Equine Metabolic Syndrome is a collection of hormonal and metabolic disorders that dramatically increases laminitis risk and requires comprehensive long-term management.
EMS horses face a constant risk of laminitis episodes that cause severe pain and can end careers or lives. The condition is often not recognised until a laminitis crisis occurs, meaning many horses suffer preventable pain. Untreated or poorly managed EMS progressively worsens, requiring increasingly severe dietary restriction and exercise limitation. Early recognition and management allows horses to maintain good quality of life with relatively minor lifestyle modifications.