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’.
