Help with EPSM diet pretty please!!

C

cyberhorse

Well-Known Member
Joined
7 February 2008
Messages
1,276
Location
Westmorland
Visit site
I am potentially going to be taking on a horse who we may need to try on an EPSM diet. Therefore I have been researching this. There are Beth Valentine diets I have found but I can't seem to find the Purina horse feeds for sale anywhere in the UK so struggling as the diet alternatives are based on these feeds. I am aware from what I have read the basic principle is to go high fat, low sugar, keep calcium under control and ensure enough selenium and magnesium. Also someone suggested glucosamine is helpful, but did not find anyone else discussing this.

Any help would be gratefully appreciated regarding what others are using and find works for their horses!
 
I will tell you what I'm feeding Adrian, but please bear in mind that I cobbled this together from the internet & advice on here! He has only been on it 3 weeks, so I'm very much finding my way.

He is a 600 kg ISH in light work.

1/2 scoop Allen & Page 'Sugar Intolerant' mix
1/2 scoop alfa-oil
teacup black sunflower seeds
1/4 teacup ready cooked linseed
**most important** 2/3 teacup soya oil
1 teaspoon acetyl L carnitine (from a bodybuilding shop)

All twice a day. There is new research on acetyl L carnitine in the USA (it is an amino acid) & it is also used to help multiple sclerosis sufferers. Unfortunately I can't explain the science, but it's to do with chemical processes in the muscles.

NO treats such as apples, carrots, polos.

Please do not treat any of the above as set in stone as I'm very much at the start of the learning process! PM me if you want to 'talk'.
 
My 10 year old gelding with PSSM has

1 Scoop sugar intolerance diet Allen and Page)
Pure alfalfa from Simple systems ( cannot remeber what the actual weight of this is as I have been feeding it so long I know the quantity in a scoop!!!)
800g Linseed Meal (Charnwood Milling is cheapest and reliable)
Vit e and Selenium supplement
garlic because he likes it!!

all 2x daily.

Hope all goes well!!
 
The best feed we've found is the Winergy Equilibrium Low. It has 3.5% starch so is pretty much the lowest starch feed on the market. We'd struggled for years to get our lad to eat the EPSM diet described by Beth Valentine. He wolfs this down and has never been better.
Because he is native and gets a lot less than the recommended amount to get his vits/mins he does get Selenavite E added to that. We also use Black oil sunflower seeds (BOSS) instead of veggy oil, he gets a handful morning and night in the summer and that goes up to a cupfull in the winter (standard coffee cup size). BOSS is much more palatable and a lot easier to handle. Make sure you get the BOSS that is for consumption rather than planting as the latter are often treated with birdkote.

You can add acetyl-l-carnitine powder at 1 - 2g daily per 100kg bodyweight. Cheapest I've found to get in bulk is Alcar.

Magox is the cheapest (but least palatable) way of getting magnesium in.

No carrots or treats, although he is allowed the occasional apple.
 
Thanks everyone. We will be looking for what we can source and try him on that first. Then it is a case of seeing what he likes the taste of and will eat. I was also told to try Timothy hay?? anyone feed this...
 
Hi Everyone

I'm also looking for advice about low starch diet to try.

She has a consistent gait abnormality at walk - abduction of right hind (less visible at trot and canter and on circle). In addition, bilaterally she cannot flex in her loins (hock/stifle?). She has intermittent shortened stride (particular on RH) and occasionally jerk in her action on hind legs - less so since fit. If not worked every day she gets very stiff and when first led out of the box she walks as if she is constipated. In fact some morning we almost thoght she had colic. Problem has been there since I brought her, at the vetting I was told it was a growing quirk and would not affect her performance as a dressage horse, alas, although we have managed to be placed and get points at my last competition the judge pulled me up to tell me my horse had a problem in RH.

She is currently 6 yo, warmblood, fit healthy good muscle - fantastic temperament. Does flatwork 4 times per week, jumps, hacks. Very willing no sign of pain. At the clinic they performed MMEF test (neurological tests=normal), didn't think it was stifle and basically told me changes of finding cause of problem is very slim. They thought it is mechanical in nature. Does this sound like PSSM or am I clutching at straws! Any ideas on possible diet?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top