Equine Metabolic Syndrome (EMS) is increasingly prevalent in horses and ponies, driving laminitis risk and requiring significant dietary management to protect welfare.
EMS welfare management requires the discipline to restrict grazing in horses and ponies that evolved to graze continuously - a management approach that requires owner understanding and commitment. Unrestricted pasture access in EMS ponies is not kindness but welfare failure: it leads to laminitis, which causes severe, chronic pain. The welfare-appropriate approach balances the horse's need for movement and social grazing with necessary dietary restriction. Grazing muzzles and track systems can allow social turnout while controlling intake, addressing both welfare needs simultaneously.