About Us

Power Star Nutrition is a home-based, family business located in North Auckland. The company began in October 2015 with its owner, Rachel Harford, when she decided to create affordable supplements for horses and dogs that are beneficial to both them and the environment. The supplements that are made on-site are formulated and manufactured to suit New Zealand’s soil, pasture, and climate conditions.

Rachel is a horse owner and has many years of experience as an equine massage therapist. Horse health and their well-being have been her focus for the last 24 years. She understands the importance of providing the best quality supplements for your beloved horses and dogs. Rachel helps horses improve their performance by providing them therapy sessions and top-class nutritional supplements. Feeding your horses and dogs nutritional supplements play a key role in keeping them young, fit and healthy.

The company has shown good growth since the Covid-19 pandemic, as more customers choose to shop online. Power Star Nutrition has been able to operate with strict safety protocols in place during this time, providing contactless pickup for North and West Auckland customers.

Orders are sent daily with NZ Post and NZ Couriers.

Want to know more information about why a horse is not responding to therapy? Check their diet and find more details at www.equinetherapy.co.nz

Overseas Experience working in Stables

  • 10 months in England working with Andrew Bennie  (shortlisted for Olympics and World Championships several times in the 1980s). Riding and schooling young horses. Grooming at Novice, Intermediate, and Advanced Horse trials throughout England.
  • 6 months in France working with Show Jumpers. Generally, young horses aged 3-5 years old. Schooling and jumping young horses. Traveling to competitions.
  • 6 months in Germany working for Peter Luther who was on the gold medal-winning Show Jumping team in his younger days. A stable consisting of 40-50 horses. This consisted of a lot of riding and traveling to competitions. Daily lessons on the flat and jumping. A great learning experience.
  • 8 months in Germany working for a family with eventers.
  • While working in these stables, Rachel learned a lot about reading horses and saw a lot of horses put through hard training methods that sometimes worked but other times left the horse sore and tired. Good and bad horsemanship was seen. She learned what not to do with horses and what caused injuries.

Back to London for 2 years

  • Trained as a Fitness Instructor with the YMCA and worked in gyms around London.
  • Trained in England in Human Sports Therapy and Swedish Body Massage over 6 months.
  • Combined gym and massage therapy work together.

Back to New Zealand – Equine Therapy Training

  • Trained in Equine Massage at Equinology USA in Australia 1999.
  • Studies Touch for Health in Hamilton.
  • Studied with an American Chiropractor in Thames learning techniques on humans and horses.
  • Trained at the New Zealand College of Massage in various techniques and anatomy classes.
  • In the winter of 2000, Rachel went to the International Academy of Equine Sports Therapy in Germany. This course is 5 weeks long with only 4 days off at that time. Michael Baxter, who runs the academy, is a Canadian. Michael is a leading expert in back flexibility assessments and performance-related problems. He was also a blacksmith. Michael presents research papers to vet associations around the world. The course covered: acupressure, osteo-therapy, back flexibility assessments, anatomy, shoeing, riders’ influence over the horse, and electrical stimulation of acupressure points.
  • Since December 2000, Rachel has been working with the Bioptron Light Therapy unit which activates quicker healing of injuries and balances the body’s energy system.
  • From November 1999 to September 2000, Rachel worked on Vaughn Jefferis’s horse, Bounce, leading up to the Sydney Olympics. Worked on Mark Todd’s horses for 4 years.
  • Completed a 5-day Equine Myofascial Release course in Australia in June 2004, with Ruth Mitchell from the USA through Equinology USA.
  • Completed a 3-day Foundation Clinic with Jack Ruddock on the Equine Touch in 2003.
  • Completed a 2-day Animal Communication course with Kathleen Berad in 2006 from the USA.
  • Completed Equine Thermography course in the USA in 2010 with Donna Harper.