Equine Metabolic Syndrome

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jmichelle121

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Hi am wondering does anyone have any information good or bad on this condition please am in a desperate situation my beloved horse has been diagnosed with this, she is not overweight at all even vet said so, but after re-occuring bouts of laminitis and a cushings test which was negative my vets tested for EMS and I need information, as the long term outlook doesnt appear to be good.She is currently stabled on deep shavings her hay is soaked, does it get any better as my vet is saying she will never have a normal life again that her turnout will always be limited for the rest of her life etc please has anyone had experiences with this
 
My welsh cob went down with laminitis in march. He had a steroid injection for an inflamed stifle and 10 days later was crippled in front. I had alwqays been really careful with grazing /diet etc. He had padding put in his shoes and spent the first month on sedation/pain relief and box rest .It's such a nasty thing as you can't xray or do an IR test until they are no longer sore. I have to tell you i never thought i would see the day he was able to be ridden again. Eventually he was more comfortable and the pain relief was reduced gradually. It was a nightmare as he is a live wire at the best of times /he was also a rigg and was cut late so still displays very stalliony tendancies .We had to be imaginative and made him loads of toys with milk bottle cartons and gave him baths in his stable .We got him xrayed as soon as poss and he had no rotation then we IR tested him and he came back borderline !!! My vet was adament that he was IR so we gave him the glucose feed which he hated and ate very little of so result still borderline !!!. We made the choice to give him the metformin any way as would do him no harm - what a turn around. At long last we were getting there. For the last month he has been in work to fitten him up in the school and is now hacking at walk for 45mins. He is cantering in school and every day looks better and better. He does a lot of dressage and it is lovely to see him powering around the school wanting to do medium trot everywhere.Have had al ot of bucking and still on minimal sedation for his hour turnout -with muzzle. Just had back lady who has massaged his sore shoulders (from the strain ) and what a difference -hardly any bucking. I have him on soaked to death hay and blue chip lami lite and feel we have really turned the corner so keep your chin up and be strong for your horse as they do get depressed and need you to be strong . good luck
 
From the info I have googled about EMS the prognosis is good. A strict diet and plenty of exercise would seem to be the things that control it. It mostly affects ponies and ones who have been overweight as far as I can tell. A pony at our yard has just had bloods taken to test for it as he has gone a bit "footy" in front. He was obese when the current owner bought him and has since lost a lot of weight. He had fat pads and a cresty neck. Her Vet wasn't unduly worried. He is xraying next week to check for anything else going on in the feet. The condition is very similar to Cushings and they can suffer laminitis, diet plays an important part in the management of this condition.
 
I have to just add that my pony was not overweight. He was in full med-hard work ie hour and half hacking with cantering and 45 mins to hour in school working at elementary level dressage schooling.I am always metiticulous with his diet . He has allways been on soaked hay with restricted turnout and minimal feed ie lite balancer so it may be the norm for the pony to be overweight etc but this does not always apply
 
One of mine was diagnosed with EMS a couple of years ago - he was a little footy with a crestier than normal neck and fat thighs when I called the vet as I suspected laminitis. He's a 16.3 Cleveland bay x anglo arab (looks better than it sounds!!) now aged 21. He is on 20 metformin tablets a day.
At old livery yard we had pretty much no turnout from Oct - May and not very much from Jun -Sep. We had been there about a year when he was diagnosed, having moved from a yard with AYT. He then spent a further 18 months on this restricted turnout simply because that's all there was. In the spring we moved to our own yard with loads of grazing and he's been going out for 10-12 hours a day. He doesn't get that much ridden work now - just some hacking and the odd lesson with my OH. The funny thing is that he now looks and feels so much better even though he's eating loads more grass. (He gets soaked hay and is fed Hifi Good Doer + D&H Equine Sensitive.)
I'm going to get new blood tests done soon as vet thinks we may be able to start reducing his metformin. In his case I don't think the staying in/no grazing helped at all - I actually wonder if the lack of movement from spending so long in a stable was a contributory factor in him getting EMS in the first place.
 
My horse has always been a "good doer" - looks at a blade of grass & can get fat! This spring he "ballooned" as usual & so instead of the normal 24/7 turn out I decided to keep him in during the day & out at night. At the same time my farrier noticed his feet just kept growing! We kept an eye on things - no more symptoms from his feet, no lameness, no stiffness - nothing. He has always had a crest - thought to be cut late in life. To cut a long story short 5 weeks ago at his last shoeing my farrier detected a few very small old signs of laminitis! Bear in mind he had never shown any clinical signs! Got the vet out pronto for him to be tested for EMS! His weight had steadily gone down over the Summer and the vet was not that convinced that the test would be positive - it was!

We retested a month later - levels were going down in the right direction but still EMS positive. Basically I treat him in the following way (vet agreed with me) - not bad enough for metformin - yet - she wanted to keep something in reserve in case things worsen. He has soaked hay when he is in (now in at night & out during the day). At least 4 to 5 days exercise a week - quality rather than quantity! Make him work. He has D & H safe and sound plus Pure Feed balancer. Unfortunately he has sweet itch too and cannot tolerate any food with high sugar & starch content or anything with alfalfa! Nightmare horse! but I love him!!
 
My boy has ems and once he got on the metformin and the lami stabilised he was fine......(the debate is still outbox weather or not I'm toting to shoot him as after this last abcess and coming sound in his booties and his first ride back lat nigth he whacked his foot on a large lump of concrete and came out lame this morning!!!)

But once you get the insulin under control by diet and restricted grazing ( mine has 7 hours aday) and most importantly exercise to burn off the calories most are okay. There are some that the lami is too much for tho.
Xxx
 
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