Low Starch Diets_Manage Carbohydrates to Your Horse's Best Advantage

not excessively high in water soluble carbohydrates WSC or correspondingly in ethanol soluble carbohydrates ESC or simple sugars. Feeding high sugar hay can have just as significant an impact on the glucoseinsulin metabolism in a horse as feeding high starch diets.
A WSC analysis in excess of 10 to 12 percent on your grass hay can also indicate high levels of complex sugars such as fructan. Fructan is a complex polysaccharide that can ferment rapidly resulting in a pH drop in the cecum of your horse. Potential hindgut problems are a very real risk with large meals of high fructan hay.
While hay diets can be successful it is important to remember that just implementing a low starch forage based diet for an inactive overweight pasture ornament will not do him any good if the energy intake is still in excess of his requirements. Generally the most successful management plan for the metabolically challenged horse includes at least moderate exercise as well as a reduction in calorie intake.
Horses with PSSM need to have a largely starch and sugar free diet and instead rely on hindgut fermentable fibre sources such as beet pulp andor soy hulls alfalfa hay low WSC less than 10 percent grass hays and fat sources for energy. High performance horses with PSSM can be especially challenging to feed and the tried and true management practice of small meals fed often becomes very important.
Does my horse need a low starch diet?
One only has to peruse the internet briefly to be bombarded with advice on feeding our horses and the low starch diet is frequently advised as the answer for everything from laminitis to skin issues. In order to accurately determine if your horse would benefit from a low starch diet you need to objectively assess your riding and performance goals. 
If you have a high performance horse that is working hard you may well need to include starch in his diet for optimum success. Feeding a high starch diet to this type of horse can be advantageous but management of feeding and meals becomes more important.
If you have a performance horse with a metabolic disorder such as PSSM you should talk to your veterinarian or equine nutritionist about designing a low starch diet for your horse that will provide him with sufficient digestible energy to meet his performance goals without compromising his health.