Send Audrey a Text to get your question answered on the show

What should you feed a horse with equine metabolic syndrome (EMS)? Before buying another metabolic supplement, let’s look at the whole diet: hay, pasture, feed, treats, and everything else going into the bucket.

In this episode of the Equine Energy Medicine Podcast, Audrey McLaughlin walks through her anti-inflammatory forage diet approach to feeding metabolic horses and easy keepers. Learn what insulin dysregulation means, how it relates to laminitis risk, and why a low-sugar feed label leaves important questions unanswered.

We cover:

• Evaluating forage, pasture access, and the complete daily ration.
• Managing calories while accounting for protein, muscle, and mineral needs.
• Looking beyond “low sugar” at ingredients and amounts fed.
• Checking for overlapping nutrients across supplements.
• Audrey’s supplement screen: acceptable ingredients, a useful purpose, and meaningful amounts.

If your feed room keeps collecting supplements while you’re still unsure what your horse actually needs, this episode gives you a practical place to start.

Join Audrey for the Metabolic Horse Class on Wednesday, October 14, at noon Eastern. Class details, individual nutrition consultations, and Minerals and Metals Mane Test information are listed below.

LEARN WITH AUDREY

• Metabolic Horse Class | Wednesday, October 14, 2026, at noon Eastern
https://autoimmunerev.kartra.com/checkout/7f0c996c444e6e574cca095411e5bb29

• Individual equine nutrition consultations
https://equineenergymed.com/consults

• Minerals and Metals Mane Test (MMMT)
https://equine-energy-medicine.myshopify.com/products/minerals-and-metals-mane-test?variant=51330892300592

RESEARCH AND FURTHER READING

• Equine Endocrinology Group: Recommendations for the Diagnosis and Management of Equine Metabolic Syndrome and Insulin Dysregulation, 2024.
Clinical guidance covering insulin assessment, dietary management, exercise, and monitoring.
https://equineendocrinologygroup.org/s/Final-Oct-2024-EEG-EMS-ID-Recommendations.pdf

• Durham AE, Frank N, McGowan CM, et al. ECEIM consensus statement on equine metabolic syndrome. Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine. 2019;33(2):335–349.
Background reading on EMS, insulin dysregulation, and management.
https://doi.org/10.1111/jvim.15423

YOUR NEXT STEP

Make a complete inventory of your horse’s hay, pasture access, feed, treats, and supplements. Include amounts, label photos, and your forage analysis if available. Use it to identify what needs a closer look before adding another product.

Minerals and Metals Mane Test: https://equine-energy-medicine.myshopify.com/products/minerals-and-metals-mane-test?variant=66748496150832

Find all the resources listed here: linktr.ee/equineenergymed

Audrey is not an MD or DVM and has never implied or claimed to be either. Audrey holds a Doctoral Degree in Traditional Naturopathy and a Master's Degree in Science. She created an evidence-based anti-inflammatory nutrition program for equines and has successfully helped over 10k horses with a balanced anti-inflammatory forage diet. 

This information is non-medical in nature and is not meant to diagnose, prescribe for, treat, or cure, and is not a replacement for your veterinarian.  These are my personal interpretations based on my education, skills, and experience. 

Equine Energy Medicine refers to non-invasive, supportive modalities focused on energetic balance, nutrition, and overall well-being, and does not replace veterinary care.

Send Audrey a Text to get your question answered on the show

Here is the question I get asked about EPM four times a week: does he need another round?

And here is the question almost nobody asks: what is actually limiting this horse right now, and which part of his recovery has never been addressed?

Those two questions send you down two completely different years. One is a loop. The other is a plan.

In this episode, Audrey McLaughlin, Functional Equine Nutritionist, takes apart the assumptions that keep horses stuck in the medication cycle after EPM, and lays out what an organized recovery actually looks like on top of appropriate veterinary treatment.

In this episode:

• Why a positive blood test means exposure, not active disease, and the three legs an EPM diagnosis actually stands on
• What to ask your vet for, and why writing down the neurologic grade today pays off two years from now
• Improvement versus complete recovery, and what the ten to twenty percent relapse figure really tells you in both directions
• The difference between a horse who declined and a horse who never fully came back, and why they need opposite responses
• What is usually left after treatment: residual deficit, lost conditioning, compensatory patterns, nutritional gaps, and proprioceptive confidence
• The honest vitamin E conversation. Test it, do not guess it, and why it is correcting a nutritional status rather than treating the disease
• The six step recovery order of operations applied to a neurologic horse, with minerals doing the work of nerve conduction and muscle contraction
• What the Minerals and Metals Mane Test can and cannot tell you about an EPM horse
• Why you do not rebuild a neurologic horse out of a bucket

This episode picks up after veterinary diagnosis and treatment. Nothing here is an argument against treating EPM. It is what belongs on top of that treatment.

Mentioned: The EPM Class

Minerals and Metals Mane Test: https://equine-energy-medicine.myshopify.com/products/minerals-and-metals-mane-test?variant=66748496150832

Find all the resources listed here: linktr.ee/equineenergymed

Audrey is not an MD or DVM and has never implied or claimed to be either. Audrey holds a Doctoral Degree in Traditional Naturopathy and a Master's Degree in Science. She created an evidence-based anti-inflammatory nutrition program for equines and has successfully helped over 10k horses with a balanced anti-inflammatory forage diet. 

This information is non-medical in nature and is not meant to diagnose, prescribe for, treat, or cure, and is not a replacement for your veterinarian.  These are my personal interpretations based on my education, skills, and experience. 

Equine Energy Medicine refers to non-invasive, supportive modalities focused on energetic balance, nutrition, and overall well-being, and does not replace veterinary care.

Send Audrey a Text to get your question answered on the show

Your horse finished Lyme treatment and still is not right. Technically cleared by the vet, but you know something is still obviously not right. 

Your vet did her job. The medication is finished. And your horse still is not the horse you had last spring.

Flat topline. No stamina. Sticky behind. Grouchy about the girth. Nothing you can point to on a vet exam, and nothing that has improved since the last dose went in.

Here is the piece that gets missed: treatment addresses the disease process. Recovery rebuilds the horse. Those are two separate jobs, and the second one has an order.

In this episode, Audrey McLaughlin, Functional Equine Nutritionist, lays out the six step recovery order of operations she uses with horses after veterinary Lyme treatment, and explains why the sequence matters as much as the inputs. Two plus three times four gives you twenty or fourteen depending entirely on what order you work it in. Same math applies to your feed room.

You will learn:

• Why treatment and recovery are two different phases, and what is actually sitting in front of you after the medication is done
• The six step order of operations: bind and remove toxins, protect and optimize the liver, reduce oxidative stress, lower inflammation, support normal acid base balance, restore fluid and mineral balance
• Why step one is almost always subtraction, not a binder purchase
• How to support the liver through the diet instead of an aggressive detox
• The hidden oxidative load sitting in processed oils and high concentrate diets
• What is actually true about acidity and alkalinity in horses, and what no supplement can do
• Why sodium is the most underfed nutrient in the American horse industry, and why a salt block is not a feeding program
• Why mineral relationships matter more than mineral amounts
• The honest amino acid conversation: they will not cover a bad diet, and a topline is not rebuilt out of a bucket
• Why targeted immune support belongs last, not first

This episode picks up after veterinary assessment, diagnosis, and treatment. It is supportive nutrition education, not a replacement for veterinary care.

Mentioned in this episode: Minerals and Metals Mane Test (MMMT), nutrition consultations, the anti-inflammatory forage diet.

Minerals and Metals Mane Test: https://equine-energy-medicine.myshopify.com/products/minerals-and-metals-mane-test?variant=66748496150832

Find all the resources listed here: linktr.ee/equineenergymed

Audrey is not an MD or DVM and has never implied or claimed to be either. Audrey holds a Doctoral Degree in Traditional Naturopathy and a Master's Degree in Science. She created an evidence-based anti-inflammatory nutrition program for equines and has successfully helped over 10k horses with a balanced anti-inflammatory forage diet. 

This information is non-medical in nature and is not meant to diagnose, prescribe for, treat, or cure, and is not a replacement for your veterinarian.  These are my personal interpretations based on my education, skills, and experience. 

Equine Energy Medicine refers to non-invasive, supportive modalities focused on energetic balance, nutrition, and overall well-being, and does not replace veterinary care.

Send Audrey a Text to get your question answered on the show

Over the last few weeks, I have had the privilege of hauling (some of) my horses for around 104 hours (well, the driving part was 104 hours - the horse part was around 60 hours) in August, along the Gulf Coast. Here are 10 things I learned about moving horses over 3,200 miles. I hope you enjoy!

Minerals and Metals Mane Test: https://equine-energy-medicine.myshopify.com/products/minerals-and-metals-mane-test?variant=66748496150832

Find all the resources listed here: linktr.ee/equineenergymed

Audrey is not an MD or DVM and has never implied or claimed to be either. Audrey holds a Doctoral Degree in Traditional Naturopathy and a Master's Degree in Science. She created an evidence-based anti-inflammatory nutrition program for equines and has successfully helped over 10k horses with a balanced anti-inflammatory forage diet. 

This information is non-medical in nature and is not meant to diagnose, prescribe for, treat, or cure, and is not a replacement for your veterinarian.  These are my personal interpretations based on my education, skills, and experience. 

Equine Energy Medicine refers to non-invasive, supportive modalities focused on energetic balance, nutrition, and overall well-being, and does not replace veterinary care.

Send Audrey a Text to get your question answered on the show

A four-year-old mare the vet diagnosied with synovitis, suspected bilateral upward fixation of the patella and normal radiographs and ultrasound. 

In this episode, Audrey explores how development, muscle capacity, hoof balance, inflammation and nutrition may contribute to a locking-stifle pattern even when imaging is unremarkable. She also discusses forage-based nutritional support, protein and mineral adequacy, flax versus preformed DHA, dried Schizochytrium microalgae and the importance of veterinarian-directed rehabilitation and collaborative care.

Minerals and Metals Mane Test: https://equine-energy-medicine.myshopify.com/products/minerals-and-metals-mane-test?variant=66748496150832

Find all the resources listed here: linktr.ee/equineenergymed

Audrey is not an MD or DVM and has never implied or claimed to be either. Audrey holds a Doctoral Degree in Traditional Naturopathy and a Master's Degree in Science. She created an evidence-based anti-inflammatory nutrition program for equines and has successfully helped over 10k horses with a balanced anti-inflammatory forage diet. 

This information is non-medical in nature and is not meant to diagnose, prescribe for, treat, or cure, and is not a replacement for your veterinarian.  These are my personal interpretations based on my education, skills, and experience. 

Equine Energy Medicine refers to non-invasive, supportive modalities focused on energetic balance, nutrition, and overall well-being, and does not replace veterinary care.

Send Audrey a Text to get your question answered on the show

Most horse owners hear insulin resistance and picture a fat horse with a cresty neck. But body fat is not the definition, and lean horses can have insulin dysregulation too. In this episode, we are breaking down what the term actually means in 2026, why low NSC labels are not enough, and the ten questions I mentally run thru on every metabolic case.

• What insulin dysregulation actually means
• Why low NSC feed labels mislead
• What to check first

Minerals and Metals Mane Test: https://equine-energy-medicine.myshopify.com/products/minerals-and-metals-mane-test?variant=66748496150832

Find all the resources listed here: linktr.ee/equineenergymed

Audrey is not an MD or DVM and has never implied or claimed to be either. Audrey holds a Doctoral Degree in Traditional Naturopathy and a Master's Degree in Science. She created an evidence-based anti-inflammatory nutrition program for equines and has successfully helped over 10k horses with a balanced anti-inflammatory forage diet. 

This information is non-medical in nature and is not meant to diagnose, prescribe for, treat, or cure, and is not a replacement for your veterinarian.  These are my personal interpretations based on my education, skills, and experience. 

Equine Energy Medicine refers to non-invasive, supportive modalities focused on energetic balance, nutrition, and overall well-being, and does not replace veterinary care.

Send Audrey a Text to get your question answered on the show

What does anti-inflammatory nutrition actually mean for horses? In this episode, I break down how anti-inflammatory equine nutrition became oversimplified into a “fix it with a scoop of...” mentality—and why that misses the point entirely.

We’ll talk about the real role of forage, feed ingredients, fatty acid balance, sugar and starch, minerals, protein, gut health, metabolic health, and targeted supplementation. You’ll learn why inflammation is highly individual from horse to horse, why ingredients still matter, and how to build a nutrition strategy that supports healthy inflammatory regulation without turning feeding into a rigid recipe.

Minerals and Metals Mane Test: https://equine-energy-medicine.myshopify.com/products/minerals-and-metals-mane-test?variant=66748496150832

Find all the resources listed here: linktr.ee/equineenergymed

Audrey is not an MD or DVM and has never implied or claimed to be either. Audrey holds a Doctoral Degree in Traditional Naturopathy and a Master's Degree in Science. She created an evidence-based anti-inflammatory nutrition program for equines and has successfully helped over 10k horses with a balanced anti-inflammatory forage diet. 

This information is non-medical in nature and is not meant to diagnose, prescribe for, treat, or cure, and is not a replacement for your veterinarian.  These are my personal interpretations based on my education, skills, and experience. 

Equine Energy Medicine refers to non-invasive, supportive modalities focused on energetic balance, nutrition, and overall well-being, and does not replace veterinary care.

Send Audrey a Text to get your question answered on the show

Palmitoylethanolamide, better known as PEA, is gaining attention as a potential tool for chronic, inflammatory, and neuropathic pain. In this episode, Audrey examines how PEA works, the only published equine case series, the dose used in those horses, formulation and absorption concerns, safety limitations, where PEA might fit in a rehabilitation plan, and why FEI competitors need to be extremely cautious.

This one is a doozy! Stay with me until the end for summary information.

Minerals and Metals Mane Test: https://equine-energy-medicine.myshopify.com/products/minerals-and-metals-mane-test?variant=66748496150832

Find all the resources listed here: linktr.ee/equineenergymed

Audrey is not an MD or DVM and has never implied or claimed to be either. Audrey holds a Doctoral Degree in Traditional Naturopathy and a Master's Degree in Science. She created an evidence-based anti-inflammatory nutrition program for equines and has successfully helped over 10k horses with a balanced anti-inflammatory forage diet. 

This information is non-medical in nature and is not meant to diagnose, prescribe for, treat, or cure, and is not a replacement for your veterinarian.  These are my personal interpretations based on my education, skills, and experience. 

Equine Energy Medicine refers to non-invasive, supportive modalities focused on energetic balance, nutrition, and overall well-being, and does not replace veterinary care.

Send Audrey a Text to get your question answered on the show

Levamisole has become one of the most talked-about adjunct therapies for Equine Protozoal Myeloencephalitis (EPM), but should horse owners and practitioners be asking more questions? 

In this episode, Audrey McLaughlin, RN, MSN, Board-Certified Traditional Naturopath and equine nutrition practitioner, explores how working in both human and equine health reveals important crossover insights. 

We discuss why some veterinarians use levamisole for EPM, how it may influence the immune system, the recent European withdrawal of human levamisole products following concerns about inflammatory white matter disease, and what that does—and does not—mean for horses. 

You'll also learn about Th1 immunity, medicinal herbs like astragalus and andrographis, beta-glucans, and why optimizing nutrition and immune resilience may be just as important as immune stimulation. 

This episode is a balanced, evidence-informed discussion designed to help horse owners and equine professionals ask better questions about EPM treatment—not to replace veterinary care.

Minerals and Metals Mane Test: https://equine-energy-medicine.myshopify.com/products/minerals-and-metals-mane-test?variant=66748496150832

Find all the resources listed here: linktr.ee/equineenergymed

Audrey is not an MD or DVM and has never implied or claimed to be either. Audrey holds a Doctoral Degree in Traditional Naturopathy and a Master's Degree in Science. She created an evidence-based anti-inflammatory nutrition program for equines and has successfully helped over 10k horses with a balanced anti-inflammatory forage diet. 

This information is non-medical in nature and is not meant to diagnose, prescribe for, treat, or cure, and is not a replacement for your veterinarian.  These are my personal interpretations based on my education, skills, and experience. 

Equine Energy Medicine refers to non-invasive, supportive modalities focused on energetic balance, nutrition, and overall well-being, and does not replace veterinary care.

Send Audrey a Text to get your question answered on the show

Your horse still doesn't have a topline, even after switching feeds and adding an amino acid supplement. Audrey breaks down why topline loss is rarely a protein problem, why sodium and mineral status matter more than most owners realize, and why chronic inflammation can block muscle building no matter what's in the bucket. Learn the real drivers behind a weak topline and what actually needs to change to build it back correctly.

Minerals and Metals Mane Test: https://equine-energy-medicine.myshopify.com/products/minerals-and-metals-mane-test?variant=66748496150832

Find all the resources listed here: linktr.ee/equineenergymed

Audrey is not an MD or DVM and has never implied or claimed to be either. Audrey holds a Doctoral Degree in Traditional Naturopathy and a Master's Degree in Science. She created an evidence-based anti-inflammatory nutrition program for equines and has successfully helped over 10k horses with a balanced anti-inflammatory forage diet. 

This information is non-medical in nature and is not meant to diagnose, prescribe for, treat, or cure, and is not a replacement for your veterinarian.  These are my personal interpretations based on my education, skills, and experience. 

Equine Energy Medicine refers to non-invasive, supportive modalities focused on energetic balance, nutrition, and overall well-being, and does not replace veterinary care.