How do you manage your PSSM (or other myopathy challenged) horse

My pony has been on both for 4 days now, no change if anything she is feeling worse. Feeling a bit meh about it all!
Tonight she did two mahoosive spooks while hacking, I think I can count on two hands the number of big spooks like this she has done in 2.5 years of ownership so for her to do two in one ride is very unusual. Wonder if it's the Alcar...
 
Procrastination said:
My pony has been on both for 4 days now, no change if anything she is feeling worse. Feeling a bit meh about it all!
Tonight she did two mahoosive spooks while hacking, I think I can count on two hands the number of big spooks like this she has done in 2.5 years of ownership so for her to do two in one ride is very unusual. Wonder if it's the Alcar...
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I started mine on Alcar and Vit E 3 days ago, have got a positive difference.

Thing is different approaches work on different horses and it is just a matter of finding the right one! I might be tempted to try MagOx on yours and give it a few weeks - hope you find the answer, I know how frustrating it can be.
 
I wasn't convicted she has PSSM, she just fits quite a lot of the symptoms including a couple which I haven't yet seen listed under any other conditions. However that's not to say they couldn't be being caused by something else, it's just a case of working out what it is :-/

I will continue with the Vit E and Alcar for a couple of weeks though
 
3Beasties, as I understand, you shouldn't feed high fat and ALCAR at the same time. It is one or the other. :)

However if the ALCAR isn't working, then changing to a high fat diet might be the way forward.
 
Thanks Casey. I think I'll drop the Alcar and try the oil.

There's definitely something going on - cold, wet ride today and she was slow as slow can be (felt constipated at first) and couldn't trot till we turned for home :(
 
Riding through treacle is how I describe my horse on a bad day. Cold weather doesn't help - she's already rugged up now despite being one of those chunky types who everyone would expect to be naked.
 
Casey76 said:
3Beasties, as I understand, you shouldn't feed high fat and ALCAR at the same time. It is one or the other. :)

However if the ALCAR isn't working, then changing to a high fat diet might be the way forward.
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High fat and ALCAR together are likely to cause obesity problems, but if the horse has trouble putting on weight there is no problem with feeding both.
 
Any breed but very, very common in anything with heavy blood, Appaloosa, Quarter horse. I have one heavy, one QH. There are some stats somewhere, it's 60% or more in heavies.
 
ycbm said:
Any breed but very, very common in anything with heavy blood, Appaloosa, Quarter horse. I have one heavy, one QH. There are some stats somewhere, it's 60% or more in heavies.
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Thank you, that's interesting as mine as a few of the symptoms (holding tail to side and loosing weight when stabled) but not a draft breed. Might be worth getting her tested.
 
After riding my pony yesterday I feel there is possibly still a glimmer of hope for us! Started her on Vit E and Alcar on Tuesday, have ridden everyday. Tues through to Fri I would describe our rides as very much riding through treacle....Yesterday's ride I would describe as riding through custard! Although still not great she was more willing and able to mantain trot for longer, and the trot itself felt marginally looser than it has. Still not great but I'm looking forward to riding today to see how she is.
 
Procrastination said:
After riding my pony yesterday I feel there is possibly still a glimmer of hope for us! Started her on Vit E and Alcar on Tuesday, have ridden everyday. Tues through to Fri I would describe our rides as very much riding through treacle....Yesterday's ride I would describe as riding through custard! Although still not great she was more willing and able to mantain trot for longer, and the trot itself felt marginally looser than it has. Still not great but I'm looking forward to riding today to see how she is.
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Fab news - it's such a relief when there is even just a glimmer of hope :)
 
ycbm said:
92% in Belgian drafts !! 49% in QH.


This book looks interesting, and you can read a lot of it without buying it.

https://books.google.co.uk/books?id...F#v=onepage&q=incidence pssm by breed&f=false
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It was that stat that led me to get the little Ardennes tested - p1/p1 but virtually symptomless. In fact if he was a mare I would be happy breeding from him and would probably be one of those people wondering what all the fuss was about. Add my Trait du Nord x Appy (n/p1) into the mix though and I'm on the side of the fence that definitely does not believe this disease should be bred forward!
 
LJR said:
Fab news - it's such a relief when there is even just a glimmer of hope :)
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Thank you :-)
Just back from today's hack, not our usual route - much hillier and harder work than she's been used to of late. We were also with a friend who's horse is not on regular work so we walked 95% of the way. She was good although pretty jiggered going up the steeper bits, has reminded me that I need to do this particular route more often as it's much better for fittening.
However once we said goodbye to the friend we had the best trot since starting the supplements, very forward and felt like she was actually pushing from behind rather than dragging herself along. However...trying to not get my hopes up too much as it wouldn't be the first time she's improved and then gone down hill again, just praying we are on the right track this time!
 
Procrastination said:
Thank you :-)
Just back from today's hack, not our usual route - much hillier and harder work than she's been used to of late. We were also with a friend who's horse is not on regular work so we walked 95% of the way. She was good although pretty jiggered going up the steeper bits, has reminded me that I need to do this particular route more often as it's much better for fittening.
However once we said goodbye to the friend we had the best trot since starting the supplements, very forward and felt like she was actually pushing from behind rather than dragging herself along. However...trying to not get my hopes up too much as it wouldn't be the first time she's improved and then gone down hill again, just praying we are on the right track this time!
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I have everything crossed for your both, glad you had a good ride today :)

My head is spinning as to what I should add next, supplement wise.

I have asked my Vet to come and take bloods, I am concerned that living in the North East of Scotland mine might be deficient in Selenium.
 
LJR said:
I have everything crossed for your both, glad you had a good ride today :)

My head is spinning as to what I should add next, supplement wise.

I have asked my Vet to come and take bloods, I am concerned that living in the North East of Scotland mine might be deficient in Selenium.
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If you're thinking of having your grazing analysed I would highly recommend forage plus, they tested mine and gave me a feed plan. Service was excellent, my mare was super fussy about the minerals I needed to give her so I had multiple emails and phone calls back and forth to the lady dealing with me about making it more palatable etc. She was really very helpful and I wouldn't hesitate to use them again.
 
Procrastination said:
If you're thinking of having your grazing analysed I would highly recommend forage plus, they tested mine and gave me a feed plan. Service was excellent, my mare was super fussy about the minerals I needed to give her so I had multiple emails and phone calls back and forth to the lady dealing with me about making it more palatable etc. She was really very helpful and I wouldn't hesitate to use them again.
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Thank you :)

I'm hoping that the bloods might show something up.
 
Interestingly, I am having my mare tested this week as I am convinced that she has PSSM. Main symptoms are severe blowing after just a few strides of trot, looking very 'tight' all over, unable to hold canter, needs walks after every circle of trot to get her breath back..basically it feels like I'm riding her through treacle.

Initially I put these symptoms down to lack of fitness, but I'm now several months down the line and she should be a hell of a lot fitter than she currently seems.

I'm convinced there's something else going on.
 
SEL said:
What breed is your horse? You can do the test for type 1 via animal genetics and it's cheap.
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Mine is a little cob cross.

She is currently fed:
Lo cal balancer and a very small handful of Mollichaff calmer (the chaff mainly to slow her eating down a little)
Hay

She is a very, very good doer. What would I need to add/change?

I've been researching all evening but my brain is completely blown.
 
scats said:
Mine is a little cob cross.

She is currently fed:
Lo cal balancer and a very small handful of Mollichaff calmer (the chaff mainly to slow her eating down a little)
Hay

She is a very, very good doer. What would I need to add/change?

I've been researching all evening but my brain is completely blown.
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Mine is also a cob cross, 14hh. I will tentatively say that I *think* I am seeing improvements on the Vit E and alcar after 6 days. She's getting it in a small handful of unmolassed chaff and nothing else, she is out 24/7 on a small section of grass, about 1/3 of an acre.

If I were you I would ditch the mollichaff as I'm pretty sure it's got a lot of sugar in? And I would consider switching balancer to a forage plus one or even getting your grazing analysed by them which is what I did. Is yours out on grass with hay added?
 
ycbm said:
92% in Belgian drafts !! 49% in QH.


This book looks interesting, and you can read a lot of it without buying it.

https://books.google.co.uk/books?id...F#v=onepage&q=incidence pssm by breed&f=false
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Good read - its interesting it says that Belgians show a loss of muscle mass and gait abnormalities. I've always considered mine to be non symptomatic but since he dropped out of regular work (severe ringbone) it is more obvious that the muscle mass on his hindquarters is atrophying. He's always had quite a stiff gait too, but I just put that down to a short striding breed. Perhaps he's more symptomatic than I recognised. He's a very stoic little chap as well (as the horrible ringbone x-ray proved) so doesn't shout if he hurts.
 
Well I've just booked mine in for a biopsy - better sooner than later, and better to know if I am on the right track.

Good thing is that it should show what she is deficient in, so saves getting analysis of my soil and forage straight away.
 
Procrastination said:
Mine is also a cob cross, 14hh. I will tentatively say that I *think* I am seeing improvements on the Vit E and alcar after 6 days. She's getting it in a small handful of unmolassed chaff and nothing else, she is out 24/7 on a small section of grass, about 1/3 of an acre.

If I were you I would ditch the mollichaff as I'm pretty sure it's got a lot of sugar in? And I would consider switching balancer to a forage plus one or even getting your grazing analysed by them which is what I did. Is yours out on grass with hay added?
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Thanks. I am going to ditch the Mollichaff calmer, it was purely a tiny bit as my other horse on it (it's the only non alfalfa based chaff I can find and my big lad can't have alfalfa). Vet booked for Wednesday.
 
Just dragging this thread up. My horse is an Irish cob and he is 6yrs. He goes out like a tortured riding school horse when hacking, although better when turning for home. He finds it hard to keep his canter which i put down to his age and lack of schooling and he finds it very hard to work up hills. Ive had the physio out and she says his bum muscles are really tight which is why he probably struggles.
I started googling which i know i shouldnt and came across this thread. I had been wondering about blood testing him. I know our land is low in selenium as we had the soil tested last year.
What route should i go down? Blood test or diet change? Hes only on a lite balancer with dengie meadow grass once a day with no supplements. I tried him on staypower cubes and he got a bit spooky but it didnt help in any other way
 
Tangaroo said:
Just dragging this thread up. My horse is an Irish cob and he is 6yrs. He goes out like a tortured riding school horse when hacking, although better when turning for home. He finds it hard to keep his canter which i put down to his age and lack of schooling and he finds it very hard to work up hills. Ive had the physio out and she says his bum muscles are really tight which is why he probably struggles.
I started googling which i know i shouldnt and came across this thread. I had been wondering about blood testing him. I know our land is low in selenium as we had the soil tested last year.
What route should i go down? Blood test or diet change? Hes only on a lite balancer with dengie meadow grass once a day with no supplements. I tried him on staypower cubes and he got a bit spooky but it didnt help in any other way
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you could do a hair test and send to animal genetics to test for type 1. Vet not needed and costs around £30. Type 2 is more difficult and is either muscle biopsy or send dried blood on a card to the US for a test that seems a bit questionable ATM. Whatever results you get if he has PSSM it will be a case of management. I would go down the management route to start with.
For mine that is
alfalfa pellets, copra, micronised linseed. Salt, equimins advanced complete supplement, high dose natural vit E oil around 8 - 10000iu per day. (vit E is the most important ingredient) Also over rugging. For mine that is so important. He has a very very thick exercise sheet on for all riding and a 450g rambo for the rest of the time. If you tried that sort of management I would expect results in less than a couple of weeks.
 
Mine is assumed to be type 2. Managed with regular exercise and a diet suitable for a laminitic. Rain sheet too in the cold/wet as being continuously wet makes it worse. The more exercise she does, the more she can do though!
 
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