Equine - Sports Therapy Esme Whinwray

18/06/2026

Did You Know? ☝️

Alongside my dear friend and mentor Emma Kay, we have developed a small but highly effective range of equine nutritional products.

Combining Emma's 30+ years of experience in equine nutrition with my own background in the equine industry, together with the valuable information we continue to gather through equine dissections, our products have been built around one simple goal:

To provide practical, research-informed nutrition that supports the horse as a whole.

Our formulations draw not only from nutritional science, but also from real-world observations, discussions with equine professionals, and the lessons horses themselves continue to teach us.

Becks' latest video discussing MAIN PRO

For more information
Fb; Main Equine Researched Nutrition
www.mainequineresearchednutrition.co.nz

Real nutrition 💙

16/06/2026

MR T
This is the C4 cervical vertebra from Mr T, the horse featured in last week's dissection.

There is a significant amount of information available on Becks Nairn's Patreon page explaining the findings from this horse, including the detailed information behind this particular vertebra.

☆ For this post, I simply want to leave you with a thought.

If your horse struggles to flex its neck to one side, Don't assume it is being difficult.
Don't assume it is stubborn.
And please don't force the issue.

Horses that are tied head-to-tail, or pulled into stronger flexion, or repeatedly asked to work through restrictions they are clearly finding difficult.
Here may lie the reason.

Horses don't wake up in the morning and decide they don't want to bend their neck today. It's not stubbornness. It's not poor behaviour. It is resistance, yes - for a very good reason.

This cervical vertebra shows significant bony remodelling.

Use this photo as a reminder that when a horse cannot perform a movement comfortably, there may be a very real physical reason behind it.

When we use force to "work through" a problem without understanding why the resistance may exist and resort to force - you are part of the problem.

For Mr T 🩵

11/06/2026

AT THE FACILITY TODAY
Two day dissection

Mr T was a 7-year-old TB x GC gelding, approximately 16.2hh.
His information sheet said diagnosed fractured neck, significant behavioural issues, and a history of having attacked people on two occasions.

On the morning he was due to come to the facility, the person transporting him was unable to get him onto the float, so the five of us travelled to the property, carried out an assessment there, and once he had been humanely euthanised, we transported him back to the facility for dissection.

We had no idea what we were about to endure.

Our understanding was that, despite being 7 years old, he had never really progressed into a ridden career. He had been started, but every attempt to move him forward as a ridden horse was met with significant behavioural issues.
3 trainers later and one 'at a loss owner' - wanting answers she had him arrive in our space.

By the end of day one, the behavior Mr T displayed was very justified, his reason to not float was clear and his list of issues was stacking up.
I cried a few times after leaving the facility that day. My husband asked me how the day went and that was met with my own out pour of emotional dispear.
Collectively it was decided before continuing with day two, we would honour him. We each brought something to the facility, candle, flowers, sage and Paula read a beautiful poem for him, which set us off again. Taking that time for us and for him cleared emotional space to carry on.

The following findings are to the best of my recollection from brief notes on our whiteboard. There was far more to this horse than I will ever be able to adequately describe in a Facebook post.. its late, im tired but I need to get this out of my head so I can sleep - so here goes.

Findings included:
• Adhesions around T16, approximately two hands down from the spine
• Significant brachiocephalic scar tissue extending deep into the tissue layers
• Damage to the spleen
• Omentum entangled, suggesting a possible historic colic episode / a pending one.
• Calcinosis throughout the liver and liver adhesions
• Left and right lungs adhered together, with abnormal lumpy lung tissue
• Near-side stifle breakdown with scoring and synovitis
• Historical tears to the meniscus, with loss of cartilage
• Breakdown of the scapular cartilage
• Chronic fibre disruption and scar tissue formation within the lamellar portion of the nuchal ligament
• Tissue throughout the body showing poor perfusion
• Bruising to the right sacroiliac region
• Damage to the accessory ligament on the medial side of the acetabular rim
• Arthritis at the T18 facet joint
• Right hind stifle vascularisation of the bone
• Right hind stifle altered wear patterns on both the medial and lateral aspects
• Bone chip present on the patella - lateral
• Right hind hip: the accessory ligament at the entrance to the femoral head was frayed
• Right hind lumbosacral joint showing serious joint breakdown on both margins with significant trauma
• Sacroiliac joint substantially compromised and fragile, separating from its attachment under its own weight - something that should never occur
• large tear and scarring around the right tuber coxae
• Pockets of tissue separation beneath the skin, varying in size and accompanied by scar tissue
• Nerve tissue throughout the body was found in varying states of inflammation, historical and current inflammation.
• The p***c symphysis remained unfused, with cartilage still present between the pelvic structures. While this can be a normal developmental finding in some younger horses, it was noted alongside other significant pelvic abnormalities, including substantial trauma throughout the hindquarter region.
• Although we did not identify a definitive fracture within the cervical spine, the bony changes observed around C5 were significant and suggestive of substantial historic pathology or trauma within the neck region.

There are plenty of videos and photos of the past two days on Becks Nairns Patreon page.
For more indepth information - it will be worth joining.

You will be asking how does this much damage happen to a horse ?
The neck fracture was understood to be an overnight paddock accident.
He was found in a state - vet was called, xrays taken.

My own personal opinion - My own word of caution -
Be careful who you send your horse to for any age and stage of training, do your homework on their training techniques. 100% accidents can happen and that's a risk we take as owners. There are also some outdated training techniques to be very wary of.

Mr T - When we met you in your paddock you greeted us with your head low and an invite to scratch you. When we called you a good boy you lite up.
A kind heart but a broken body.
Rest easy equine friend - we will take it from here. X

Our crew - our hard working team
* Becks Nairn
* Dr Ruth McManus
* Sarah Blackburn
* Paula Doherty
* Myself - Esme Whinwray

To our fabulous sponsors and contributions.
We are grateful 🙏
For the horses of the future

Equi Ed Ireland
Main Equine Researched Nutrition
Esme Whinwray & Shane Gadsby
Dr Ruth McManus
Emma Kay
Paula Doherty
Pat & Tony Whinwray
Jacqui Muller - in loving memory of Pony
Jervis Whinwray
Wren Abbott
Clare Porter
Jan Hibberd - loving memory of Nuke
Jan Hibberd - loving memory of Hugo
Vivant Equi NZ
Gretchen Davis

Behavior is communication 📢

Knowledge is power

We can do better

10/06/2026

At the facility today
Day one of a two day dissection .

Interesting little nuggets of information for you.

Digestive Tract Contents and its Weight

One of the things that often surprises us during a dissection is just how much material a horse can be carrying inside its digestive tract, its ridiculously heavy and takes 3 or 4 of us to carry it out.

This horse was a relatively lightweight, standing approximately 16.2hh.

▪ Caecum and large intestine weighed 22kg
▪ Re**um contents weighed 11kg
That's 33kg of digestive contents from those sections alone.

This does not include the full stomach content or the contents of the small intestine.

My wheelbarrow was full from the ceacum and large intestine.

We often think about the horse's body weight in terms of muscle, bone and fat, but a significant amount of weight can simply be the feed, fibre and fluid moving through the digestive system.

We have some very interesting findings in this horse - which I will share tomorrow on completion

Mr T - 7 yr old, TB cross. Diagnosed with a fractured neck, poor topline and labelled dangerous.
Full deets tomorrow. 😉

03/06/2026

INFLAMMATION - What we don't see

INFLAMMATION – What We Can't See

Pictured below is a portion of the small intestine.
The light colouring is normal; the red, angry appearance is consistent with tissue irritation and inflammation.

We hear a lot about stomach ulcers in horses.
But what happens when the inflammation is further down the digestive tract?

What happens when the small intestine, caecum, or large colon become irritated, inflamed, or stressed?
Unlike the stomach, inflamed intestines are much harder to diagnose, and often near impossible to confirm accurately.

Yet they can have a significant impact on the horse's behaviour, performance, and overall wellbeing.
An inflamed digestive tract may contribute to:
▪ Poor nutrient absorption
▪ Loose manure or inconsistent droppings
▪ Weight loss or difficulty maintaining condition
▪ Increased sensitivity through the body
▪ Changes in behaviour or attitude
▪ Poor recovery after exercise
▪ Reduced immune function
▪ Low energy
▪︎ Aggression
▪ A very unhappy horse and a desperate owner

When that system becomes irritated, the effects can be felt far beyond the original issue itself.

I know I'm on repeat - but it's the repeat that needs repeating.
☆ Are we treating the symptom or the cause?
☆ Treat the horse as a whole.

The Equine Research and Learning Facility continually shows us how easily causes can be missed, and how limited diagnostics can sometimes be in providing the full picture.

Stress. Diet changes. Poor-quality forage. Toxins. Microbial imbalance. Parasitic burden. Environmental pressures. Workloads. Genetics.
All can contribute to a chronic inflammatory load.

Prescription medications and specific products may be required to provide relief from the immediate discomfort and begin the healing process.
However, long-term reliance on these alone may not address the underlying cause and create secondary issues.

Based on what we see at the facility, conversations with professionals in the nutrition field, and discussions with other equine specialists
MAIN Equine Researched Nutrition designed
MAIN Pro.
Designed to help support oxidative stress, inflammation (both joint and systemic), digestive health, and the microbiome by addressing the horse as a whole.

100% nature's best - proven ingredients.

For more information and prices
www.mainequineresearchednutrition.co.nz

Portion of the small intestine - Inflammation

21/05/2026

EQUINE RESEARCH AND LEARNING FACILITY

Yesterday we had another dissection - a 4 year-old Standardbred gelding - Mr Q

This one feels harder to write about because he was so young.
To skip through a whole lot of process and findings from the day, ultimately this horse had a fractured acetabulum.
Mr Q had retired from the track roughly eight weeks or so ago and was tried as a pleasure hack.

During that process it became very clear he had significant instability through his hind end. Assessments were done and ultimately the decision was made that he was not going to be suitable for rehoming, and the facility was asked if we would do the dissection to try and better understand what was going on.

He was particularly interesting because the instability through his hind end was so obvious and in order to reverse, he had to physically turn his head to look where he was going. When asked to back straight with his head centered, he simply could not coordinate the movement with out looking.

I didn’t realise until later in the morning that he was only 4 years old. That hit hard.
A horse that young already carrying that level of physical breakdown is difficult to process.
He was also just the sweetest young horse. Kind natured. Gentle. The sort that makes these days sit heavier.

We will never know exactly how or when the fractured acetabulum occurred, and respectfully this is not about blame. This is about learning.
This is why the facility exists.
These horses continue to teach us. Every dissection gives us another piece of understanding about the physical realities happening underneath the symptoms. The instability, the compensation, the movement patterns, the behavioural changes they all have a reason.
Sometimes the findings answer questions. Sometimes they raise more questions.
But every single horse contributes to helping us understand how we can do better - the whole horse community / industry can do better !

Brief on Mr Qs Findings

Fracture acetabulum
RH hock scoring marks on condyles
Hind Fetlock - Synovitis
Hind Fetlock- chronic synovitis
Cartilage fibrin in both upper lobes ( lung)
* RF bowed tendon - vascularised - thickened.
I just want to jump in here and say if you ever saw what we see in tendon damage - in this case bowed tendon, you would be disappointed that we dont take this this type of damage more seriously.
Exostosis on nuchal crest.
Laceration/s to Spleen
Kidney - 1 was blood filled - sent for further investigation.
Liver - large Fibrin deposits - unusal and also under further investigation.

For more extensive findings, explanations, videos and photos
Becks Nairn Patreon page !

* I will have some very interesting information on the digestive track and findings on
Main Equine Researched Nutrition fb page.
That will be worth viewing.

We had the usual amazing crew on tools yesterday.
* Becks Nairn
* Dr Ruth McManus
* Sarah Blackburn
* Paula Doherty
* Myself - Esme Whinwray

We also had Jan, Kat & Nadia who come for the hands on learning experience.

To our fabulous sponsors and contributions.
The Facility would not exist with out these people
We are grateful 🙏
For the horses of the future

Equi Ed Ireland
Main Equine Researched Nutrition
Esme Whinwray & Shane Gadsby
Dr Ruth McManus
Emma Kay
Paula Doherty
Pat & Tony Whinwray
Jacqui Muller - in loving memory of Pony
Jervis Whinwray - RIP brother x
Wren Abbott
Clare Porter
Jan Hibberd - loving memory of Nuke
Jan Hibberd - loving memory of Hugo
Vivant Equi NZ
Gretchen Davis

Though Mr Q had a short life - to keep honor in his sacrifice - we learn. we improve. we do better.

Knowledge is power

15/05/2026

Great opportunity to speak with a very knowledgeable lady.
Emma 🩷 my business partner in Main and my long time mentor.
Her knowledge in nutrition, feeding plans and understanding of associated negative behaviors through poor diet - is not to be missed.
Pm us on the Main Equine Researched Nutrition fb page for contact details.

PERSONAL CHATS WITH EMMA KAY
After some free advice?
Need help with a nutritional plan or feed plan ?
Your horse expressing undesired behavior ?

For the next 2 weeks - until the end of May - Emma Kay is donating her time to help horse owners looking for guidance.

With decades of experience in equine nutrition and rehabilitation, Emma has helped support and transform the lives of countless horses through practical knowledge, nutritional support and simple feeding plan.

MAIN Equine Researched Nutrition
offering ' Free 1 Hour Chats with Emma Kay '

Limited spaces available for the next 2 weeks.
DM us for Emma’s direct details and booking information.

Happy Healthy Horses. 🩵

29/04/2026

🔬 DISSECTION DAY – 20th MAY 🔬
Observer spots now open
This is your opportunity to learn from the horse itself.

If you’ve been following the reviews from Becks Nairn USA tour and the feed back from people who have attended - i hope it encourages people to come and experience the day.
This is a day and space created for a respectful & supportive learning environment.
Caters to all levels of people involved with horses from owners to industry professionals.

• Connect physical findings to symptoms.
• Challenge what you’ve been told vs what horses show us

Limited observer spots available
Message Sarah via pm at the
Equine Research and Learning Facility directly to secure a spot.

Located Nrth Canterbury Facility

23/04/2026

Product number 2... over 18 months to bringing this together. 🩵
For the horses x

21/04/2026

Feel this