EPSM/Shivers diets

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SiscosMum

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Hi guys Im interested in what others with epsm/shivers horses use feed and oil wise, iv been researching it on and off for years and tried quite a few different combinations with my boy, he's really fussy when it comes to high oil chaff and doesnt like alot of oil added to his feeds either, for bieng a field ornament he stresses me out loads lol. Thanks in advance for replies x
 
I don't own a horse with shivers but I have done some research for some owners. This should help you..

There is no cure however regular exercise, turnout and a high fat low starch and sugar diet with enough vit E and selenium can help. Worse in cold weather and stress, excitement and anxiety can set it off.

Dietary Recommendations for a Horse with EPSM
http://www.ruralheritage.com/vet_clinic/epsmdiet.htm
 
I have a retirement livery who has EPSM, quite common in ID types I believe. She is fed Alfa A Oil & Saracens Equi-jewel balancer, her owner researched EPSM quite a lot. She lives out 24/7 now.
 
I had my boy, Snip, biopsied fr EPSM but it turned out it was Recurrent Exertional Rhabdomyolysis. I had done a shed load of research on EPSM by this point (luckily a lot of it is the same for the RER!)

Def high oil, low starch and sugars diet. If you go over about 300ml of oil per day then you need to look at a higher level of Vit E and selenium...Selenevite E is a really good supplement for this and is also a broad spec vit supplement too.

Keep the doet simple, keep the exercise regular and within comfort zone and keep alert for little signs.

With my boy keeping warm seems to be a major factor an I have to really over rug him.

He also seems to react badly to very sugary grass.

If you are struggling to get a high enough level of oil into the horse, try soaking some speedibeet/unmolassed sugar beet with the oil soaked into that, seems to make it more palatable.

Equiljewel, as someone else has recommended, is also a very good feed.
 
I feed

200g (dry weight) Kwik Beet as this is the lowest sugar
200g micronised linseed - it is high in oil and has good amino acids
pink powder
vit e liquid (holland and barratt)
500ml of either veg oil or sunflower oil (she gets really bored if it's always the same one)
yea sacc 1026 (never does as well without it)

and a lot of mixed hedgerow plants

hay is soaked min 12 hours and then rinsed off afterwards

turn out is 'normal' but when grass comes through we turn out very early and bring in by 2pm latest, 12 noon on very sugary days.

This works well for us. Horse is turned out naked. Although warm is important she is in a field where she can find shelter if she wants and because of circumstances rugging her is a worse option than not rugging - for the moment anyhow. She has loads of forage so burning this keeps her warm too - she often looks more comfortable than the horses rugged to the eyeballs but on limited hay.

I second rural heritage too.
 
used to feed my lad

Alfa a oil
500ml sunflower oil
relieve mix
vit e and selenium suppliment
balancer

I used to add sugar free apple squash to make it taste better too
 
I didn't like the high oil diet for my shiverer, he wouldn't eat the required amount of oil and it would have cost a fortune. The best thing IME is as much turnout as possible and regular, gentle exercise.

Feedwise, I had to cut out all cereals so no competition mixes, even pasture mix didn't suit him. He got on OK with every chaff I've fed but since he's a very good doer, I don't ever feed the high "calorie" chaffs anyway. I found the best thing to do is minimise sugars and starch. For the 12-18 months I've been feeding Dengie High Fibre Nuts and Dengie Hifi or Hifi Lite chaff, all of which he got on well with. ATM I'm trying to cut molasses out completely (not because of his shivers though) so he is now eating Simple System's Luci-cob (pure alfalfa) with their Total Eclipse balancer.

My horse also benefits from regular (every 4-6 months) physio as the shivers do make him a bit tight across his back.
 
thanks guys, sorry iv taken forever to reply. rural heritage site i refer back to all the time, have done for years, problem with that is they talk to american feeds so all i can get from it is high oil, which doesnt work for my very fussy horse, he wont tolerate any kind of added oil and now wont eat chaff either, high oil or otherwise, he used to eat alfa oil with BOSS now he wont eat either, cubes/nuts is all i can get him to take and he started to drop weight and was struggling with our very muddy fields so he's now inside and on D&H high fibre nuts. He's 14 ish this year and retired from ridden work, i manage him exercise wise with lunging, free schooling. walking out in hand and led of another horse over summer time when i can borrow horse and have the free time.

He just seems to have gone very strange on me lately, he's usually a big donkey that my young kids can lead around, groom and fuss around without any issues but he's hyper silly and spooky at the moment, its not through stabling as he was on box rest for ages in oct/nov last year due to tooth root abcess which he got surgery for, no problems now re that so its not the problem either. At my wits end with him....
 
If he is happy to eat nuts then look at some of the high oil/lowish starch cubes. Spiller's Response Slow Release Cubes are one option (12% starch and 11 MJDE/kg so more calories than high fibre cubes), if he is really hard to keep weight on then ask D&H whether their ERS Pellets might be suitable for him, as they are high calorie (13 MJDE/kg) and only 7% starch. I know you say he doesn't like oil but have you tried high oil supplements such as Equijewel, Outshine, micronised linseed or Triple Top Up?
 
I struggle to afford feeding along the lines of outshine etc, this is the second time iv owned sisco, i sold him before as i didnt have the time and money to manage his epsm, he was in ridden work at that point but i couldnt get him exercised enough, though he was alot less fussy with eating then. He fell into the wrong hands, 3 owners later and having been pretty much neglected i managed to get the money together to but him and bring him home.

Been doing more research this morning and found info saying that he may only need the higher amounts of extra oil to keep energy levels up and weight on while in ridden work??? He's pretty much a good doer the majority of the time and through him dropping lots of weight due to complications after his tooth root problems i know the high fibre nuts should bring his weight back up as they did before, im thinking if i add speedibeet to these i may be able to manage him that way as he'l tolerate smaller amounts of oil if soaked with this, then i can hopefully get him back out 24/7 soon too!
 
I have currently been full loaning a horse that suffers from shivers for the last 3 years. He is a 13 year old Warmbloodx ID, 17hh gelding (approx 750-800kg).

We do a mixture of dressage (unaffilitated novice/ele); jumping (unaffiliated 80cm-1.10m) and unaffilited XC (recently introduced him to this).

He is worked 6 times a week with one day off, but sometimes has 2 days off.

We do a mixture of schooling, jumping, hacking and lunging. including long 1/2 day hacks, fast hacks, slow hacks, pole work (lunge and ridden), grid work. He is 'free lunged' and worked with side reins etc. I try to keep things as varied as possible with him.

He suffers from shivers behind, particulary his right hind. His shiver is never apparent when he is being worked or ridden; only when leading him out of his stable, turning, moving off etc. All the normal shiver behaviours.

For the last year he has been on Allan and Page Power and Perfromance nuts/cubes. This feed has no added sugars, molasses or barley and a low starch content (22%).

Estimated DE (12.8 MJ/kg)
Oil (6%)
Protein (15%)
Fibre (10.5%)
Ash (9%)
Starch (22%)
Sugar (4.75%)
Calcium (1.2%)
Vit A: 13000 IU/kg
Vit D: 2000 IU/kg
Vit E 250 IU/kg

This feed is excellent for not putting on 'weight' (especially as barley free) and i find it gives him plenty of energy to cope with the work load.

He is also on a high fibre, low starch chaff. (i.e. Dengie Hi-Fi Lite: alfalfa and oat straw, low sugar coating; Alfa-a Lite: alfalfa with low sugar coating)

Some people may want to feed a high oil chaff, but this doesnt suit my horse as he is a little fussy with his feed.

He is also on a Vit E and Selenium suppliement- we took him off for 5 months and his shiver dramatically became 'worse'. We have since put him back on as this proved the suppliment was helpful (his feed did not change).

He is also on super-flex for his joints etc.

I have begun having a physio for him- she has suggested that we feed him apple cider vinegar to help reduce the amount of 'fat in the muscle'. This is not the same as fat stores (he is a not overweight), but she said that the fat in the muscle can reduce and slow down his metabolism and the effectiveness of his muscles, blood flow and nervous transmission. not good for his shiver!

He is also turned out at night (approx 12-15 hours) on average grass field (short grass but not bare). and is stabled during the day with access to approx 1 slice of hay (which lasts him all day in a big holed net so this indicates to me that he has enough grass at night).



I believe that adequate turnout, exercise and fibre/roughage are important for horses that suffer from shivers. A higher oil/ lower starch diet does seem to suit them and a vit e & selenium suppliement seems to be a must!

I hope this post will be helpful to some people. Good luck!
 
Have you had a look at this site: http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/EPSM/

I found this when I wasn't too happy with the information both my vet and the Rural Heritage site were advising regarding the high oil diet. It might have worked but as my Irish Draught is already such a good doer I was petrified that it might tip him over the edge towards insulin resistance, etc.

Following the advice of Dr Kellon, I added an amino acid called Acetyl L Carnitine and 6000iu Vitamin e gelcaps. She usually advises people to try this diet before embarking on the high oil diet. My horse was diagnosed with EPSM two years ago and I have seen a significant improvement since then. It is also very cost effective.
 
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