DIET, MORE THAN WEIGHT, CRUCIAL IN INSULIN RESISTANCE

It’s common knowledge that obese horses are more likely to develop insulin resistance, but a new study from Australia suggests that the root of the problem may lie with an individual’s diet rather than his weight.

“We know that insulin resistance is associated with the risk of laminitis in ponies and certain breeds of horses, and so is obesity. Together, this syndrome is known as equine metabolic syndrome (EMS),” explains Simon Bailey, BVMS, PhD, of the University of Melbourne. “However, we didn’t know what caused insulin resistance. From other species it has been suggested that obesity might be the cause, but we speculated that it may be the nonstructural carbohydrates (sugars and starches) in the diet that might be more important. Previous studies had made horses obese using high-grain diets, but we wanted to separate the two factors.” Insulin is a hormone that enables the body to utilize glucose from carbohydrates.

Bailey’s team devised