Next Generation Breeding Needs Next Generation Nutrition: Our Partnership with Natural Science Group

The announcement

Harriet is delighted to announce that Horses Smith has partnered with Natural Science Group as our Supplement Product Development partner. Together we are developing bespoke liquid formulations for the horses in our collection: not a product range, but individual formulations tailored to each horse''s nutritional needs, from a growing foal on a proven damline to a competition horse in full work.

"It is a privilege for me to have access to Lisa and her team. The knowledge and love for animal welfare at NSG has always been an interest to me over the three years I have known Lisa. She has helped thousands of animals have a better life, and I am thrilled she will now apply her skills to Horses Smith."

Harriet Smith, Founder, Horses Smith

Why next generation breeders need next generation nutrition

Every horse on this yard is on a plan, and a plan that runs from embryo to the ring cannot feed every horse the same scoop of the same powder. A yearling laying down bone, a broodmare in foal, and a horse jumping internationally have different requirements, and those requirements change with season, workload and growth stage.

That is what nutraceutical smart-dosing means in practice: active ingredients dosed to the individual horse, adjusted as the individual horse changes. Liquid formulations are what make it possible. A liquid can be titrated precisely to bodyweight and need, absorbed consistently, and adjusted week by week without reformulating the feed room. A tub of powder is a product. A smart-dosed liquid is a programme.

Nutrition has always been a first-class part of how this yard works: it is Lee''s corner of the yard, grounded in real chemistry and biology. This partnership takes the formulation work that already happens here and puts a clinical product-development engine behind it.

Who Natural Science Group are

Natural Science Group is an independent animal nutrition company that applies human-grade nutraceutical standards to animal health, spanning formulation, placebo-controlled clinical trial design, and GMP-standard UK manufacturing. Co-founder Lisa Hilton, who leads Formulation and Innovation, has built a genuinely cutting-edge business on two decades of human-grade supplement development, and she brings that rigour to the equine work we are doing together. We are excited to be working with her team.

Lisa Hilton in the lab, designing formulations for the Horses Smith collection.

"Natural Science Group is the fastest evolving business I have ever been involved with, because people are taking care of their animals better than ever before. As we humans have understood the value of nutrition, specifically in COVID times, this has passed on to our loved furry friends. Now NSG is intelligent-dosing animals the same way our colleagues do for humans, maybe better in some cases. Harriet is at the cutting edge of breeding. I am not surprised she approached me for this partnership. We are going to make a great team."

Lisa Hilton, Co-founder, Natural Science Group

The development work runs in association with Supplement Factory, whose laboratories and GMP manufacturing sit behind the formulations.

An honest note, because that is how we do things here: this partnership is closer to home than most. Lee co-founded Natural Science Group''s manufacturing side, and the nutrition programme he already runs for our horses is exactly what this formalises. We would rather tell you that plainly than have you find it on their team page.

What it means for a buyer

When a horse leaves this yard, its nutrition history goes with it: what it has been fed, why, and the formulation it is currently on, documented like everything else we publish. If you buy a young horse from us, you are not guessing at the feeding programme that built it. And the person who designed that programme remains a phone call away after the sale, as he always has been.

What happens next

The first bespoke formulations are rolling out across the collection now, and Natural Science Group have published their own announcement of the partnership. If you want to talk about how any horse here is fed, or what its programme would look like in your yard, ask us: nutrition questions get answered by the person who formulates, which is rather the point.