My Prairie mare was diagnosed with Equine Metabolic Syndrome – (EMS) in April 2021, I was devastated because as a qualified Equine Iridologist, I knew something wasn’t right but didn’t see the symptoms until she colicked one day. Joana, my vet came out really quickly and treated the colic and I asked her to test for EMS a week later. Her insulin level was off the scale at 272 instead of 32 and she weighed in at a whopping 651 kgs (weightape). If you have a blood test for EMS don’t starve your horse first, the fasting blood test isn’t accurate for EMS.
Four years later she is 490kgs, has no fat pads except a slightly cresty neck which may never go because the fat cells actually change and don’t return to normal. Her neck however, is soft.
I have mentioned Prairie’s start point on her journey back to health because the management for EMS is very similar to other metabolic problems like Cushings (PPID) and PSSM1. All of these conditions means the horse has chronic inflammation in their body and cannot metabolise sugar and starch.
So, prepare yourself for the long haul, and it can be a bit of a roller-coaster ride…..you have to trust the process which is a bit of a leap of faith.
You may need veterinary intervention and drugs to start with, as they get results quickly and can stabilise the situation. But in the long term, you can change your management and use diet, herbs or homeopathy.
1. To start off with, test your hay, make sure it is unsprayed meadow hay with the sugar content under 10%, use slow feeders if you have to but your horse should have access to hay 24/7. When Prairie was in critical mode, I soaked her hay but only for 20 minutes
to get rid of the sugar not long enough to breed pathogenic bacteria in it or take out all the nutrients. She was in my round pen for 2 weeks only, with soaked hay and as soon as she could cope with going out with the boys, I turned her back out with them. She needed movement and interaction.
2. Start reading labels on bagged feed and balancers, some companies give the impression that they have natural products but when you actually read the ingredients it is full of fillers. Avoid everything with soy (very inflammatory), molasses (sugar), alfalfa (inflammatory), wheat feed and oatfeed and some brewers yeast (all by-products from the human food chain and really bad for horses.)
3. Minerals and heavy metals are a minefield. I tested my horses with Mineral Check, which is a hair sample test. Contact me if you are interested in this for more details.
I also started using a mineral balancer recommended by a practitioner friend called Ocean Feed Technology. This is a blend of 12 different seaweeds that are mixed to lower the iron and iodine intake. Kelp on its own can be toxic. It supports the Thyroid gland which was very important for Prairie’s endocrine imbalances. I found that the moment I stopped it or ran out, that her weight loss would plateau!! You can get this from www.healthyguthealthyhorse.co.uk based in the New Forest, they are the UK distributor.
4. Start supporting your horse’s gut with forage from the hedgerows. The Cow Parsley and Cleavers are nearly finished but Nettles are rampant now. (cut them and let them wilt before feeding, or make a tea and dilute in a half bucket of water as a water buffet)
The strong winds lately have brought down the smaller branches on trees , you can throw these in for the horse’s to munch, Oak, Willow, Poplar, Birch, Hazel and Hawthorn. These all have their individual medicinal qualities but if the horse is allowed to self-select, they will only take what they need.
Top herbs for blood sugar balancing – all of these herbs have blood sugar level balancing properties.
1 Cinnamon (Cinnamomum verum)
2 Gymnema Sylvestre (Gymnema sylvestre)
3 Fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum)
4 Nettle (Urtica dioica)
5 Goats Rue (Galega officinalis)
6 Green Tea (Camellia sinensis)
7 Holy Basil (Ocimum sanctum)
8 Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale)
9 Milk Thistle (Silybum marianum)
10 Cow Parsley (Anthriscus sylvestris)
11 Seaweed (Various species)
12 Berberine spp (Various species)
13 Turmeric (Curcuma longa)
If you want to learn more about how to use these, go to www.animalbotanical.co.uk
for a free download. Rachael Maxwell also runs amazing courses for owners and practitioners, details on the same website. For an iridology assessment please go to www.equine-insight.co.uk and all my contact details are on there.
