googol
Well-Known Member
My gelding has EMS. It is absolutely not a death sentence and it is manageable. They are likely to have cushings later on in life though. There's no reason they can't continue to do exactly what they do now(ridden wise that is). My guy is not on any medication yet, vet wanted to manage it by lifestyle and dietry first which I agree with. As someone said before get any fat off them and get them down to a good weight and then you have to keep it at that. I muzzle mine once the grass starts shooting through (if not before as it starts before we notice) and that helps. He'll never be able to stay out 24/7 unless he had s restricted area but unfortunately that's not possible with all Livery yards.
Feed wise, you need to feed things with the lowest of sugars and starch. Preferably none but this will never happen as there's naturally occurring sugars in everything. The best is to get both sugar and starch below 10% when it comes to hard feed. I'm at 7.5%. Also a scoop of magnesium really helps with the fatty areas. I avoid any 'mixes' as usually there coated with molasses or they contain barley which can put the weight on.
Forage wise, avoid anything at all which is ryegrass based. You'll bring on a lami episode extremely quickly. Stick to Timothy/meadow hay/haylage. I fed haylage and have no problem at all with it, people are very sceptical about haylage as there seems to be false information somewhere along the line that it contains more sugar than hay which isn't the case(unless it's rye based). Or if you use hay, soaking it is a must. Also weigh whatever you choose to use religiously.
Anything else just ask, I'm happy to help and share any information I know on it
Ps m geldings a coloured cob x with a native, we're not a 100% sure what with but we did reckon a Welsh of some sort, possibly a C
Thanks for sharing your story, sounds very positive. My vet was positive initially but on Monday he really managed my expectations about the future, so I was planning the worst case scenario in my head, then since that evening he has definitely got a bit better (not continually, just from the weekend when he was awful) so now I’m feeling really positive, especially with posts like yours. It hasn’t half been a rollercoaster tho, and I know it’s not over yet. He’s still on 4 Bute per day spread out throughout the day. I’m soaking his forage and he has a tiny amount of happy hoof and high fiber nuts just for the Bute. I’m still giving him his boswellia serrata too which he’s been on for years. I want to get the magnesium but the vet doesn’t want me to try anything new until we are out of the acute phase. He still has a pulse too, but will see what they say on Friday.