Question

My seven-year-old Quarter Horse gelding weighs about 1,350 lb (610 kg). He is fat, probably a body condition score of 8. He has been diagnosed with insulin resistance and pre-laminitic changes. Right now, he’s eating soaked alfalfa/oat cubes (4 lb or 1.8 kg) and soaked bermuda hay (8 lb or 3.6 kg). I’d like to add a forage-based, fortified pellet made essentially from alfalfa and coastal bermudagrass. Is this acceptable, and if so, how much should I feed?

Answer

Soaking hay (or hay products such as cubes) has been found to be helpful in removing some of the nonstructural carbohydrates from the forage. This is advisable if using oat cubes as oat hay can often be higher in nonstructural carbohydrates than other hays.

However, both alfalfa and coastal bermudagrass are naturally low in sugars and starches. Because of this, the pelleted feed you describe is quite suitable for horses with insulin resistance. They can be fed wet if you’d like to soften them, reduce intake rate, and provide for additional water intake. However, soaking and draining the excess water should not be necessary.

As far as amount to feed, please review the manufacturer’s recommendations, which can be found on the bag or on the feed tag. If you find your horse continues to be too fat on the minimal amount the manufacturer recommends, you might consider a different source of vitamins and minerals, such as Micro-Max, or Gold Pellet, supplements made specifically for horses with metabolic problems like insulin resistance.

Additionally, I would recommend 1 to 2 oz of EO-3 per day in order to supply DHA and EPA, two long-chain omega-3 fatty acids that have been found to help improve insulin response. This should be introduced to his ration very gradually over a period of 1 to 2 weeks.