In an attempt to avoid the rich diets that can worsen obesity and laminitis in insulin-resistant horses (those said to be suffering from peripheral Cushing’s disease), many owners feed hay instead of lush pasture or grain. However, Kathryn Watts, BS, director of research for Rocky Mountain Research and Consulting, has found that some hay isn’t a safe diet for insulin-resistant horses, and in fact some hays could be much worse than one might think. But she has had success with an easy, very inexpensive way to make hays safer.

Watts presented a poster on her research findings at the Second International Equine Conference on Laminitis and Diseases of the Foot, held in West Palm Beach, Fla., Nov. 10-11. Her focus was on the levels of water-soluble carbohydrates (sugars) in hay, which are powerfully affected by the weather conditions before hay is cut and while it dries