Tackling the obesity epidemic

In the UK, the proportion of recreational horses exceeds 60%, numerically dominating our equine industry. This shift towards companion animal status distances owners from traditional advice and is matched by an increased incidence of management-associated conditions, the most common of which are equine obesity, laminitis and insulin dysregulation (ID). While there are commonalities in the aetiopathology of these co-morbidities, they are not inextricably-linked (equine metabolic syndrome: EMS). Many obese animals are neither laminitis-prone nor affected by ID. The direct, negative health impacts of obesity are significant, including mechanical/ thermal stress, poor athletic/reproductive performance, obstructive/strangulating colic and dyslipidaemia [1] ...