08/19/2026
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You’ve cut the hay back. You’re soaking for hours. The weight still isn’t shifting, and your vet has mentioned high insulin again.
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Here’s the part that surprises most owners: with a metabolic horse, restricting harder can make things worse.
Push far enough and the body switches to survival mode. Muscle becomes less responsive to insulin to protect blood glucose, and stored fat is mobilised harder. Weight loss and starvation are not the same thing.
What actually works, from Dr Eleanor Kellon VMD:
• Feed 1.5% of current bodyweight, or 2% of ideal bodyweight, whichever is greater
• Soak hay 30 minutes in hot water or 60 in cold, no longer.
• Beyond that you strip protein, minerals and water soluble vitamins without a matching drop in sugar
• Aim for forage tested under 10% combined ESC and starch
• Keep protein adequate, or fat comes off and topline goes with it
• Ponies, minis and donkeys are at higher risk of hyperlipemia. If your horse is on Ertugliflozin or Invokana medication, severe restriction can be rapidly fatal, work with your vet or experts in controlling nutritional density.
• Two hays that look identical can differ completely in sugar, starch, protein and minerals. Testing replaces guesswork.
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