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Obesity in Horses
Horses were recently experiencing a big increase in cases of laminitis, a condition where the connective tissue between the hoof and bone falls apart. Researchers suggested that the laminitis increase might be related to an epidemic of obesity, which could cause chronic inflammation and other health problems. So they examined 300 horses randomly chosen on over a hundred farms during the summer of 2006. And they found that just about 51 percent, were either overweight or obese. And for the same reasons as people—too many calories and too little exercise. The horses may not be overeating, though. Modern pasture plant materials were themselves bred to help foraging animals, like cattle, pack the weight on faster. Looks like horses may have been cowed into becoming fat.
References: REF FILE HD-100
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