hannahrosie
New User
hi there after feedback about the disease how much work can they tolerate? and any other info on the disease thank you hannah
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epsm in horses
- Thread starter hannahrosie
- Start date
mystiandsunny
Well-Known Member
Depends on how severe it is. Some horses have it much worse than others. There's a horse whose owner is on here who can now do only light hacking, whereas my pony only has it v lightly and can tolerate full work incl jumping, xc, sponsored rides, long hacks, galloping, schooling etc. She has always been pretty tireless on the correct diet, healthy and full of 'go'! In my girl it only ever manifested as a slight laziness behind though, and was picked up when evaluating performance. It depends a lot on getting the diet right (you have to add oils as well as reducing sugar/starch), and exercise is positively encouraged. If you search epsm or pssm on google you'll find loads and loads of info.
superted1989
Well-Known Member
Hi, my closest friend bought her mare (very cheaply I might add) at the age of 7 with confirmed EPSM. The mare had tyed up countless times over a 2 year period and the vets prognosis was she would be okay as a light, happy hacker (exactly what my friend wanted).
In her previous home, she had very limited turnout, was fed very expensive supplements and was mainly exercised on the lunge (hadn't hacked very much at all).
6 years on, she competes most weekends, has a lot of turnout and does loads and loads of decent hacking. During that time she has only tyed up twice, both times by us taking our eyes off the ball!
Whilst no 2 horses are the same, Marge is managed, year round, almost like a laminitic pony. She lives in a small herd, in a fairly large field, with 'adequate' grazing (not lush). She is supplemented with hay (never haylege) and fibre based feeds (recently changed from fast fibre to power and performance to help with stamina). There are a myriad of specialist supplements available but we manage with magox, brewers yeast and chaste berry along with good, old fashioned table salt! After reading an artical about American racehorses using BOSS (black sunflower seeds) she also has a cup of these instead of straight oil (avoid if horse is colic prone though).
Management, slow and careful warm ups and warm downs, keeping weight stable and finding the correct work/rest balance seems to be the key to managing this condition. Cereal feeds are a no no and protein has to be kept low. I did heaps of online research in the early days, but now looking after her little foibles are second nature!
She's never going to be physically able to go through the levels of BS or BE, nor can she manage intense, prolonged schooling sessions but she'll happily win 2'9" classes every week!
Oh, just remembered, if the enzymes are raised their wee will be quite dark in colour. Obviously, if they tie up, usual rules of azorturia apply, try not to move them, box rest, call the vet for blood tests and pain relief! Our vet does allow her to have a supply of bute at home, just in case, as she is a confirmed case and the last lot got thrown away by going out of date!
In her previous home, she had very limited turnout, was fed very expensive supplements and was mainly exercised on the lunge (hadn't hacked very much at all).
6 years on, she competes most weekends, has a lot of turnout and does loads and loads of decent hacking. During that time she has only tyed up twice, both times by us taking our eyes off the ball!
Whilst no 2 horses are the same, Marge is managed, year round, almost like a laminitic pony. She lives in a small herd, in a fairly large field, with 'adequate' grazing (not lush). She is supplemented with hay (never haylege) and fibre based feeds (recently changed from fast fibre to power and performance to help with stamina). There are a myriad of specialist supplements available but we manage with magox, brewers yeast and chaste berry along with good, old fashioned table salt! After reading an artical about American racehorses using BOSS (black sunflower seeds) she also has a cup of these instead of straight oil (avoid if horse is colic prone though).
Management, slow and careful warm ups and warm downs, keeping weight stable and finding the correct work/rest balance seems to be the key to managing this condition. Cereal feeds are a no no and protein has to be kept low. I did heaps of online research in the early days, but now looking after her little foibles are second nature!
She's never going to be physically able to go through the levels of BS or BE, nor can she manage intense, prolonged schooling sessions but she'll happily win 2'9" classes every week!
Oh, just remembered, if the enzymes are raised their wee will be quite dark in colour. Obviously, if they tie up, usual rules of azorturia apply, try not to move them, box rest, call the vet for blood tests and pain relief! Our vet does allow her to have a supply of bute at home, just in case, as she is a confirmed case and the last lot got thrown away by going out of date!