Antoinette Foster
Horse health / Care
Since 1990, 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, Equine Nutrition, nutritional therapy, nutritional therapy and genetics, qualified Nutrigenomics practitioner and an approved service provider with IICT. She has begun research work into the connection between diet, the gut microbiome and ulcers in horses with Smart DNA and has recently teamed up with Charles Sturt University to begin valuable research work. Antoinette writes regularly for publications such as Hoofbeats magazine, 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. On a recent trip to the UK she was invited to speak at a veterinarian seminar on nutrition. She is also the author of the successful book ‘Eat Like a Horse’ and is currently part way through penning her second book.
Antoinette is a member of Nutrition Australia, Nutrition Society UK, American Society of Animal Science, IICT and The College of Integrative Therapies. I have a passion for research and learning ‘The more I know the more excited I become about the ability to share that knowledge with my clients’.
Visit Antoinette Foster at the following sessions
Details
Friday November 12th
3:15 pm to 4:00 pm
EQUITANA Classroom
Ulcers and the connection to horse’s diet
In this presentation Antoinette looks at ways to reduce the risk of ulcers in horses and the advancements that have been made in the study of the gut microbiome and the direct link to diet, ulcers and other digestive conditions.
Antoinette takes the audience through the process of how ulcers develop, what methods there are to manage them and how to reduce the risk of ulcers in horses. Antoinette also looks at hindgut ulcers and the potential of new technology to diagnose them. Within the equestrian world it is a well-known fact that gastric ulcers are very common in horses, with studies having shown that all horses are at risk.
Details
Sunday November 14th
12:45 pm to 1:30 pm
Education Theatrette
Bushfires and how it affects our horses
In this presentation Antoinette discusses the effects bushfires can have on the horse’s health, both mental and physical and how you can manage horses that have been impacted, respiratory conditions being the most common.
Antoinette and her staff were involved with the bushfire relief in East Gippsland and other parts of Australia and have been working with Gippsland Horse and Stock Safe and the RSPCA. Antoinette discusses the need for veterinary treatment, plans going forward and returning to bushfire affected areas. She also discusses the importance of replicating the previous natural environment as best as possible, as horses are grazing animals and require a high level of roughage.
