Hi, I have plenty of EPSM experience... unfortunately! I have two of these QH's, and I have been researching this for over two years now.
I am writing an article I'm hoping to ship off in time to get into the AQHAUK journal, but til then, what do you need to know?
I have had HUGE amounts of help and info from Beth Valentine DVM, PhD (calls it EPSM)who is the expert in the draft breeds, and Stephanie Valberg DVM PhD (calls it PSSM) who is actually working for/with funding from AQHA.
They have slightly differing ideas on amounts of oil to starch that are required in the diet, but both say cut out as much sugar and starch as possible.
My filly, she is VERY sensitive to sugars etc... on a sunny day, she'll come in from the field and I'll not be able to groom her hard on the back end as she'll be sore... She has tied up on me five times this year as we were at a yard where her stall was too small and the grass too rich... we've moved now, and so far so good. She did not tie up once last year, when we were on a yard with HUGE boxes, and rubbish grazing... She can't have too many treats like carrots (very high sugar) and apples... high starch...she can't be fed too many mints, as even that on a bad day will make her crampy.
I feed her alfalfa pellets, dengie, and oil, just plain old corn oil (any oil but linseed is fine as linseed in large amounts irritates the gut lining and can cause colic). She also has added Selenium and Vitamin E as the high oil diet needs the extra... she has other stuff like cider vinigar and garlic, cortaflex, not for the EPSM, just for all the other crazy reasons horse owners feed theses things!
It took a while for her to get the taste for oil, she grew up on "yummy" stuff, but we got through the hunger strikes by syringing oil down her, and now... ok, nearly two years later! ...believe it or not, she prefers plain old oil and alfalfa to ANY of the fancy high oil feeds... just as well as they are WAY too expensive, and as the EPSM horse should have approx one pound of fat per 1000 pounds of horse... it works out REALLY pricy. IE for a 1000 lb QH you'd have to feed 4 lbs of Ultimate Finish to get the right amount of fat in, and at ?30. + per sack... thats a lot!
BOSS, or black oil sunflower seeds can work well, my girls loved them for a while, but they got sick of them, so that didn't help for long! Bear in mind though, don't feed the black and white stripey seeds as the oil content is low, and they tend to split into sharp shards, and with the BOSS, they are approx 50% oil, so to feed your pound of fat, you'd need to feed two pounds of seed, and thats why my mares got sick of em! Plain old oil, veg, sunflower, corn it's all good, and a 250ml cup is equivalent to half a pound of fat, making it nice and easy to work it out.
Molly gets between 600 and 750 ml of oil per day depending on her work, her comfort level and the weather... ie more on sunny days when the sugar in the grass is up. She gets more then the min recommended as she is so sensitive, you have to play around and see what works for your horse. The huge amount of oil is the most important thing, as thats what these horses use for energy, instead of carbohydrate. It takes around four months to fat adapt your horse totally, but if your horse IS an EPSM sufferer, you'll probably see a differance ALOT faster... less then ten days after I cut all carbs and increased the oil, both my girls were improving before my eyes. My broodmare nearly got pts two years ago as she was so lame, and seemed to have shivers/stringhalt/gait abnormalities... you name it, and after scans,xrays, nerve blocks adequan injections... we couldn't help her... then my baby tied up, I started investigating, and hey presto! She's full of arthritis and stuff, so she'll never be sound, but at least now I know she is as comfortable as possible, and all those weird symptoms have all but gone.
Back to my Molly, she is worked 6 days a week, as it's vital EPSM horses are exercised, if you can't work them make sure they get turn out, confinement is the kiss of death. Even after an episode of tying up, most vets tell you keep them in... not so with EPSM horses, let them move as soon as they are able. And don't panic about your horse getting fat from all the oil, EPSM horse dont put on weight from the oil, unless it is excessive for their needs, they are more likely to gain weight from what you put the oil on to get it into them. And, they don't get "high" on oil either... but you may find, if you horse is usually slow and sluggish, they start to feel better and that can make it seem they are hyper...don't worry, they'll settle down, it's just as soon as they realize they dont hurt anymore they sometimes feel a bit too good!
I think I have rambled enough, feel free to email me and check out
www.ruralheritage.com http://www.cvm.umn.edu/umec/lab/PSSM.htmlhttp://www.re-leve.com/Articles/PSSM_EXRHAB.htmland if those are no good... I have about a hundred more!
