Metabolic Horse Diet

Managing a horse with metabolic issues - like Equine Metabolic Syndrome (EMS), Insulin Dysregulation (IR), Cushing's (PPID) including Laminitis prone requires a careful approach to nutrition. 

Our feeding philosophy focuses on a unique clean feeding approach.  While standard veterinary advise rightly emphasizes keeping non-structural carbohydrates (NSC) like sugar and starch low, we build on this by focusing on gut health, mineral balancing and eliminating specific inflammatory or heavily processed problematic ingredients. 

The Core Principal

The cornerstone of the HHIO philosophy is eliminating common ingredients that cause adverse interactions, metabolic disturbances, poor omega balances or oxidative stress.  We highly recommend to read feed bag analysis' carefully and removing what we class as the Top 6 problematic ingredients:

Beet Pulp: While widely promoted as a low-sugar, safe fiber source for metabolic horses, we advise to avoiding it due to concerns over high iron content, sugar residues, oxalates, chemical leaching (such as aluminium during processing) and potential digestive disturbances. 

Soya (Soy): Often used for protein, soy can cause hormonal/estrogenic effects and poor omega balances.  It also is contributes to high heavy metal levels in horses.

Wheat & Maize (corn): Highly inflammatory grains that spike blood sugar and cause metabolic issues.  Questions over Glyphosate levels in processing which disrupts gut mycobiome. 

Canola & Poly-unsaturated vegetable and seed oils: Includes corn, sunflower, canola aka rapeseed, soy and rice bran oil.  All provide poorly balanced omega levels being higher in omega 6 than 3.  These can contribute to systemic inflammation and oxidative stress. 

Vague By-products:  Avoid any commercial feeds listing "roughage by products" processed grain by-products, vegetable protein or mill run. 

Forage first:

Horses are designed to thrive on low-nutrient-density forage that grows slowly.  Modern lush pastures grown for dairy production are incredibly high in sugars, protein (and potassium), acting as a direct trigger for metabolic episodes like laminitis and problematic weight gain.

Base Diet: A metabolic horse at maintenance should receive approximatively 1.5% to 1.7% of their ideal body weight in dry forage per day.  For a 500kg horse this equates to roughly 7.5kg-8.5kg of quality hay.

Hay ideally should be tested for its Starch and ESC% level - these combined should not exceed 10% with starch not exceeding 4%.  This hay is not only appropriate for Metabolic horses, but all horses. 

Heavily restrict or completely eliminate access to lush, fast-growing pasture.  Utilize dry lots, track systems or high quality grazing muzzles if they must go out.  We focus a lot on movement - the more movement the better.  

Build a clean Bucket Feed:

Since commercial pre-mixed feeds are often packed with the cheap by-products mentioned above (like beet pulp and soy) we advocate for building your own simple clean balanced bucket feed.

Safe, low ESC + starch fibre bases to hold minerals include:

- Chaffs - plain un-mollased, no seed oil timothy or meadow chaff. Oaten is suitable if minimal/no oats. Lucerne is appropriate for some, use with caution for laminitics.

- Copra - Low in Starch and sugar, providing a safe cool energy source.  Use at a maximum of 1 cup per day - purely as a palatable carrier.  It contains high levels of Iron, do not exceed 1 cup per day.

- A quality Omega 3 source, a must if on hay only.  For omega options > Omega

- Alternatively use any of the yellow star easy choose base feed combos

Crucial Salt Ratio

Sodium is essential for absorption of many nutrients, as well as their entry into cells; normal functioning of all nerve and muscle tissue. It is also the major regulator of water balance in tissues and is what triggers the thirst mechanism in the brain, which also regulates the amount of sodium and water excreted in urine.

Equine diets are naturally low in sodium especially if eating primarily forage. Sodium in required amounts should be provided by feeding salt - sodium chloride. Salt contains 40% sodium & 60% Chloride.

When it comes to sodium, you are better off providing a little too much than a little too little. As long as horse has free access to clean fresh drinking water, extra sodium is easily excreted in the urine. As little as 2-3% dehydration can lead to a 10% drop in performance. However, excessive intakes need to be avoided also.

A 500kg horse at maintenance - no exercise, no sweating - needs 10 grams of sodium which is provided in 25g of plain salt. The sodium requirements of horses in moderate to heavy work are estimated to be twice as high, this does not include even higher sweat rates in super hot weather or climates.

Mineral Balancing

- Remove all premixed sweet feeds, pellets containing soy, wheat, beet pulp and seed oils.  Remove the Avoid List

- Limit grass access and rely on mature low sugar grass hay (especially if laminitic prone)

- Feed simple bucket feed that is low sugar, low starch The Base Feed

- Add plain white salt daily to bucket feed Salt

- Feed a quality Omega 3 source and reduce omega 6 sources

- Balancing minerals including reducing/removing all added Iron and/or Manganese

- Encourage as much as movement as possible exception is acute laminitis - resume once stable and comfortable

- Detox liver and kidneys

- Address and support inflammation