Equine Metabolic Syndrome affects an increasing proportion of horses and ponies, causing chronic laminitis pain and requiring significant management changes to protect welfare.
Equine Metabolic Syndrome creates a chronic welfare challenge because the management required to prevent acute crises (laminitis) conflicts with horses' behavioral needs. Horses are highly motivated to graze continuously - the digestive system evolved for constant trickle feeding, and restriction causes both physical discomfort from gastric acid and psychological frustration from denied natural behavior. Animals with EMS require carefully managed grazing, often with muzzles or dry lots, creating constant tension between the welfare costs of laminitis (severe pain, potential euthanasia) and the welfare costs of restriction (frustration, altered social access, reduced environmental complexity). Skillful management seeks to minimize both sets of welfare costs.