Horses Inside Out Exhibition

Recently I attended the Horses Inside Out Exhibition held in Melton Mowbray. I went along with Katie Moncur, another member of the Dengie nutrition team. As we arrived, we were greeted by two anatomically painted horse models as we approached the refreshment tent, where tea, coffee and cake were being served – always a good start for Katie and I!

We moved on into the barn to see a full sized horse skeleton in a trot pose to our right, and on our left were a series of hooves, lower limb bones and a model of the soft tissues within the forelimb and hindlimb. It was amazing to see the inside of the hoof – with all the laminae still intact! The cross section of the preserved lower limb was also fascinating, being able to see the inside workings of a real-life lower limb and being able to identify the soft tissue structures too.

Also in the first room was Marvin. Marvin was a young pony skeleton, with growth plates still open and little to no ‘wear & tear’ damage on his skeleton. In contrast it was interesting to see the skeleton of a 25 year old horse, Freddie Fox, who had been active for most of his life. You could visibly see that Freddie had an active life from his skeleton. Gillian Higgins, the founder of the award-winning, internationally recognised organisation – Horses Inside Out, talked us through the findings on his skeleton, such as insertion desmopathy – where there are bony changes due to the increased use of a muscle – commonly found on the masseter muscles (cheek muscles) of horses, as they graze for 16 – 18 hours a day, a 25 year old horse would approximately chew for more than 160,000 hours in their lifetime up to that point!

In the third room, LouLou was on display, a mare that developed severe laminitis. We were invited to look at the differences between her hooves and another pony’s hooves, and it was clear to see that there were some differences; all four of LouLou’s hooves had a very thin sole or a hole in the sole of her hoof, with the front hooves having bigger holes.

We also had an opportunity to see an example of kissing spines, the skull of Leroy after a sinus surgery, as well as the chance to see cervical and thoracic vertebrae and see & feel how they move in action.

In the final room, various tubs, containers and buckets could be seen. This room showcased the digestive system and the journey that your horse’s food takes through their digestive system. Along the painted digestive system on the wall, a bucket could be seen, demonstrating the capacity of the horses stomach – approximately 8-15 litres or roughly the size of a rugby ball!

A feed bin also demonstrated the sheer volume of how much stomach acid is produced in 24 hours, showing how important forage is alongside promoting the increased production of saliva (via increased chewing rate) which can help to buffer stomach acid thanks to the high calcium content in the saliva.

Another favourite of ours was seeing the physical props showing the difference between the amount of saliva produced with 100g of hay versus 100g of a balancer, highlighting the importance of feeding a short-chopped forage alongside a balancer.

It was an honour and a privilege to have the opportunity to visit this wonderful exhibition! We found every specimen truly interesting – both as horse owners & feed advisors – and provided us with an amazing insight into how our equine friends bodies thrive and the problems they experience.

Following the success of their summer event, the Equine Anatomy Exhibition will be running alongside the Horses Inside Out Conference in February 2026. For further information and tickets click here.