About Us
“As horse owners, there is something we feel, deep in our core, when we look at our horses and know that they are not only healthy, but happy.
It’s a big feeling… A mix of joy, pride, love, awe… as we see these creatures we adore so completely looking so well and happy in themselves.
This is what I want for horse owners everywhere.”
— Dr Nerida McGilchrist B.Rur.Sc (Hon1) Phd
Meet the Team
-
Dr Nerida McGilchrist PhD
SPECIALIST EQUINE NUTRITIONIST & FOUNDER
-
Chelsey Benzel
MARKETING & GROWTH STRATEGIST
-
Matt Higham
SOFTWARE ENGINEER
-
Specialist Equine Nutritionist and Founder
Dr. Nerida McGilchrist (formerly Dr. Nerida Richards) is a world renowned equine nutritionist with a Ph.D. in equine nutrition and more than 25 years of experience helping horses thrive. As the founder of Equilize Horse Nutrition and creator of the nutrition tools Equilize and FeedXL, she’s built an international reputation for blending science with practical solutions.
Trusted by the world’s leading feed and supplement companies, trainers and breeders, Dr Nerida is now bringing her expertise to MyHappy.Horse, a virtual equine nutritionist app designed to make advanced nutrition accessible to every horse owner.
When she’s not working, you’ll find Nerida with her kids or in outback Australia with her partner Ryan. Nerida’s purpose is simple: to honour her lifelong love for horses and leave the world a better place for all of our beautiful equines.
-
Marketing & Growth Strategist
Chelsey brings over a decade of experience in digital marketing and online business to My Happy Horse, where she oversees marketing efforts, email campaigns, and the exciting development of Dr Nerida AI. Having worked alongside Dr Nerida at FeedXL, she blends a deep understanding of equine nutrition marketing with expertise in technology and customer engagement.
While she doesn’t yet have a horse of her own, her passion for equines shines through in her dedication to creating exceptional customer experiences. She approaches her role with a unique perspective, complementing Nerida and the team’s equine expertise with her own marketing finesse.
When she’s not focused on enhancing the customer experience at My Happy Horse, you’ll find her out for dog walks with her greyhound/coyote mix. Thrilled to help horses and their owners thrive, Chelsey is proud to contribute to a project that combines her love for animals and innovative marketing solutions.
-
Software Engineer
Hi, I'm Matt!
Hailing from the picturesque town of Scone, NSW, I'm a software engineer with a passion for problem-solving and a knack for turning wild ideas into elegant digital solutions. Growing up surrounded by equestrian culture, I’ve always had a connection to the world of horses, and now, I get to combine that with my love for technology.
I thrive on creating seamless, user-friendly experiences that will hopefully make life easier for horse owners and enthusiasts. Whether it’s optimising feeding or tracking nutritional needs, I’m here to ensure every byte (and bite) is perfectly tailored.
When I’m not deep in lines of code, you can find me exploring the great outdoors, tinkering with side projects, or trying to win at board games with my family. I’m driven by a love of innovation, a sprinkle of humor, and a commitment to making technology work for people.
We’re on a mission…
To empower horse owners worldwide with innovative nutrition technologies that enhance the health, wellbeing and happiness of their horses.
And, through our charitable initiatives, we are committed to making the lives of working horses, donkeys and mules in developing countries better, safer and more humane.
We are here to make a lasting, positive impact and leave the world a better place for all equines.
The Horses
-
Melt my heart, these two little girls came into my life as neglected and half starved weanlings. A few years later and they are glowing balls of love and happiness… two sweeter girls I have never met. D&D are living, breathing examples of what simple, good nutrition can do for a horse, transforming both these girls from undergrown, weak yearlings into strong and healthy horses!
Purchased deliberately to demonstrate just what good nutrition can do, I think they have done their job beautifully! And now they are my favouritest horsey friends who love to love any human they come into contact with and are just the most delightful horses I have ever had to ride!
-
I (Nerida) bred Poet and he is the very sentimental foal of my childhood horse CoaCoa.
Poet is in his 20’s now and has finally grown up and settled down. The poor big guy never did really have a purpose in life as his prime passed by while my kids were young…BUT he is now the much loved favourite horse of one of my neices and they get along like I never would have believed! After 2 decades of being a nuisance (a much loved one!) he finally has a purpose!!
-
The newest addition to our horsey family, Allay has come to us from a successful career in racing to now be Tamaya’s new (taller!) horse.
Allay is also a Racing Queensland, Queensland Off The Track project and her story will be told as part of the QOTT Nutrition Education series.
A big, sweet, loveable gentle giant, Allay has fitted right in here with our little herd and we love her to bits!
Together with all her herd mates, she gives me plenty to learn from as we take her through her transition from racehorse to show jumper!
-
Oh Breezy, we love this big girl. She came to us in 2021 and on vet check, our vet told us with her age (in her thirties) and state of her legs, she would last maybe 6 months … and here we are!
Breezy is one of those horses you KNOW has been amazing for many people in all her years! Since being with us she has been an ever-dependable kids horse and more recently she has been Mama Breeze and has raised Domino and Delingr to be beautiful, friendly, respectful young ladies and more recently she has taught Allay to be relaxed and a brilliant grazer during her transition from racing!
Well in her mid-thirties now she has slowed down a lot and it breaks my heart knowing sometime we will have to say goodbye. But for now, she is living her best life and seeing out her days in a big pasture with her friends.
-
Popcorn’s is the daughter of the beautiful Quilla, Nerida’s horse she was given 30ish years ago.
Popcorn is now Tamaya’s horse and together they compete in showjumping and all manner of Interschools horse sports!With more than enough personality for many horses, Popcorn keeps us all entertained but a more reliable partner for a teenager you won’t find!
-
Spotty is our pony and while we don’t really NEED a pony, if we are going to have a pony, then we are glad it is Spotty.
This little critter thankfully missed the compulsory ‘how to be a naughty pony’ classes and she is as well behaved as you like, mostly staying in her paddocks and only bucking the occasional teenager off!
In all seriousness, she is a good little girl and we teach so many people to ride on her! And she keeps us entertained with her very vocal excitement at dinner time!
The Dogs
-
CHO - Chief Happiness Officer
Skittles holds a most important role here at MHH, it’s a big job being chief happiness officer of a company that promises happiness! But it is a role she was born for!
Always on the lookout for the comfiest spots to sleep, while carefully keeping an eye on whether any bones or treats may be handed out, Skittles can be found in and around MHH HQ, spreading her love and happiness everywhere she goes.
-
Chewy’s is our big gentle giant who quietly goes about her job of always keeping Nerida company. These two have been near inseparable for 11 years!
Chewy also takes on the self appointed role of keeping the horses (we are looking at you Poet!) in line… not that they listen to her much :)
-
Monte’s is Ryan’s doggo and is our man of action. If you need a ball chased or a stick retrieved, Monte is your guy!!
He is also the team therapy dog and will go and check on everyone at regular intervals to make sure we are all OK.
Monte particularly loves our kids and is never happier than playing games with them… he excels at balloon keepie-uppies!
-
CEO - Chief Edibles Officers
Being dogs of the ‘goat’ variety, Clover and Manny are important members of the team, willing to nibble on virtually anything to see if it may be edible… an important role for a company based around nutrition don’t you think!When not doing their job, Clover and Manny can be found just hanging out and playing with the other dogs of the family or getting into whatever brand of mischief is going around at the time!
-
Pippa is the old lady of our team and as such gets many well deserved old lady privileges.
This little girl is a never ending source of cuddles and love and is never far away when anyone on the team needs some TLC.
Giving Back
Helping Horses with Each Membership
You Can Help Equines Around the World!
There are an estimated 112 million Equidae (horses, donkeys, mules) in the developing world, providing essential resources for their owners' livelihoods and well-being. The impoverished situation of their owners and the often harsh conditions in which they work mean that the animals' welfare is a cause for concern. Upjohn et al 2014
We believe in making the world better for all horses, not just the ones in our direct care. That’s why a portion of all of our income goes directly to charitable initiatives supporting working horses, donkeys, and mules in developing countries.
By simply helping your horse, you are helping to make the the lives of working equines around the world healthier and happier! A portion of all My Happy Horse income is donated to Equine Welfare Organisations, who use these funds to carry out welfare and education programs in developing countries.
The organisations we support
The first charity we have chosen to support is Egypt Equine Aid. Their Facebook page will show you some of the incredible work these incredible humans do!
We have chosen this charity because it is Australian (like Nerida) but in Egypt where Nerida’s Mum was born and lived until she was 21 before immigrating to Australia with her family in the 1960’s. And the equines there really need all the help they can get!! Anyone who has travelled to Egypt can attest to this!
Through this program and others we hope to support in future, we help provide financial resources so that proper nutrition, veterinary care, and improved working conditions can be given for equines in desperate need.
When you use MyHappy.Horse, you’re not just feeding your horse better—you’re contributing to a healthier, happier future for some of the world's working equines who need it most!
Make a donation
Superstar!! If you would like to make a further donation to this charity, please use the link below.
The MyHappy.Horse Story
Feeding horses is at once so simple and yet so complex.
And that is why we are here, to take away that complexity (and confusion!) and give you the certainty you are doing what is best for your horses.
MyHappy.Horse is the result of more than two and a half decades of study, on the ground work and software development for me… Dr Nerida McGilchrist.
Back in 2004, I had finished my equine nutrition PhD and had started my boutique consultancy, Equilize Horse Nutrition. As a consultant I worked primarily with feed and supplement companies to create new feeds and supplements and support their larger clients with nutrition advice.
But it left me wondering how I could help the many thousands of horse owners who wanted and needed nutrition support… there just wasn’t enough time in a day to do that.
As a teenager, I had also lost a filly foal from my beautiful mare CoaCoa, to what was almost certainly iodine deficiency. Absolutely broke my heart. Spurred on by the desire to prevent this from happening to me again or to anyone else, I knew we all needed a way to easily assess diets.
So, I built ‘Equilize’, my CD-ROM based software in 2004. By early 2006 I was already worn out from trying to manage updates and databases with software that was installed on personal computers!
I happened to stumble across two willing business partners who were working on browser based software in the early 2000s, well ahead of the game at that time… and together, we built FeedXL.
As browser based software FeedXL was easily updated and it quickly claimed its place in the industry as the world’s leading horse nutrition calculator where it still remains! FeedXL allows horse owners to make their own independent decisions around what to feed their horse and allows them to balance their horses’ diets.
HOWEVER, what I have come to realise is that a majority of horse owners don’t want to, nor have the time to educate themselves and work out what is best to feed this or that horse. There is a lot to know and it is easy to get it wrong!
As a 20-something year old when we built FeedXL, I was idealistic. I didn’t want to influence anyone in their feed choices and didn’t want to appear biased. So we made FeedXL completely independent and didn’t provide any assistance in selecting the right products for a horse, we let you, as the horse owner have full control over that.
BUT, now, what I understand is that so many of you want help is selecting the right products. And that I should be using my skills to know which feed and supplement ingredients are good and which aren’t to help you, as horse owners, trainers and breeders, to make the best possible choices when feeding your horses!
MyHappy.Horse will allow you to build customised diets from scratch, with the ability to use any feed or supplement you wish for your horses.
And with time, we will release a version that will give you ready formulated diets using ingredients I have selected carefully using all of my two-and-a-half-decades plus of experience to know what products are good and which aren’t.
MyHappy.Horse’s sole purpose is to make sure your horse is fed in a way that will keep them healthy, happy and absolutely at their best!
Is confusion about feeding costing you?
How much longer will you struggle to feed your horse?