A DANGEROUS LINK

The longer you’ve managed horses, the more likely you are to have encountered cases of insulin resistance, now frequently classified as “insulin dysregulation”—not to mention every horseman’s perennial worry, laminitis. Either condition is challenging enough on its own, but studies have confirmed that ID is a key risk factor for horses developing laminitis in a devastating progression of events.

Researchers have shown that it’s high insulin concentrations in the blood (hyperinsulinemia, or HI) that occur with ID that are the primary driver in the development of endocrinopathic laminitis (also called “hyperinsulinemia-associated laminitis,” or HAL). Exactly how HI causes HAL is still under investigation, but HAL is reportedly the most common form of this crippling condition. Indeed, it is said that endocrine (hormone) disorders have been identified in nearly 90% of horses presenting with laminitis. And laminitis can end a horse’s career—or even that horse’s life.

But here’s the thing: ID isn’t limited to pudgy ponies that are long in the tooth; even younger sporthorses can develop it. Fortunately, ID is often preventable and manageable, affording horse owners a chance to keep the more deadly HAL at bay.