Essential Equine Nutrition from Areion Academy

Science Based - Species Appropriate

Understand what you're feeding and why

Equine nutrition can feel unnecessarily complicated.

Conflicting advice, clever marketing and an ever-growing choice of feeds and supplements can make it difficult to know what your horse actually needs.

Essential Equine Nutrition is designed to help you cut through that confusion.

Led by equine nutritionist Nia Cooke MSc, BSc (Hons), DEP ProDipEqNut, this comprehensive online course takes a species-appropriate, evidence-led approach to nutrition that puts the horse, rather than the latest feeding trend, at the centre of your decisions.

Across more than 7.5 hours of expert-led learning, you'll explore:

  • How the equine digestive system is designed to function

  • Nutrient types and their roles within the body

  • Vitamins, minerals and nutritional balance

  • Common dietary and metabolic challenges

  • Practical approaches to feeding horses in the real world

  • The relationship between nutrition, hoof health and whole-horse wellbeing

  • How to critically assess feed labels and ingredient lists rather than relying on marketing claims

By the end of the course, you'll be better equipped to look at a diet, ask useful questions and understand the reasoning behind the choices you make.

Who is the course for?

Essential Equine Nutrition is suitable for horse owners and equine professionals who want to develop a deeper understanding of nutrition.

You don't need any previous nutritional knowledge to take the course. And while the course won't make you a nutritionist, that requires far more extensive specialist training, it will help you recognise potential problems, make more informed decisions and understand when specialist nutritional support may be needed.

The best feeding decisions aren't driven by marketing. They're driven by understanding.

Essential Equine Nutrition

7.5+ hours of online learning
Taught by equine nutritionist Nia Cooke
CPD certificate available on request

Full course investment: £199

Sign Up Here!

This Areion Academy course has been created by equine nutrition expert Nia Cooke BSc (hons) ProDip EqNu, DEP

In 2004, Nia set out to buy a few headcollars and came home with a Section D mare who would go on to challenge everything she thought she knew about horses. Milly refused to tolerate Nia’s tried-and-tested approach to horse care, forcing a complete rethink and ultimately changing the direction of her career.

What began as curiosity became commitment. In 2011, Nia left her accountancy career to train as an Equine Podiatrist. As her practice developed, she recognised a consistent pattern: many of the hoof issues she was seeing were rooted not in the foot itself, but in the horse’s diet.

Driven to understand the deeper “why,” Nia completed her Professional Diploma in Equine Nutrition. Still frustrated by the lack of depth and the prevalence of generalised advice, she went on to earn a BSc (Hons) in Equine and Veterinary Bioscience from Aberystwyth University, followed by an MSc in Animal Nutrition from the University of Glasgow.

Alongside her studies, Nia worked as an independent nutritionist, supporting horse owners through tailored consultations—while also navigating life as a new mother. Recognising a gap in the market for genuinely appropriate feeding options, she entered the University of Glasgow’s Inventerprize competition, winning the prestigious award and funding that enabled her to launch Finer Forage, an all-natural feed company grounded in species-appropriate principles.

Today, Nia continues to run Finer Forage, alongside teaching and speaking on equine nutrition. Her work is driven by a clear mission: to improve horse health through a deeper, more accurate understanding of how horses are designed to be fed.

Sign Up Here!

What Does The Course Involve?

There are 6 modules, each delivered in a series of informative video lessons that you can watch at your own pace and in your own time. They are designed to progressively build your knowledge and understanding as you work through.

Modules and Content

Module 1: Digestive Anatomy

Module 2: Nutrient Types

Module 3: Vitamins and Minerals

Module 4: Understanding Feed Labels and Analysis

Module 5: Ingredients: The Good, The Bad and The Confusing!

Module 6: Feeding For Health

Each module is broken down into a series of lessons that not only teach you the underlying theory, but also how to practically apply your knowledge.

Total video lesson runtime Approx 7.5 hours

Bonus Info Sheets

It can be really helpful to have handy guides and info sheets for your reference and to share with your clients, so we have created these for you to download and share!

The Barefoot Diet

Garlic

Feed Balancers

Golden Rules Of Feeding

How To Weigh Your Horse

Ergot

Carbohydrates

Soaking Hay

Not An Equine Professional?

The EEN course has been designed to suit the needs of equine professionals and enthusiastic owners. Although the content is detailed, each lesson has been carefully constructed to build your knowledge a step at a time without being overwhelming. If you want to stop feeling bamboozled by all the marketing and different opinions and be able to make science based, educated decisions about what to feed your horse, then this course is for you!