Equine Metabolic Syndrome causes laminitis and chronic discomfort in horses and ponies through hormonal dysfunction. Dietary management prevents much of this preventable suffering.
EMS-related laminitis causes severe and chronic pain that profoundly affects horse welfare. The lamellar tissue destruction in acute laminitis is exquisitely painful - affected horses shift their weight continually, refuse to move, and show obvious distress. Chronic laminitis causes structural hoof changes (rotation and sinking of the pedal bone) that create persistent lower-grade pain with acute exacerbations. The preventability of much EMS laminitis through dietary management makes its ongoing prevalence partly a management failure. Ponies kept on lush spring and autumn pasture without restriction face annual cycles of laminitis that constitute repeated welfare crises that adequate management would prevent.