While EMS affected horses display profound altered adipose tissue metabolism and dysregulated lipids turnover, the loss in SHBG protein has been previously correlated with impaired insulin signalling and general metabolic disruption in the course of insulin resistance, systemic inflammation, obesity and metabolic syndrome (Reynolds et al., 2019; Bourebaba et al., 2022). Here, SHBG is linked to obesity due to melanocortin 4 receptor deficiency.