Fat horses face health problems

The growing obesity problem in the United States that has alarmed physicians and public health officials is now producing concern among veterinarians.

Researchers at the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine and the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Virginia Tech evaluated 300 horses and found 51 per cent were overweight or obese and, therefore, potentially subject to such problems as laminitis and hyperinsulinemia.

The researchers - including Professor Craig Thatcher; Associate Professors Scott Pleasant and Francois Elvinger; and Professor Ray Geor - found that, instead of overfeeding of grain and concentrates, improved forage and lack of exercise are the two most common contributing factors in equine(horse) obesity.

Thatcher said human health may also substantially benefit from the study because humans suffering from obesity experience chronic (constant) inflammation (swelling). If obese horses are also found to suffer from chronic inflammation, the possibility would then exist for horses to serve, for the first time, as an animal model for the study of obesity in people.

The project remains ongoing, with researchers now focusing on the role of hormone levels, oxidative stress, inflammatory biomarkers, and antioxidant mechanisms in equine obesity.

United Press International