08/29/2026
Here is a scenario the ECIR Group encounters too frequently, often after an owner’s horse has had several bouts of laminitis:
-Owner reports that their horse has been “off” for quite some time but then develops full-blown laminitis.
-Blood work reveals extremely high insulin levels, so the veterinary recommendation is to move off pasture to a dry lot with soaked hay and start an over-the-counter supplement reported to reduce insulin (no supplement names here because there are so many).
-Owner follows veterinary instructions and two days later, the horse has improved and insulin has plummeted. Owner raves about the supplement, puts the horse back on pasture and, before long, the horse experiences another bout of laminitis.
What went wrong?
The answer should be obvious, but there is research in EMS horses that shows exactly what happens when horses move from high HC pasture* to a dry lot with tested hay. In the open access dissertation of Askins (see reference), she reports the results of an experiment in both EMS and healthy horses on mixed spring pasture consisting of white clover, bluegrass, orchardgrass, and tall fescue. Horses were adapted to pasture for 24 hours, then blood sampling began at 07:00 the next day and was collected every 2 hours for another 24 hours. Next, EMS horses were moved to a drylot with ad libitum access to hay with 1.7% estimated fermentable fructan and 7.9% HC (ESC = 7.2%, starch = 0.7%). The following day, blood samples were collected starting at 07:00 and every 2 hours for 24 hours.
Peak insulin in the EMS horses on spring pasture was 850.9 +/- 11.9 uIU/mL. None of the EMS horses exhibited signs of laminitis. After moving to the dry lot, peak insulin was 99.9 +/- 77.7 uIU/mL, an 8.51-fold reduction in insulin by simply changing the diet from high HC pasture to safe hay. No insulin-reducing supplements were given, and the hay was not soaked.
This research demonstrates (again) that the most effective way to quickly lower insulin is to control dietary HC. The ECIR group has known this for a very long time and pioneered standards for soaking hay (30 minutes in hot water, 60 minutes in cold water) in 2002. These standards became part of the foundational “Emergency Diet” protocol. We’re not anti-supplement (unless it causes harm). We’re pro-science and will argue for what works.
REFERENCE: Askins, Morgan J., "MANAGING DIETARY NONSTRUCTURAL CARBOHYDRATES IN INSULIN DYSREGULATED HORSES: PASTURE, LONG-STEM FORAGE, AND RESTRICTIVE GRAZING STRATEGIES" (2026). Theses and Dissertations--Veterinary Science. 74. https://uknowledge.uky.edu/gluck_etds/74
*𝘕𝘰𝘵𝘦: 𝘉𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳, 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩 𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘶𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩. 𝘌𝘚𝘊 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥, 𝘴𝘰 𝘸𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘨𝘢𝘳𝘴 (𝘌𝘚𝘊) 𝘰𝘳 𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘢𝘯 (𝘞𝘚𝘊 – 𝘌𝘚𝘊). 𝘗𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘕𝘚𝘊 𝘸𝘢𝘴 15.4% 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 5.8% 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩. 𝘖𝘯𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘵 07:00 𝘸𝘢𝘴 7.2% 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘱 𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘧 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 15.5% 𝘕𝘚𝘊. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘵 05:00 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩 𝘸𝘢𝘴 1.2% 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘕𝘚𝘊 𝘸𝘢𝘴 7.5%. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩 𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘶𝘦 𝘢𝘵 07:00 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦. 𝘏𝘪𝘨𝘩 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩 𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘶𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘒𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘯, 𝘦𝘵 𝘢𝘭. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0737080619306070
