Disease / Insulin Resistance

Fields for Insulin-Resistant and Fat Horses

Written by Joyce Harman, DVM

The idea of horses grazing peacefully in lush green pastures is every horse person’s dream. Today, that dream may be a nightmare instead.

Current horsekeeping practices have created couch potato horses. The modern horse is often raised on a high protein, sugary feed, given limited exercise even as a youngster, and turned out on relatively lush pasture. In contrast, truly natural horses move 20 hours a day, covering many miles, often in rough terrain. The forage they eat is varied, and they must move between each bite. In the winter food is limited, so they pack on weight in the fall, lose weight in the winter, and pack it back on in the spring.

How to Test for Insulin Resistance in Your Horse

Written by Equine Medical & Surgical Associates

Handling procedures, types of tubes used, and time of year blood is drawn, all make a difference in the results

To diagnose Insulin Resistance, several tests are needed to get a complete picture of your horse’s condition. Equine Medical & Surgical Associates have consulted with numerous labs, companies supplying blood tubes, and universities (Harvard, John Hopkins, Stanford and the Mayo Clinic), and run hundreds of tests to see which tubes give the best results.

Feeding the Insulin Resistant Horse

Written by Melyni Worth, PhD, PAS

Cushing’s, aka PPID, versus Insulin Resistance (IR) in equines

True Cushing’s in the horse, aka PPID (Pituitary Pars Intermediare Dysfunction) is due to a loss of the descending inhibitory neurons from the hypothalmus into the pars intermediare of the pituitary.

Metabolic Syndrome, Insulin Resistance and Cushing's in horses

Written by Joyce C. Harman, DVM, MRCVS

The clinical signs, laboratory findings, and treatment of this condition more closely follow those of Metabolic syndrome in humans. Metabolic syndrome is a relatively new condition being recognized in human medicine where the cells become resistant to insulin and the glucose from the food cannot get into the cells.

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