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ES Insulin dysregulation in horses: a new epidemic or a new perspective?
June 20, 2025
We seem to live in a polarized world. You are either traditional, with tightly braided manes, white bandages, and millimeter precision... or you are barefoot on a horse that lives like in a Disney movie, while drinking lavender tea from a biodegradable mug.
Between those two extremes, no bridge seems possible anymore.
But that is not just a simplification. It is a dangerous dichotomy that ignores what it is really all about: the welfare of the horse.
Anyone who chooses a natural approach to keeping horses is quickly dismissed as naive or otherworldly. As if you can get any sport horse into balance with a bit of straw, a wisp of hay, and a crystal under the pillow. And admittedly—some movements do indeed go overboard, with an arsenal of energetic bells and whistles that would make even Merlin raise an eyebrow.
But let's be honest: much of what used to be labeled as ‘alternative’ is today firmly backed by science. Free movement, social contact, high-fiber nutrition — these are not fuzzy ideals, but basic physiological needs of a flight animal. Every behavior specialist, veterinarian, or nutritionist who takes the trouble to truly delve into equine physiology knows that damn well by now.
On the other side stands the classical camp – rooted in horsemanship, discipline, and ambition. With admirable dedication, they work toward performance, precision, and perfection.
But danger lurks here too: the normalization of physical and mental stress, as long as it remains functional. Coercive measures become ‘aids,’ girthiness is ‘character,’ and monthly colic is ‘just a bit sensitive.’ As long as the horse performs.
Tradition may command respect, but it is no excuse to stand still. Especially not when that tradition ignores what we meanwhile know about biomechanics, nutrition, pain recognition, and stress physiology.
The problem is not the dressage arena or the paddock paradise. The problem is the inability to listen to the horse. Because a hoof tells a story. So does a stomach. And a look in the eyes tells it most of all.
The equestrian world needs to get rid of the idea that there are only two camps: the bit camp and the chakra camp.
True professionals—and there are more and more of them—strive for a balance. They train with an understanding of behavior. They base their methods on physiology. They take individual needs into account. And they’re willing to rethink traditions when science calls for it.
The horses of tomorrow have no use for ideologies. They need people who want to keep learning. Who do not derive their identity from how to do something, but on why.
So let's take the ‘goat-wool socks’ out of the doghouse. And let's revalue tradition without following it uncritically. Because whoever truly chooses horses, does not choose camps. They choose connection, growth – and above all: the horse.
I am that woman who constantly loses her glasses, forgets her keys, never finds her phone. But my opinion? I always have it ready.
Half wolf, half woman - literally in my Facebook profile picture, figuratively in everything I do. I am someone of extremes. Intuitive and astute. Calm and storm. Silence and voice. Soft to what is vulnerable. Tough on what deliberately damages. I am not a perfect version of myself. An honest one, though.
I work with people, systems, food, chaos and vision. Sometimes with horses, often with principles. I believe in truth over diplomacy, and in nuance without wooliness.
Here I share what concerns me. What chafes, what moves, what knocks. Welcome to my head. It's a little wild there - but always real.
#more than power supply #MIRA