Team Parallax

If you've walked your fields recently, you'll have noticed it — bright yellow flowers popping up everywhere, seemingly more than ever. Ragwort has had a spectacular year, and whilst it might look cheerful dotted across the countryside, it's one of the most dangerous plants your horse can encounter.

The British summer has a habit of catching us off guard. One week it's drizzling and you're scraping mud off fetlocks; the next the mercury has climbed past 28°C and you're stood in the yard wondering why your horse looks so flat. Heatwaves are genuinely stressful for horses. Unlike us, they can't open the freezer door, pour a cold drink or sit under a fan. They rely entirely on us to manage their environment — and the difference between a horse that copes well and one that struggles often...

here's a moment every spring when the hay bales start to dwindle and the grass begins to come through, and plenty of horse owners breathe a small sigh of relief. Winter's over. The hard work is done. Time to put the hay feeder away until autumn. We'd gently suggest: not so fast. Slow feeding isn't a winter strategy. It's a year-round one — and in some ways, spring is the season when it matters most.