Insulin resistance - new threat to horse’s health

Diabetes in the UK affects1.4million hu-mans - but how many horses are at risk from the equine form of the disease – Insulin Resis-tance (IR)?There are no figures yet to give a guideline on this, although there are websites and forums dealing with the increas-ing problem of obesity in horses, particularly in America where they often do not lead natural lives.As the part-time carer of a horse with Insulin Re-sistance, I have endured the worry and concern of what the disease will mean for his future, how it can be controlled and what it will cost to treat.

Like all diseases, pre-vention is better than cure. But many people are unaware that the horse they own or have just bought could have insulin resistance. Blood tests can now be carried out to confirm the condi-tion.We had bought Prince, a Highland/Connemara cross gelding as quite an overweight horse with

the intention of gradually slimming him down and getting him fit for riding club events.This was going well until he seemed to get very tired when ridden in hot weather and was unusu-ally lethargic. This was followed by a reluctance to move.

Concern

Concerned, we got the vet and despite his weight loss and obvious improvement in fitness, he was diagnosed with laminitis and found to have slightly abnormal liver function.We didn’t know why

he had liver damage so we gave him onto the herbal supplement Milk Thistle. No-one knows how it helps the liver – it just does and he is still on it now. Despite our care over grass intake, regular, steady work and high-fibre feeds, he still had flare-ups of slight laminitis.After another one this spring and then an ab-scess in his foot, which took weeks to drain and heal, we decided to x-ray his feet to see if the pedal bone had rotated or if he had arthritic changes.After lunging at the vets – where he proved to

be sound and galloped around – he was x-rayed and blood tests taken to check for Insulin Resis-tance (IR), which could be making it difficult for him to produce insulin, and for cushings disease – a common condition in middle-aged horses.

Cushings

His cushings test was negative but the blood work for IR came back borderline and he had 5 degree rotation in front, but not enough to alarm the vet. We were advised to fit specialist heart bar shoes once the feet were less sore and to buy Met-formin (a human diabetic drug) to add to his feed to bring down his blood sugar levels.

Comfortable

Once the shoes were fitted, he was more comfortable but it still took a while for him to be completely sound. He was kept in at night and in a starvation paddock during the day, wearing a horse muzzle to reduce how much he could eat.Metformin is expensive – it costs about £40 a month to provide the 16 tablets a day he requires. His x-rays were around £500 and the first set of shoes were over £100 with re-fits every six weeks as he feet were

gradually shaped to make him more comfort-able.It all made up to an ex-pensive way of keeping a horse – which was meant to be a pensioner’s happy hacker and low-level competitor.But now he is back in work, turned out in winter during the day in a reasonable sized field and running around playing with his horse friends.He is happy, sound and in decent shape physi-

cally. His owner is now walk-ing him and later in 2011 he will return to proper work once the weather improves – and we do not expect any more problems.

Condition

There is a risk that he will develop cushings disease in later years, as is often the case with IR horses but for now his condition is under control even if it is an

expensive solution. However, it has to be said that just going to the field and seeing him cantering with no sign of pain or lethargy is worth every penny we have spent!

Horse which is well covered with condition (above)

Your IR horse may have to be stabled all year round

“Despite our care, he still had slight flare-ups

of laminitis ...”

Starvation paddock

A grazing muzzle as used on Prince

Heart bar shoe

Checklist for IRdangers:* Does your horse drink as lot?* Is he lethargic?* Does he have re-current laminitis?* Is he a native breed?* Is he overweight?

Could your horse have IR? We hear from one reader who has been caring for a horse with meta-bolic problems ...

* Is he reluctant to move?* Is his grazing too rich?* Has he been blood tested for IR?* Has he been tested for cushings dis-ease?* Does he crave salt?* Does he always seem hungry?* Is he sufferring from abcesses or painful feet, es-pecially on hard ground?

New worry for owners of laminitics and obese horses