Sedentary lifestyles — it’s serious
Unfortunately, leisure horses are most likely to be overweight (up to 70% of them according to the most recent studies), due to lack of exercise and/or excessive calorie intake. As with humans, extra weight can creep on slowly and it can be difficult to spot until it’s too late, which is why it’s always easier to prevent than treat.
Losing weight is hard work, particularly the more of it there is and the longer it has been there, but ignoring it can be fatal.
One of the most serious consequences of storing too much fat and overwhelming the metabolic system — frequently resulting in a condition called Equine metabolic syndrome (EMS) — is interference with the horse’s insulin system, causing ‘insulin dysregulation’. When this occurs, the horse is at high risk of developing laminitis, which can happen without warning, even in horses who have been overweight for a long time and seemingly never suffered laminitis before.
If the laminitis is mild, caught early and the weight problem is addressed promptly, the horse may recover. However, in some cases the laminitis is subtle and not detected early enough or it may even happen so quickly and severely that the laminae are too badly damaged for the horse to recover. In these cases, the pain can be unmanageable and the chance of recovery so small that euthanasia becomes the kindest option.
So, while a lack of exercise and a bit of ‘extra weight’ may not sound too sinister, they can be the cause of death in some horses, so should never be underestimated.