EMS and laminitis prevention — the lever lies in the ration
Insulin dysregulation, sugar and starch of the ration, pasture management: why especially easy keepers benefit from a clear feeding line.
Equiterna Redaktion
Equine nutritionist · NRC / GfE
Equine Metabolic Syndrome (EMS) bundles several risk factors, the most important of which is insulin dysregulation — and this is the central risk factor for endocrinopathic laminitis. The ECEIM consensus paper of 2019 makes clear: EMS is controlled primarily via feeding and movement. The ration is thus no side issue, but the actual lever.
NSC: sugar and starch of the ration
Decisive is the content of non-structural carbohydrates (NSC) — the sum of sugar and starch. They drive the insulin response. For horses with insulin dysregulation, a ration with a low NSC share is widely aimed at; in practice a guidance value of below about 10 to 12 percent NSC in the dry matter serves as a benchmark. Hay can be classified through analysis and, if needed, soaked to reduce soluble sugars.
Disproportionately affected are easy-keeping hardy breeds — Welsh Pony, Shetland pony and Haflinger for example come from lean origins and easily build up reserves on nutrient-rich Central European pasture. That is no weakness of the breed, but a legacy of their adaptation. Precisely for this reason they demand a tighter pasture and ration management than a performance-oriented warmblood in the same stable.
Pasture management and body condition
Fresh pasture grass varies strongly in sugar content — sunny, cool days and stressed, short grazed-down stands can be especially sugar-rich. Limited grazing times, grazing muzzles or a marked-off trail are tools to steer intake. In parallel, body condition is the most reliable everyday indicator: a Body Condition Score in the ideal range and a look at regional fat depots, such as the crest, show changes early.
“With these horses, less is almost always more. The art is not the supplementing, but the measured leaving-out.”
Where compounds come into play, honesty is worthwhile. Magnesium appears frequently in this context — a blanket effect on insulin regulation is, however, not documented in the sufficiently supplied horse. Magnesium is sensible when an actual undersupply exists; as a metabolic cure-all it is not suited. Milk thistle is traditionally used to accompany the liver metabolism — that too is nutritional support via a supplementary feed, no intervention in the insulin dysregulation itself.
Important for context: EMS and laminitis are veterinary diagnoses. The feeding strategies described here are prevention and management via the ration — they replace neither the diagnostics (such as an oral sugar test) nor the treatment of an acute laminitis event. With suspected laminitis, every hour counts: have it clarified by a veterinarian immediately.
The good news: with hardly any other topic is the feeding lever so direct. An NSC-low, forage-focused ration, controlled grazing and a body condition in the ideal range are the most robust building blocks of laminitis prevention — and they lie entirely in the hands of the stable.
Sources
Compounds in this article
Usage note
This content is for information and education. It does not replace veterinary diagnosis or treatment. If your horse shows signs of illness, consult a veterinarian.
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