Feeding Horses With Insulin Dysregulation: Small, Frequent Meals Matter

Small, frequent meals help control horses’ insulin levels, reduce boredom, and mimic natural trickle feeding.

When feeding horses with insulin dysregulation (ID), it’s important to consider not just how much they’re eating but also how it’s spread throughout the day. Edd Knowles, MA, PhD, VetMB, MVetMed, Dipl. ECEIM, MRCVS, director of science and nutrition with Mars Horsecare, recommended feeding these horses small meals frequently for several reasons.

“One is that the horse is naturally a trickle feeder, and we want to recreate that as much as we can,” he said. “Secondly, we know that feeds will cause an increase in insulin. The more we can spread those feeds out, the fewer spikes we’ll get in insulin and the smaller those spikes will be.”

The goal is to keep ID horses’ insulin levels controlled and relatively consistent throughout the day.

“Finally, a lot of these horses will be on restricted diets,” Knowles added. “And if we let them eat their whole daily ration in one go, they’ll get very bored for the rest of the day. So by spreading out the feeds, we can cause less boredom.”

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Alexandra Beckstett

Alexandra Beckstett is a lifelong horse owner and an award-winning writer and editor. She is the editorial director of EquiManagement and MyNewHorse.com, prior to which she spent 13 years with The Horse/TheHorse.com.

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