Dear Dr. Beth,
I am writing because I suspect that my 8-year-old Haflinger gelding may have EPSM. Ever since I got Milt when he was 3, he has dragged his hind feet. It's not something I see when I watch him go, but when he trots on the road, he wears his hind toes down. My shoer says he's lazy. Milt has also always been reluctant to hold up his feet. Again, my shoer says he's lazy, but, to me, it seems like Milt has trouble balancing. When he was younger, it actually seemed to me like he was going to tip over, although he never did. He also stumbles more than other horses I have ridden, and seems to have trouble catching himself when he does. A few times he has actually crashed to his knees during a stumble. Unless he is excited or nervous, it is often hard, or even impossible, for me to get him to move out, either riding or driving. Most recently, we started mowing using a single-horse sickle bar mower and Milt seems very reluctant to pull it, to the point of refusing to go. I know there could be a lot of things at play with the mower, but given the other symptoms, I'm strongly suspecting EPSM may be a factor here. Milt has never been lame and, to my untrained eyes, he appears to move just fine. The more I read about EPSM though, the more I think that's what's going on, rather than him just being lazy. Do you think EPSM seems likely?

I am hoping to avoid a biopsy at this point because I don't want to lay him off work. But I was planning to start him on the diet to see if it had any effect. My only concern is that Milt is a super (think "gets fat on air") easy keeper and is already overweight. He had access to too much pasture last fall, and I haven't been able to get all the weight off, although he has lost some. Currently, he is eating mixed grass/legume pasture, no grain, with a mineral salt block. In the winter, he gets hay from our pastures, only about 1 good sized flake twice a day. During pasture season, we do rotational grazing, and he goes in after the cows have already been in and eaten the paddock down somewhat. I was limiting his pasture to 2-4 hours a day, but it got so hot and buggy that he wouldn't leave the barn even in the early morning and evening and then when I went to work him he could only think about eating whatever crossed his path. So I've been letting him out all night. Maybe that's too much. When he doesn't have access to pasture, he nibbles on his 1/4 acre sacrifice area. As far as exercise, he is worked lightly (light hauling, short drives, mowing with an Amish gang reel mower) 5-6 days a week. We have a lot of pastures to clip, so if I could get him to be more willing to pull the sickle bar mower, he could potentially be getting a lot more exercise. Right now he is so reluctant that we only mow for very short spurts.

I've read in some posts here that for...err..fat horses you sometimes recommend only giving half the oil. Would you suggest in this case? Or should I give the full amount of oil and really limit his pasture time? Milt eats almost anything, so I'm thinking if I mix up the oil with some chopped up hay, or even fresh grass or alfalfa, he will probably eat it.

Thank you for any help you can offer!
Best,
Leslie

Yes, Haflingers certainly do develop EPSM and these problems sound very suspicious for EPSM. You are right to worry about adding to his weight problem, and I agree that gradual introduction and increase in fat to 1/2 an EPSM "dose" is worthwhile. Adding oil to hay should work, aiming for 1 cup oil per 1000 pounds of horse per day. I'd also suggest getting a grazing muzzle to reduce grass intake while he is out at night, and give a small amount of hay instead. That pasture exercise will be important for both his muscles and his weight so I don't want to deprive him there. If he gets more energy he may exercise himself and actually lose weight and build muscle. With time you may even be able to increase fat intake even more. Remember that it will take about 4 months for him to fully fat adapt, so you want to give diet and as much exercise as possible at least that long to evaluate for effect. If he is improving by then he can continue to improve for sometime. I hope so, and please let us know how things go.