through and it is also what your horse experiences too. With horses and humans once they do get air into the lungs, they generally end up coughing.
SEA or severe equine asthma generally effects horses over the age of 7. Studies have shown that more than one in seven horses can be affected by asthma but we are certainly seeing an increase in those numbers. The most important aspect of treating and managing asthma is to instigate the correct treatment once diagnosed and to support the respiratory system to allow the horses to continue working for many years to come. In this presentation we look in depth at the effects on the horse, measures horse owners can take, what are the possible triggers, what options are available aside from conventional medicine and can we manage competition horses long-term bearing in mind drug therapy cannot be used in competition.
