Equine Metabolic Syndrome (EMS) is a cluster of endocrine and metabolic abnormalities in horses and ponies associated with insulin dysregulation and obesity. It is one of the primary drivers of laminitis and represents a major preventable welfare problem in the companion horse population.
EMS-related laminitis causes severe, chronic pain — and it is largely preventable with appropriate management. The welfare failure in EMS is often one of owner knowledge: well-intentioned owners put ponies on lush pasture, feed high-sugar feed, and over-rug their animals, inadvertently creating the conditions for recurrent laminitic crises. The irony is that the most kind-seeming management decisions — unrestricted grazing, high-energy feeds, minimal exercise — are often the most welfare-damaging for EMS-prone animals. Education and honest veterinary communication about dietary restriction are essential welfare interventions. Maintaining a lean body condition through appropriate management throughout life is the most effective prevention — and requires owner discipline to maintain against the social pressure to provide horses with "enough" food.