Time to shape up

An overweight horse is a ticking time bomb for serious health issues. Kieran O’Brien MRCVS outlines a nine-point slimming plan

- Kieran O’Brien

THE UK equine population is in the grip of an obesity epidemic. Close to half of adult horses and ponies are overweight, studies have found, rising to nearly 70% of leisure animals.

Obesity, a preventable condition, is a key predisposing factor in most cases of laminitis – a disease that accounts for 25% of animals euthanised for health reasons every year. It contributes to other diseases, including soft tissue injuries, osteoarthritis, and colic, and has been associated with equine asthma.

Since obese horses (largely in the showing world) are the role models, it is not surprising that 50% of owners in a recent survey did not consider their obese horses to be overweight.

Many obese horses, although apparently healthy, are suffering from undiagnosed equine metabolic syndrome (EMS) and live on a laminitis cliff-edge.

Factors known to contribute to the current epidemic include a mismatch between calorie intake and workload, a tendency for owners to view overfeeding as “caring” (and, conversely, to view making necessary dietary restrictions as “uncaring”), and a failure to recognise that if a horse’s ribs are not visible or palpable, they are actually covered in fat.

In addition, some livery yard owners will not allow the grazing and management changes required to reduce food intake.

SIZE MATTERS

SINCE the cause of obesity is multifactorial, treating and preventing it must be tailored to each horse’s situation.

“Obesity is preventable”