The Many Faces of Equine Metabolic Syndrome
Stacey Oke, DVM, MSc
March 18, 2025
Find out which horses and ponies have a higher genetic risk for EMS and how to manage them.
Find out which horses and ponies have a higher genetic risk for EMS and how to manage them.
Learn how to calculate the amount of forage your horse or pony needs to achieve a healthy weight and what types of hay might be best for weight loss.
New study results lead researchers to believe differences in ACTH concentrations between breeds are significant to diagnostic testing for PPID.
An equine nutritionist’s advice on choosing treats for horses and ponies that might be prone to insulin dysregulation, obesity, or EMS.
Insulin dysregulation can coincide with high ACTH concentrations in the fall, even when an animal does not have PPID.
If managed with the right nutrition plan, horses and ponies with histories of laminitis can have successful careers.
Researchers have discovered that ponies that have suffered from laminitis have higher blood pressure and therefore overproduce vasodilators.
A veterinarian says both age and breed can affect a horse’s predisposition to insulin resistance.
Judges often place overweight ponies—which could be at greater risk for metabolic issues and laminitis—higher than their leaner counterparts in competition.
Learn what makes managing ponies special—from their critical need for nutritional supervision to their often feisty personalities.
Scottish researchers found a half barley straw and half hay ration helped ponies lose weight.
Planning a weight-reducing diet is easy until faced with the loving eyes of a pony begging for his alfalfa.
I have a pony who is a rescue, and I have no idea how old he is. How can I estimate his age?
Feed your roly-poly pony the way Nature intended to prevent obesity-related diseases such as laminitis and equine metabolic syndrome.
A high-fat, high-fiber “museli” mix appeared to supply sports ponies with enough energy to perform well and maintain body condition while reducing blood glucose levels after meals, potentially reducing their risk of metabolic disorders.
Ponies that didn’t receive extra hay adapted to the available food supply, but blood parameters suggested health problems could develop when the available fodder is insufficient.
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