One of our draft cross horses has just been diagnosed with EPSM. We have made the high fat/low carb diet change per Dr. Valentine's articles.

The horse is in Vermont and gets grass hay and turnout on pasture.

Is it essential/helpful to soak the hay to lower the sugar levels? If we monitor the turn-out on pasture, is there any reason he can't go out or do we need to keep him on dry pasture?

Thanks

Most horses with equine polysaccharide storage myopathy (EPSM) are not so sensitive to starch and sugar that hay needs to be soaked or that grass pasture limited. Some gain unwanted weight with the right amount of fat in their diet, which can mean that a grazing muzzle to reduce grass intake can be useful to cut down on daily calorie intake. The pasture exercise is so important to therapy, and green grass has so many good things (especially vitamin E - very important for horses in your area!) that I hate to restrict pasture access unless absolutely necessary. I'd suggest trying him with normal hay and pasture turnout and see how things go in the next few months.