In case you're wondering what the heck this airy-fairy acronym is when I mention EPSM or PSSM, here is a good, concise article explaining this disease. This article is a little longer firsthand account but has more information.
And if you think you don't need to know the symptoms, let me urge you to read it anyway. This disease is becoming alarmingly common in many breeds and it is a dominant gene mutation. Sometimes I hear stories of a horse being sold for weight loss, overall crabbiness and bucking going into the lope (or other problems at the lope) and I wonder whether it has EPSM. Sad that through ignorance a horse who could be a great partner with the right treatment is sold out of the family because it hurts and can't work.
I read up on it when you first posted about it, and I think (but am no positive) I know a draft/cross horse who may have had it, they never could figure out why she was always gimpy on her back leg. She had a filly and it would always tie up after work. The filly ended up doing much better later, though it was never tested or diagnosed with EPSM--they just knew to put it on a grass diet and no grain. That seemed to solve her problem. When I first bought Cya, she couldn't lope a circle without falling--it was BAD--but it was a trimming issue and now that her feet are solid, she can lope circles all day long.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to send the articles to a friend of mine... her gelding started tying up last fall with a few other strange symptoms.
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