Can anyone tell me why the ECIR group is so against feeding Hygain Zero?? I get that it contains some rice bran oil -but in the grand scheme of things does that really make that big a difference?? There’s people posting on some of the laminitis fb group pages that Hygain Zero caused their horses to get laminitis or very foot sore ? I just dont see how that could be the case ?? They do recommend Nuzu Stabul One as a safe carrier -however it contains soy - which for some can be problematic…what’s the worst of 2 evils - rice bran oil or soy for an IR/EMS Horse
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I don’t know that feed. You will have to go over the ingredients and compare to what is recommended. Is it made with alfalfa?
I will say, while I do like that group a lot, some of their recommendations may be dated.
I do feed my mini Stabul because he reacts to the alfalfa in Essential K in the winter when his numbers are up, but he did fine all spring/summer/fall on EK. They do not recommend EK because of the slightly higher NSC, which Tribute has lowered this year, and the alfalfa. Also somewhere in all their documents they also say that EK is higher in iron, however further research shows Stabul is higher in iron. Look at the dates on the documents. There is one that shows what not to feed an IR horse and it mentions glucosamine, but that is dated 2008 and there were further studies proving that statement incorrect.
You will also find there are people on that list comment that they have fed Stabul and their horses got laminitis from it. Each horse is different. You are going to have to use their information and build from there with your horse.
I have decided to use most of their recommendations, but to also tailor to my mini, particularly since there can be many causes for laminitis. Get the Jiaogulan for sure (I get mine from Mad Barn), however I do not feed 20 minutes before regular feeding and still have success with it. I can’t imagine many people having that flexibility with their schedule.
Good luck with figuring out what works best for your horse!
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I also follow most of their recommendations with some minor variations
Interestingly…the Stabul 1 contains alfalfa meal -which I was always under the impression that ECIR is very anti alfalfa ??
Attached are the ingredients for the Hygain Zero (contains sweet lupins) and the Stabul 1(contains soybean hulls)
you’d have to ask them specifically, but there’s nothing about it that wouldn’t be technically safe for the IR horse.
If this is true (and no reason to think it’s not):
then it fits all the boxes.
Nothing about rice bran oil or soy is inherently bad for the EMS horse, but some horses don’t do well on one or the other. Same with alfalfa, but for most of that, most are finnnnne with what’s in a feed or supplement, they just can’t have it as hay
The ECIR Group is pretty rigid, very black and white, and we know horses just aren’t that way 
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I would ask what the “roughage products” are listed on the right.
And yes on the alfalfa in Stabul - I missed that but not surprised it there and tucked away 7th. All I know is my mini does well on it - for now. He’s a ticking timebomb, unfortunately.
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FWIW my metabolic pony gelding (27) gets a little rice bran, about 2-3 ounces, and he does well on it. Soy for all three of mine hasn’t been good for them (fat pads, digital pulses up). I’ve had to weed through the ECIR group and take some suggestions and ignore others. Like the Timothy Balance Cubes that they recommend, that was an epic fail for me. One refused to eat it and the other two had digestive problems while on it. While that feed (TBCubes) might be great for some, it wasn’t for my guys. It’s not a one size fits all fix with the diet.
JBs last sentence nailed it.
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feeding ANY oil, or any amount of equivalent fat, can trigger IR issues. It’s not about rice bran oil, it’s about enough fat for some of these EMS horses
It’s been a while since I researched it, but i’m not sure if there’s any research proving that X grams of fat added to the diet can decrease insulin sensitivity. It seems to be like soy - affects some EMS horses, but not all. So I agree with Michele on that
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