Ever since Cooper had his bout of laminitis I have been researching how to deal with the metabolic disorder: Insulin Resistant horse.
A friend suggested I try Chromium as a supplement and I found this very interesting article from Kentucky Equine Research: http://www.ker.com/library/advances/130.pdf
In addition to giving Cooper a Chromium supplement (I am using Platinum Performance Chromium Yeast) I have changed his diet. He was already in intense work, (he's not obese or inactive), training at the FEI levels in dressage.
I have reduced the amount of concentrate feed to 1lb 3 times a day. It's a low carbohydrate feed from Southern States, Legends Carb Care Performance. And he also gets 1 lb of soaked beet pulp (no molasses added) at each feeding. He is also on the human diabetes drug Metformin. His timothy/orchard grass hay is soaked a minimum of 30' then drained, to remove sugar (research suggests that hay soaked for 30' or more removes about 30% of the sugars.)
So far, so good, Cooper has shown no more signs of laminitis and he is working well. In fact he actually feels lighter and more willing to work than he did before he got sick. I'm thinking now that we are managing his metabolism better he feels better in his body.
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