A Healthy Horse is a Happy Friend

Carla Danesi grew up in an Italian family in the Midwest where food played a very important role of love and comfort to the family. At the age of 9 she began riding horses and fell in love. She would spend her summers working at the barn feeding, cleaning stalls and water buckets in exchange for ride time. Her passion for animals grew as she got older and decided to start the pre-veterinarian track at The Ohio State University. While in college she became very interested in learning more about nutrition so changed her major to incorporate human and animal nutrition. After graduating and working as a vet tech in an equine hospital in Florida she decided to follow her passion for human nutrition and went back to college. Following her internship at the Department of Veterans Affairs, credentialing to become a dietitian and a few years of a career under her belt she bought her first horse, Tank. Tank was young, under muscled and had poor hoof quality which sparked an old interest in equine nutrition. Through education from farriers, veterinarians and research of her own she realized how complex equine nutrition was and how there was as much mis-information about healthy eating and supplements for horses as there was for humans! She decided to take the Equine Nutrition course at Rutgers University to update and add to her knowledge of equine nutrition so she could balance her horse’s diet and help others do the same!

Carla’s inspiration has always been helping others through learning from her own struggles. “My horse, Tank, has inspired me in so many ways I could not write them all in a short paragraph. He has shown me how much work it takes to own and train a horse and just when you think everything is going so well, another hurdle is thrown into your path! He has taught me patience and to slow down and enjoy the moment. I have learned that horses do tell you when something is wrong, you just have to listen to their way of communicating. He has also shown me that you can’t hide your emotions from a horse because they can feel it and Tank has no problem telling me he does!”

Carla’s mission is to improve the health of horse and rider through scientific based nutrition education. Being someone who has gone through her own struggles with weight, fad diets, illness and learning how to find the balance of healthy eating while being able to enjoy sweet treats, she can truly empathize with her patients and help provide reasonable goals for success. Being a new horse owner learning and going through the struggles of poor hoof quality, EPM, stomach ulcers and the mis-information surrounding nutrition to treat these issues she will be there to guide you with scientifically based answers in regards to proper nutrition while also providing compassion for what your horse is going through.