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The closest comparison I could find in the Human world is Type 2 Diabetes. One of the signs is an excess of insulin and blood glucose in the equine system. The purpose of insulin in both the equine and human system is to signal to the body that there is too much glucose in the blood and it needs to be absorbed into body tissue to reduce the amount. Sometimes these signals appear to be ignored by the body so more insulin is produced to try and get the tissue to react. This continues until there is, not only high levels of glucose, but also abnormal amounts of insulin in the blood.

 

 

Signs of the disease could be mistaken for the onset of Cushing’s disease. Abnormal fat deposits on the neck, shoulders, rump and tail head. The horse/pony may have recurrent bouts of laminitis (these could be quite mild attacks). This is a potentially life threatening illness so we must make all efforts to prevent the disease from developing in the first place.

 

 

There is no clinical treatment. Lifestyle changes are necessary to control the disease. This means reducing or removing access to pasture, removing all concentrates from the diet, ensuring the horse/pony is exercised daily and that this exercise and dietary changes are maintained throughout the life of the animal.

 

 

Obesity is now the main threat to the health of our horses and ponies. More must be done to ensure that EMS does not develop. Native breeds that have been bred to survive on sparse grazing and very little supplement are more prone to the disease and are more likely to develop EMS. 

 

Putting horses or ponies onto starvation paddocks would, in my opinion, be ineffective in the long term as this restricts not only the amount the horse eats, but also the amount of exercise it gets as these paddocks tend to be on a confined area.   Using a muzzle would seem to be the more effective method of controlling intake of grass. 

 

Exercise needs to be planned and take place every day.   Steady walking or trotting will burn more calories than cantering, so it would make sense to ensure that the animal is ridden, lunged or driven at a good walking pace or steady trot every day. This exercise then needs to be maintained for the continued health of the horse/pony.

 

Our attitude towards what is a healthy weight for our horses and ponies has got to change. Condition scoring should be practiced regularly in order to ensure that EMS does not develop. Horses/Ponies with recurrent bouts of laminitis should be monitored for signs of insulin resistance and vetinary advise should be sort if you are unsure what the appropriate weight of your animal should be.