The majority of clinical cases of laminitis occur in pastures where there is an accumulation of rapidly fermentable non-structural carbohydrates (NSC) such as fructans, simple sugars or starches (Geor, 2010). Pasture-associated laminitis has major economic and social implications in the equine sector. Increased risk factors include insulin resistance, increased secretory insulin response, hypertriglyceridemia, and obesity (Asplin et al., 2007; Carter et al., 2009 and de Laat et al., 2010). Insulin resistance has been linked to a number of problems in horses, including laminitis. Insulin resistance can be defined as a physiological state in which cells respond less well to the normal actions of the hormone insulin. Insulin is produced but the cells become resistant and are less able to transport glucose from the bloodstream to muscles and other tissues. In horses, insulin resistance is associated with a number of diseases such as equine metabolic syndrome (Powell et al., 2002; Hoffman et al., 2003; Vick et al., 2006 and Frank et al. , 2009). , equine Cushing's disease (McGowan et al., 2004 and Walsh et al., 2009) and laminitis (Treiber et al., 2006; Bailey et al., 2007; McGowan, 2008 and Geor, 2008). Obesity and insulin resistance in ponies have become a common problem and there is increasing awareness of the role that diet and exercise should play (Jeffcott et al., 1986; Frank et al. , 2006 and Vick and Adams, 2007). . It has been suggested that overexpressed adipocytokines, such as leptin, impair insulin signaling and cause upregulation of inflammatory cytokines. This then contributes to impaired insulin signaling and endothelial dysfunction (Radin, et al., 2009). Middle of paper Energy restriction......limits supply to minimize stress. Horses should be kept away from the first new growth after a period of stress such as a drought. The concentration of NSC can be reduced by waiting until the new grass has two or three leaves per tiller. This allows sugars accumulated in underground storage organs to be used for production.6. Conclusion A number of factors can affect NSC content, including plant type (grass hay, legume hay, oat hay), plant maturity (young plants tend to be higher), environmental conditions (stressed grasses have higher amounts of NSC), season (spring has the highest NSC content), and time of day (afternoon). The factors mentioned above as well as the maturation process will affect the NSC content of the forage. The longer the hay is dried, the lower the NSC. Soaking hay can also remove a large amount of the NSC contents..