I have a Hanoverian gelding with shivers atttributed to EPSM. He came to me with this diagnosis and I don't have a biopsy result. He had a flare up this spring and I was advised to take him off pasture completely. This was after a pasture injury and he has a tendency to increase the shivers if stressed or in pain. The shivers improved most when I increased his oil. Before this he had rotated between pasture and a dry lot and had been on pasture mostly during the winter.

He has lost considerable weight and muscle mass after ~ 6months off pasture. Originally he was slightly over 1400 lbs (off the weight tape!) and was holding at around 1350 +/1 20 lbs but is now about 1280 lbs, with visible ribs and prominent hip bones. He has lost mass in his longissmus and gluteals particularly.

He has been an easy keeper since I got him and was on very little grain-3 lbs/day of a senior feed with 3 cups of oil. Over the last 2 months we have increased his feed and he is now getting 5 lbs/day senior feed, 2 lbs/day alfalfa pellets, 4 cups of oil. He has been picky about his hay and in the dry lot spends a lot of time searching for grass under the fence. He was getting timothy hay and we are adding more alfalfa now. I believe he has been getting about 12 flakes/day but I am not sure he eats it all. For about 2 weeks he has been back on grass 2 hours/day. Initially he gained a bit but has lost it again.

What is the best strategy to help him with weight gain? His bloodwork is fine, and I am checking a fecal sample for worms to be sure that's not contributing. In any case, he'll need more calories for a while. Is it OK to continue increasing his pasture time? Is it better to give more alfalfa pellets or senior?

I appreciate any suggestions to help get him back to good condition without worsening the shivers.

Most of the time we are looking to get weight off of horses on EPSM diets, so you are doing the right thing to have bloodwork and fecal analysis to see if something else is going on. Usually I am the one who says to add more fat to the diet, but 4 cups oil per day is a pretty high level for his weight, and it may be affecting digestion of the fiber in his diet. I would suggest cutting back to 3 cups per day, increasing the pasture time (provided that doesn't cause any muscle or laminitis issues), and adding 2-4 lbs of soaked beet pulp to his daily diet. Mixing alfalfa hay with the grass is also a great idea. I hope this helps, and please let us know how things go!

Thanks for your reply. I had one question. If he was having absorption problems from the high oil, would you expect his manure to be loose? It hasn't changed and was actually quite firm when I took the sample. He has stabilized his weight at 1304 on the tape now but hasn't yet gained any more back and coat is a bit dry and rough. The fecal sample was negative and routine bloodwork was normal. Anything else you would suggest checking, such as thyroid or other metabolic issues? I appreciate your help.

Once again, my profound apologies for being so long in responding. If there were problems with fiber digestion it would be from insufficient microbial break down of fiber in the large intestine. This would not likely cause any diarrhea issues. It doesn't sound like there are any obvious other issues. If he is older, though, he could be developing pituitary issues. Work with your veterinarian here, and please let us know if added alfalfa hay and beet pulp does works here.