Too much sugar in the diets of these horses causes them to “hit the wall” when working hard. Horses with Polysaccharide Storage Myopathy (PSSM), a genetic condition that affects how the horse stores glucose as glycogen in the muscle, also need a diet low in sugar and starch. But the fact is that as our horses live longer and are fed forages with better nutritional quality, we are seeing more and more of them who are overweight or afflicted with metabolic conditions such as Insulin Resistance (IR), Equine Metabolic Syndrome (EMS), or Pituitary Pars Intermedia Deficiency (PPID or Equine Cushings Disease). Not all hay has high WSC, and not all horses need to consume a diet with limited starches and sugars. We now know that high intakes of water soluble carbohydrates (as indicated on a lab analysis as WSC or water soluble carbohydrates and including sugars and starches) can be a liability for some horses. In recent years, horse owners have become more aware of the impact of rapidly digestible carbohydrates in the diets of their horses. Horses that have allergies and are sensitive to the natural dust and particles in hay can benefit significantly from wetting or soaking hay. Soaking hay for horses can be invaluable when feeding a hay that is a little dusty as a result of soil contamination or where it was stored in the barn. Horse owners have been wetting or soaking hay as a feed management practice for many years.
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