Hi Dr. Beth,

I last posted back in August or so about Chevy, my 4.5 year old Percheron (3/4) x TB (1/4) cross who weighs about 1500 pounds.

I have had him on the following EPSM "lite" diet per day (grain is broken into 2 meals) since August:

4 (about 20 pounds) flakes of Texas coastal hay
3 lbs purina Ultium (12.5% fat) = .375
1 lb Moorman's Natural Glow (20% fat) = .20
1 lb BOSS (25% fat) = .25
2 oz Moorman's Gro Strong Mineral Block
2 oz STEP Hoof suppliment

total fat = .825 pounds per day

He's just under saddle since August and has been working fine until recently. The work has increased slightly as we are now cantering as well as walking and trotting. He is worked for 45 minutes perhaps 4-5 days a week and gets 8 hours turnout every day.

My trainer says he is not off, but "NQR" or "not quite right". She can't quite put her finger on problem, but he seems a little weak in the back somewhere. No problem working to the left, but off balance working to the right and has a hard time organizing his parts and pieces to pick up the right lead canter.

He does not have any REAL EPSM symptoms....not stiff, backs up, lays down, gets up, good energy levels, not losing muscle mass, etc. Generally happy as a clam.

Its so subtle....could be EPSM, could be chiropractic, could be he's 4 1/2 and still developing his muscles and balance....just not sure.

I decided to add some oil to his diet just in case and have added 2/3 per cup of corn oil to get the fat up to 1.5 pounds per day.

I have two questions:

1. I'd like to reduce the oil as much as possible to keep the mess to a minimum as I am at a boarding barn. Can I increase the BOSS and reduce the oil to keep the fat at 1.5 pounds but not throw other things off? Its my least expensive option to tweak the fat source.

2. I've also read quite a bit about adding vitamin E to and EPSM diet, sometimes as much as 10,000 IU per day. For a 1500 pounder, how much vitamen E do you recommend?

Much thanks for your advice. It's SO helpful.

Harley Cozewith

I definitely agree that increasing his fat intake to see if that helps is the way to go. Your best approach might be to increase the sunflower, the rice bran, and also add oil. The problem with the sunflower is that no one that I know of has done any digestibility studies in horses, although I suspect they can digest it reasonably well. You could also look for a dry fat product that is 100% fat. These are less messy but are more expensive. As to vitamin E, I only recommend 1-2 IU vitamin E per pound of horse per day (although more doesn't hurt, I just don't think more is necessary), so for a 1500 lb horse I'd be looking to add 1500-3000 IU vitamin E per day. If he gets any grass in summer you probably only need the 1500 IU per day. I hope this helps, and do let us know how things go!

Hi Dr. Beth,

Just following up. Things are going really well. I've added 2/3 cup of oil a day to Chevy's feed.

I also had the chiropractor out. He found that Chevy's femur to hip alignment was out on the left side. There was a very noticeable difference and improvement immediately.

Then, I had back shoes put on him (he was only shod in front) and that REALLY made a positive change. Much more impulsion and stability in the back end. More balanced in the corners and able to get up under himself. Its all moving in the right direction and I appreciate your assistance so much.

Cheers!

Harley

Harley, this is great news - keep doing what you are doing, and thanks for the update!