Dr.Getty, Wow, thank you. Of the Cushings symptoms you listed he has no PU/PD, no muscle wasting, no allergies, no swollen sheath.... All he shows is the excessive winter coat, but he sheds it and it is never "kinky". So, is he IR and not Cushings? What feed do you recommend then with free choice good, clean, fresh grass hay and turned out on 6 acres of (western washington) pasture IN A GRAZING MUZZLE? He needs some supplements and I will look into the ones you recommended on your first answer, but what about a complete feed. There is the LMF Gentle Balance which is grain free and low sugar. He and his pal enjoy their evening routine of coming into the barn for dinner, music, my glass of wine and much Zen grooming for me !! Thank you, thank you. Cristine

Where are you from? Sedro-Woolley, WA.

How did you locate this forum? originally off the newsletter, but been here before

Hi Cristine,

Sounds like he is IR and not cushingoid. The diet, however, is the same -- low starch/low sugar. You can go with a commercially fortified feed and forego the supplement if you feed it according to the recommended amounts. Most people do not do this, simply because it requires more calories than the horse generally needs. So, if that's the case, you can feed less of the supplement to compensate for the amount of vitamins and minerals in the commercial feed.

Or, you can feed something like soaked beet pulp or soaked hay pellets -- both have not added nutrients and are low in sugar and starch. And to these feeds, you can add a vitamin/mineral supplement.

About a grazing muzzle -- it's ok for a two or three hours (never all day) as long as your horse is not frustrated by having it on. Frustration causes the stress hormone cortisol to rise, leading to elevated insulin, which leads to laminitis.

Thanks for writing!

All the best,

Dr. Getty
Author of Feed Your Horse Like A Horse

Where are you from? Bayfield, CO