When you've got ultra-processed food mostly made from commodity crops - wheat, corn, soya, turned into food-like products that bear little resemblance to any evolutionary diet, these addictive, nutrient-depleted foods not only make the body sick, but drive cravings for more and more more food-like substances, as the body desperately looks for the missing nutrients."

Dr Mark Hyman

Horses are naturally grazing, grass forage-based animals, thriving on a diverse array of forages, which contain both structural carbohydrates (fibre and fructans) and non-structural carbohydrates (sugars and starches).

Yet when we think of 'carbohydrates', for many of us that word immediately brings 'sugar' to mind, then 'energy', and then - almost automatically - 'problems'! After all, when it comes to equine diets, carbs have earned a bit of a bad reputation. They're often blamed for everything from weight gain to laminitis, and the advice to 'go low-carb' has become almost gospel among horse owners managing metabolic issues.

And yet. Every piece of food contains carbohydrates - there's no way to avoid them.

Let’s rethink

What if avoiding carbs entirely could actually be doing more harm than good? Let’s take a closer look, starting with the basics.

What are carbohydrates?

Carbohydrates aren’t just about sugar. They’re a diverse group that includes everything from simple sugars like glucose and fructose, to the fibrous components of forage that are essential for your horse's gut health. Without carbohydrates, the delicate balance of your horse’s microbiome - the trillions of microorganisms that keep their digestion running smoothly - can falter.

In a nutshell:

• Simple carbs (like glucose/fructose) are quickly absorbed, spiking blood sugar and triggering an insulin response.
 
• Complex carbs are long-chain sugar molecules that take longer to digest, resulting in slower glucose release and a more balanced insulin response.

Why fibre is more than filler

Fibre is also a carbohydrate – and arguably the most essential one for your horse’s gut health. It includes soluble forms such as mucilages, and insoluble ones like cellulose and hemicellulose. Fibre is vital for keeping the hindgut healthy, supporting the microbial populations and maintaining digestive motility - fibre intake keeps the bowels moving and the faeces moist and easy to move.

When ‘low-carb’ misses the point

I remember a great piece by a nutritionist who made a really insightful point: when we cut out carbs, we sometimes forget what else we’re eliminating along the way. He joked about those TV ads urging diabetics to check their blood sugar after eating a perfect plate of spinach and veggies, when the real culprit was the sugary dressing and fizzy drink on the side!

Similarly, a curvy friend of mine has been doing their best to dump the carbs, yet can’t resist a daily stop at Costa for a deluxe coffee topped with 5000-calories' of flavoured syrup ...

The same pattern sometimes shows up with our metabolic horses. We often get messages from well-meaning owners on the hunt for super low-NSC hay, yet their feedbowl is brimming with mueslis, flavoured chaffs (there's a heavily molassed chaff out there coming in at 17% sugar, seriously), supplements full of artificial sweeteners and synthetic nutrients, and carrots galore, while beloved Ned is meanwhile stuck on a dry lot with zero movement.

When labels don’t tell the whole story

Equally, you'll find some commercial ‘low-carb’ feeds still contain binders, flavourings or synthetic additives that can undermine gut health and confuse the metabolic picture.

What’s often missed is that nearly every EMS horse we see has an imbalanced gut biome - yet they’re often deprived of the very fibrous, natural nutrition their bodies were built to thrive on. Make no mistake - many of today's so-called 'low carb' feeds we pick up from the feed merchant can overwhelm the liver – not just with sugars, but those synthetic additives, sweeteners, and binders the body has to work hard to clear.

These horses need more than low-carb labels - they need metabolic support from the ground up. When gut health falters, the liver ends up with even more detox work to do, including sugar regulation and hormonal balance. That’s why supporting the liver in mid-spring is so important, for both digestion and hormone metabolism, as well as the detox pathways that underpin true metabolic resilience.

Which brings us to one of our seasonal spring staples …

Why LiverCARE?

🌿 Supports the liver’s role in regulating blood sugar

🌿 Aids in hormone metabolism – especially useful for mares

🌿 Gently helps clear inflammatory by-products from the system

And it’s not just EMS horses. A quick link to our recent blog on navigating our mares springtime mood swings, her seasonal hormonal surges can feel even more intense if the liver isn’t clearing hormones efficiently. That’s why LiverCARE and MellowMare can work beautifully in tandem – supporting the body’s two key systems for hormonal calm.

This isn't about blame - it’s more about gently shifting the focus to what truly supports our horses' metabolic health. Sometimes, despite our best intentions, the horse gets worse, not better - until we step back and reassess the bigger picture.

For horses prone to metabolic issues, it’s easy to fall into the 'low-carb' mindset. But while limiting excessive starch and sugar intake is the obvious route to take, obsessively chasing low-NSC (non-structural carbohydrate) feeds can be counter-productive.

Here's why:

• Forage first: Your horse's primary diet should always be forage, whether that’s pasture or hay. And guess what? Forage naturally contains carbohydrates. Even the so-called "low-NSC" options still provide sugar and starch. The key is quality and balance, not elimination.

• The grain dilemma – to feed or not to feed? Grains have long supplemented the equine diet, especially when grass or hay quality is lacking, or energy demands are high. The issue arises when grains are fed in excessive amounts, bypassing small-intestinal digestion, which means ...

• Excess starch will overflow from the small intestine into the hindgut, triggering faulty fermentation, bacterial imbalance, hindgut acidosis, inflammation - and laminitis.

The main offenders

Recent trends toward those 'low-carbohydrate' feeds are a response to this issue. But the trade-off is that they're jammed with bulk fillers, which don't make for pretty reading - everything from:

👉 Apple Pectin  - sounds fruity, but this soluble fibre triggers lactic acid in the hindgut, disrupting microbial balance and fermenting in all the wrong places.

👉 Beet Pulp - a sugar imposter. It tricks the metabolism into thinking sugar’s coming and cue's sugar cravings (just try weaning a horse off beet), spiking insulin and driving fat storage. NB. Even unmolassed beet carries 7% sugar residue.

👉 NIS (Nutritionally Improved Straw) - softened in caustic soda to make straw more edible, but straw’s not a food, and this certainly isn’t natural grass forage that the equine gut evolved to digest.

👉 Oatfeed & Wheatfeed  - just dusty milling leftovers – no nutritional value, just cheap fillers that irritate more than it nourish.

👉 Pea Protein  - a modern “clean” protein? Not quite. GMO, highly processed, with increasing reports of allergenicity and inflammatory risk.

👉 Rice Bran  - 30% starch – that’s higher than oats. Plus, it comes with a high carbon footprint and oxidative instability.

👉 Soya - GM. Pro-inflammatory. Heavily processed. Linked to hormone disruption. Make no bones - there's nothing good here. Just say no. (And there’s no shortage of all-things-soya reading material if you want the deep dive.)

👉 Vegetable Oils  - bleached, refined and deodorised PUFAs, promoting inflammation rather than offering true energy. Still bafflingly recommended by vets.

Want more proof? We've got this whole sorry subject detailed in full in our What's really in Those Feedbags? page. In short, always, always check your feedbag's ingredients.

Smart carb feeding: how much is too much?

Instead of focusing on cutting carbs, let’s aim to feed them intelligently.

Here’s how:

• Know your numbers: Research suggests that horses should consume less than 2-grams of starch/kg BW per meal to avoid overload. For particularly sensitive horses, this drops to 0.3–1g/kg BW.
• Prioritise high quality forage: Ensure your primary nutrition comes from high-quality, nutrient-dense grass forage. Avoid poor-quality hay that offers little nutritional value.
• Support the hindgut microbiome: Your horse’s hindgut health plays a huge role in how they process and utilise carbohydrates, with fibre-rich diets supporting a robust microbiome. Fermentable fibre feeds the beneficial bacteria, helping to maintain a balanced microbiome, while maintaining gut motility and preventing colic and laminitis.
• Exercise and movement: Encourage exercise and turnout to reduce obesity risk and metabolic complications.

The real problem? It's not just carbs

Many owners, driven by fear of carbohydrates, switch to low-quality forage or overly restrictive diets, inadvertently creating nutritional deficiencies and microbiome imbalances. Metabolic conditions won't improve with low-quality hay and artificial supplements alone.

A balanced approach - that includes thoughtful carbohydrate management, quality forage, fibre-rich feeds, controlled grain usage, and regular exercise - is key.

Bottom line, it's about balance and moderation. Carbohydrates aren’t inherently bad - they’re actually essential. Problems arise from misunderstanding or overfeeding. Each horse is unique, and feeding strategies must reflect individual needs.

Remember:

• Focus on quality rather than simply "low-carb."
• Understand your horse’s starch and sugar tolerance levels.
• Provide balanced nutrition from natural sources, not carb-heavy, refined, artifical, processed feedbags.
• Grass forage fibre - cellulose/hemicellulose - is a beneficial carb, found in hay stems or long standing grass.

Beyond the numbers – whole-body management

Managing a horse with insulin resistance, laminitis, or other metabolic challenges requires more than just a 'low-carb' feed. Overly restrictive diets can deprive these horses of the nutrients they need to heal and thrive.

A few considerations:

• NSC isn’t the whole story - low-NSC hays are often nutrient-poor and don’t support long-term health. Instead, focus on overall dietary balance, including minerals, protein, and fibre.
• Rethink dry lots - movement matters. If pasture isn’t an option, consider strategies that encourage your horse to move and graze naturally, like track systems or hay nets placed strategically around their environment.

What’s next?

The conversation around carbohydrates is far from over. While they’ve been painted as the bad guys, the truth is more nuanced. When fed thoughtfully, carbohydrates are a vital part of every horse’s diet, supporting not just energy needs but gut health and overall vitality.

Let’s continue making informed, compassionate choices that reflect the individual needs of our horses. After all, there’s no one-size-fits-all solution - just the thoughtful art and science of feeding horses appropriately - and wisely.

Want to dive deeper? Check out our companion blogs on Spring Hormonal Balance for Mares and What’s Really in Those Feedbags? to keep building your horse’s healthiest spring routine.

FAQs

Q: What are the best carbohydrates for horses with EMS?
  A: Fibre-rich forages like hay with a low NSC (non-structural carbohydrate) content are ideal. Avoid high-starch grains and molassed feeds.

Q: Can horses with insulin resistance have any sugar?
A: It’s all about moderation and context. Natural sugars in forage are necessary for gut health. The key is managing sugar load per meal.

Q: How does liver health affect hormones in mares?
  A: The liver metabolises and clears hormones, so supporting the liver helps reduce hormone buildup and related behavioural issues.

Q: Is it okay to feed grains to a metabolic horse?
  A: Metabolic horses do better on high-quality forage and fibre-based energy sources.