Equine Metabolic Syndrome and Insulin Resistance in Horses

  by Robert N. Oglesby DVM

Obesity has become the most common nutritional problem of horses in the developed world. The reason is an inability for easy keeping horses to readily adapt to the affordable improved feedstuffs and declining work loads seen with pleasure horses. Horses evolved to take advantage of the good seasonal times with efficient storage of energy that would then get them through the lean times of the year when forage became scarce. As far as food is concerned it has become Thanksgiving everyday and that is the beginning of the Equine Metabolic Syndrome (EMS) story. EMS is essentially a disease of obesity and the resulting insulin resistance which leads to a predisposition to founder. This article discusses the physiological events leading to Equine Metabolic Syndrome, clinical signs, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of this common problem of some breeds of horses.

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