Tucker's EPSM Update

Well, it has taken roughly 3 months, but I think we have this last episode of Tucker's EPSM under control, and I hope it is our last!
This post refers to our initial relapse in the fall and the first changes that I made:
http://calypsofarmeventers.blogspot.com/2013/10/why-does-my-horse-choose-to-be-off-when.html


When I first realized Tucker was having a relapse, at the suggestion of Dr. Reilly of Equine Medical and Surgical Associates, I started him on high doses of Vitamin E, and then leveled him off to 8700 IU daily. He improved, but it took about 3 weeks to see changes and he still wasn't 100%.
I next added electrolytes. He was still sluggish, had a hard time maintaining his canter and was still stiff at the canter. Again, marginal improvement.
I was spending extra time warming Tucker up, doing lots of walking and trotting, and going up and down our hills around the barn (remember, this is Florida. But I am lucky to keep Tucker in Apopka, which is somewhat hilly! Hey, I will take what I can get!) After riding, I was massaging Hilton Herbs Muscle Magic into his back.
I had met a local woman who has an EPSM horse. In fact, this is her second one. At her urging, instead of trying the ALCAR, I instead started him on Magnesium Oxide.
BINGO!
Could it really be as simple as adding magnesium oxide to his diet to make him....99.9%??? In less than a week?
With the exception of a still somewhat stiff canter, he is pretty much back to his old normal self. His endurance level is back, we can canter more than just once around the field without him breaking into a walk. Other than the stiffness, there is nothing else out of whack and it is really minor. I can live with it!
We are back to jumping small courses and working on building his endurance level. We might be able to salvage this winter season after all.
Magnesium oxide...who knew?


Now, if I can get the habronema under control......
(actually, I came across Dr. Porter's website. He was the consulting vet I used on Pilgrim in 2007 when he was associated with U of F's mobile unit. He is now on his own and has developed a cream for habronema's. He is shipping me a tube and it should arrive any day. I am excited to try it. Will keep you posted!)

Enjoying the Ride!

So, in November, I moved Tucker.
>sigh<
Yes, again.
You see, while I was happy to be back in Chuluota, he was not. The turnout schedule of the barn was not a good match for Tucker and he was back on night turnout. Not good for a horse who suffers from sweet itch.
Within days of going back out at night, he was itchy and miserable. His hair was falling out, his coat raw and crusty with sores. He was a mess.
I knew within a few weeks of moving back to Chuluota, that it wasn't going to work, and began the task of finding a new facility.
I don't know about the rest of the country, but around here, Craigslist has the most current boarding offerings.
It went something like this:
Barn # 1: Great amenities. XC jumps, good location. Everything sounded perfect. Except that they would not reply to my emails. Hmmmm.....is my name on some list of potential boarders to ignore? A list of boarders from hell? Or am I paranoid?
Barn #2. Barn full of eventers. They can accommodate Tucker's turnout schedule. Take care of him when I travel. Except that the barn manager lit up a cigarette in the middle of the barn as we were talking. And the barn was in a flood zone and I could not bring my barn cat.
Barn # 3. Everything was wonderful. I know the owners. Barn is immaculate. But, turnout schedule is not what will work for us. Horses out all day long, even in the summer heat and storms. And I can't bring Hobbs, the best barn cat in the world.
And so it went.
For months.
I was obsessed with Craigslist and other sites, but nothing was popping up that would work.
I was on a mission.
In October, I realized that the answer was right in front of me all along. I just had to take the long path to get there. The answer was to move him back to Apopka, where I had leased a barn a few years earlier. Except that I would return as a boarder, in the main barn (well, I refer to it as the main barn. A former standardbred training facility, this is the largest barn of the 6 on the property.)
As several friends reminded me, Apopka was the one place that Tucker was not plagued with his allergies. And, he could be on a day time schedule, and come summer, he will be brought in at noon...after being rinsed off (you have no idea what a foreign concept it is for many barn managers, to rinse off a hot and sweaty horse!)
I could partial board him, which with his EPSM, it is important that I maintain control of his diet. And Hobbs was welcome, too.
So in November, we bid farewell, loaded the truck and trailer, and with Hobbs on my lap, we headed west, for Apopka.
Tucker went back into the same paddock he had before, only this time, with a buckskin pony for a companion. He settled right into his large, roomy stall in the main barn.
Within a week, of no more night turnout, his coat was healing. The scabs were gone, the hair growing in, and the itching was noticeably less.
He was happy.
And something was happening to me, too.
This has been the first time in years, that I have not had a barn of boarders to take care, or take care of my daughter's horses, or work in exchange for board.
I only have Tucker to tend to.
And I realized, that for the first time, I was not rushing to get from one task to another.
You see, as the mother of 3, all I have done for the last 20 plus years, was rush from soccer practice to riding lessons to the car pool line, and so on and so on. I have never been one to enjoy the journey, rather, getting to the destination was the goal.
The story of any stay at home mother's life.
But now, with 2 kids out of college and gainfully employed, as my husband likes to point out, and the 3rd child in her junior year of college, away from home, I finally have time to stop and smell the roses.
Or rather, spend more time grooming Tucker. Taking longer warm ups and cool downs with leisurely walks around the farm. Or taking silly videos of him smacking his lips as he realizes there is another carrot for him. Spending more time grooming him after our daily rides.
I am enjoying the journey, for once in my life!
His relapse of EPSM has been frustrating as hell, as I try and figure out what will work for him and keep him healthy and sound.
This has meant longer warm ups at the walk and longer cool downs. I find myself, as we walk around the farm, not wanting to hurry and get off so I can get to the next task, but rather, wishing that the walks didn't have to end. Content to just walk and take in the scenery.
Yesterday, with the temps falling 50 degrees in just a few hours, I was able to enjoy the different birds as they prepared themselves for the cold weather, darting here and there, gathering every morsel of food they could. I have always enjoyed, always noticed nature, but it was sweet to take it all in and not be in a rush.

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Why Does My Horse Choose To Be " OFF" When The Weather Is Nice Out?

So about 10 days ago, I noticed that Tucker wasn't quite right when I rode him. I could not pin point the exact cause, but he was reluctant to canter, especially the right lead, and he did not want to maintain the lead for any amount of time.
His trot has been absolutely gorgeous though...lots of  impulsion, he is rounded and forward.
What the hell gives?
He obviously isn't lame. He is sound at the walk as well as the trot. But that canter...it isn't quite right.
I traveled all of last week for work, hitting my stores in Atlanta and South Carolina, so he had 5 or 6 days off. Unfortunately, having that time off made no difference, as he was still reluctant to canter when I rode him over the weekend.

Ok. Do I call Kevin, my farrier extraordinaire? It has been wet/dry/wet. Maybe an abcess is brewing.

Or is it structural? Do I have the chiro out? Tucker has new playmates, maybe they were playing rough. Unfortunately, Charlie won't be back in Florida until November.

Or is he really lame? Should I have Doc out?

After mulling this over for days, I wondered if Tucker could be having a relapse of EPSM.

Two and a half years ago, Tucker was "off" but not lame. I didn't want to call the vet, because I knew he wasn't going to see what I was feeling. He was pissy to girth, reluctant to canter and then the final straw, he bucked at the canter....most unusual behavior for Tucker. If someone not familiar with him were to ride him, they would not notice anything wrong. But I have had my Tucker since he was 6 months old, broke and trained him myself. I knew something was not right.
After having his teeth checked, saddle re-flocked and Charlie out (who found just a minor point out of whack near his withers...."horses like Tucker's build generally don't need a chiro," Charlie told me then,) Tucker was still not better.
Then, I had an "ah-ha" moment, and wondered if he could be showing symptoms of EPSM.
Equine Polysaccharide Storage Myopathy is a muscle wasting disease that affects draft horses. Affected horses fail to digest grains properly, which results in damage to the muscles during exertion. It also affects Quarter Horses, where it is referred to as PSSM. Double whammy for Tucker...he is Quarter Horse/Percheron.
The best way to confirm EPSM is by biopsy, but since Tucker has an issue with wounds healing, especially in the warmer months, and we were already approaching spring, I did not want to risk it. Blood testing is not 100%.
So, I opted to change his diet and see what would happen.
Dr. Beth Valentine, DVM, is credited with being the first vet to come up with a successful treatment for EPSM. Way back in the day, when draft horses were common fixtures on the family farm, the horses would typically work 6 days a week and then rest on Sunday. Come Monday morning, it was not uncommon for them to be stiff and off. This became known as "Monday Morning Disease." (Funny, this is what my mom referred to me as having when I was reluctant to get up and go to school on Mondays!)
Dr. Valentine determined that unexpected changes in work or diet can cause horses to lock up or over conserve electrolytes, causing failure of normal neuronal controls. This translates into horses being unable to effectively digest starches and sugars from grains.
Dr. Valentine developed a diet specifically for EPSM horses. Her theory is that horses gain no nutrition from grain, other than calories. She proposed eliminating starch and sugar calories with fat based calories.

Her EPSM diet involves:

-1.2%-2.1% bodyweight in good hay
-2 cups of vegetable oil per 1,000 lbs.
-1-2 IU Vitamin E per pound
-Selenium
-Fresh water (duh!)
-Exercise
-Salt and mineral supplements

As I said, there are 3 ways to confirm/diagnose EPSM: biopsy, blood and diet.
I opted for the diet and added 2 pounds of Seminole Ultra Bloom, which is 20% fat, to Tucker's diet of Seminole Ultra Dynamix (14% protein, 8% fat) and alfalfa/orchard/timothy hay. Because of Tucker's allergies, including to beet pulp, I had never fed him a traditional EPSM diet, since most high fat feeds contain beet pulp. The Ultra Dynamix, which is oat based, was a good compromise (or so I thought. Obviously, he needed more fat.)

Within 2 weeks, Tucker was 100% his normal self. It was nothing short of amazing how changing his diet just a little bit had such an effect on his body!

Ok, here we are 2 and a 1/2 years later. Tucker is being "off" again. And after mulling it around, I think he is relapsing with his EPSM.
After doing some research, I was put in touch with a Dr. Frank Reilly of Equine Medical and Surgical Associates in West Chester, Pa.

http://www.equinemedsurg.com/

His theory is that horses do not get enough Vitamin E.
According to his website:

-Horses store little Vit. E in their bodies, so they need it daily in their feed
- Hay has little or no Vit E and grains do not meet requirements
-In winter, with little to no pasture, studies show horses go Vit E deficient within 30 days
-Vit E levels are lower in exercised horses
-6 months a year, Vit E is at low levels in pastures. Horses need 24 hours a day on pasture to get the amount of Vit E required even at peak grass levels. Most horses are on pasture less than 24 hours or are on dirt
-Vit E helps blood flow to feet
-Vit E deficiency leads to multiple neurological diseases
-Vit E is the main antioxidant in the body to prevent inflammation
-Vit E deficiency is linked to shivers, PSSM (EPSM)  and muscle soreness

I asked him if horses can relapse with EPSM, even if on an EPSM diet, and he said that unless they are getting a minimum of 5,000 IU of Vitamin E daily, then yes, they can relapse.
Through several emails and a phone call, Dr. Reilly suggested that while the diet I had Tucker on was good, it needed some tweaking.

His plan is for me to reduce the Ultra Bloom by 1/2 pound and add a pound of Seminole Equalizer Balancer. This will add a low carb/high protein balancer to his diet. Even though the Ultra Dynamix is higher in carbs, he said to keep using it but the Equalizer will offset that.
He suggested the use of a hay net for when Tucker is stalled during the day. Slow eating of hay will insure that sugar surging is not happening, which leads to muscle problems. 
And lastly, add Vitamin E. He suggested Health E Max, which is 16,000 IU and does not contain Selenium (feeding selenium is risky. Tests should be done on pasture grass to determine selenium levels, as too much can cause selenium poisoning.) I am to start Tucker at 17,000 IU daily for the first week and then eventually get him down to 8700 IU maintenance level.
He also informed me that The University of Minnesota will test EPSM with hair samples. I am going to look into that!

So I started Tucker on the Equalizer last night. The Vitamin E arrives next week. Dr. Reilly thought that I should see an improvement in 2 weeks. I am to continue light riding in the meantime, so I guess we will be hitting the trails. Yippee (not).
The weather is changing...it is less humid and fall is coming. Horse trials are gearing up. Why couldn't this have happened in July, when it is hot and humid and I could care less about riding? ARG!

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Update on Tucker's Allergies

Words really can't express how well Tucker has done, not nearly as much as pictures (as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words!), so I will keep the writing to a minimum and let the pictures do all the talking!
Tucker has been on Hilton Herbs for a little more than a year now.
He gets the Bye Bye Itch supplement and I started him on the Echinacea for immune support last month. I use the BBI lotion as needed, and I alternate between Eqyss Medicated shampoo and the HH Coal Tar, Neem and Tea Tree shampoos.
I would say, on a scale of 1-10, with 1 being horrible and 10 meaning his skin is perfect, I would put him at a 7. Which, for this time of year, is amazing. Usually, by July, he would be at a 2. Normally, his midline and sheath are raw. He has no mane and his tail is rubbed out. His face is raw, as are his ears, neck and chest.
As of yesterday, he had some bumps along this sides. They are bug bites, and I would love to find out what kind. Today, the bumps were much less swollen, but you could see where the site of bite/sting is with initially, tiny scabs, but today, just bare spots, if that makes any sense. He has never had these kinds of bumps before, and since we are at a new barn since last summer, they must be some super bug, as they are very large (cherry size) and have a scab in the center. They are sore to the touch.
He has some tiny bare spots along the chest and neck, but they are not sore, or bloody.
The biggest issue is his habronema, which for some unexplainable reason, opened last fall, within weeks of moving to the new barn. I attribute it to being environmentally related and something in his field which has caused it to re-open. It has always closed up in cooler weather, and after being closed for several years, it has been a source of frustration to not be able to close it at all this year, even during the cooler weather. After trying many different medications, including the DMSO/Ivermectin/Fura mixture, to no avail, I am having a small bit of luck with a human ointment for bed sores, made from Manuka honey, mixed with Quest dewormer. Not a huge amount of luck, but there are subtle improvements, more than with any other medicine.
As I was trimming Tucker's mane a few weeks ago, I realized that for the first time in I can't recall how many years, I could actually let his mane grow out! It is full, soft and there are no scabs along the base! Same for his tail...it is full and lush!



Pictures from the past:



What Tucker's face normally looks like in the summer

And what his sheath and belly usually look like by summer



Note the little sores along the legs



Not much of a mane

 

 

 

 

 

Now look at the differences this summer!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

A full mane!

 

Some small bare spots, they have not become raw or bloody though



His tail a year ago before Bye Bye Itch

 

Look at that beautiful tail!!!!



His belly on 7/6/13. The bumps are smaller and they have "erupted", but not bloody or raw



His habronema on 7/6/13



My beautiful boy!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year from Tucker, Hobbs and Goat

I can't believe that tomorrow is the last day of 2012...and I haven't written since the death of Imp in October.
I don't think anyone even reads these, certainly nobody has called, texted or emailed me to ask why I haven't written anything, so sometimes I ask why bother? But why not? At least I read it!
For the handful of people who do follow my blog, here is a brief update:
In November, I was officially hired by Devon-Aire Riding Apparel! This has been a dream of mine, to work again in the equine retail industry, ever since I managed a tack store after high school! My official title is Southeast Account Executive....I never thought I would see the word Executive after my name...and I have 5 states in my territory: Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama and South Carolina! I have inherited existing stores, including some really big stores in Atlanta and Florida! The folks at Devon-Aire, which is a family owned business in Tampa, are also putting me in contact with other companies to Represent. As these become finalized, I will announce who they are!
After going to Tampa earlier this month, in which they loaded the Mazda with lots of samples, I will next travel for a week in January to Virgina, to learn from their best salesman. I come home, and then fly out the following week to Philadelphia, for the American Equine Trade Association trade show. I can't wait, as I will have the chance to meet up with some of my potential contacts and will get to meet Hilary Self, of Hilton Herbs! We have corresponded a bit between Tucker's allergies and Imp's cushings. I was pleasantly surprised to see my testimonial is listed on their webpage, at the top of the Bye Bye Itch site: http://hiltonherbsusa.com/products/bye-bye-itch/1284

Tucker has been doing great! While he didn't get too upset at Imp's passing, he does miss her companionship. He shares the fence line with a mare on one side and a naughty pony on the other, who likes to steal his fly masks. I look forward to the day we finally sell our home (it goes back on the market in a month) and buy a farm, and he has another friend to play with, rather than sharing a fence line.

Habronema re-opened

I ride him just about every day and the truth is, there just isn't a bad ride on him. He is so honest, so uncomplicated and so much fun. I look forward to my rides. Jen's boyfriend, Will, is even learning to ride on him!

On the downside, his habronema scar opened a few months ago and it has been hell getting it to close. My vet had me try a new course of treatment, using Quest instead of Ivermectin (3 tubes), about 27ccs of Panalog instead of Fura Ointment, and 3ccs of DMSO, all mixed together. It has actually started working. While it hasn't closed completely, the swelling is almost gone and there is no more bleeding. It has been very puzzling, as this opened after summer had turned into fall, and after 2 years of no issues. He now wears his flyboot everyday and I don't think I will ever take it off, even in the cooler weather.

It is strange being down to just one horse, and we miss Imp something terrible. Her obituary appeared in this weeks Chronicle of the Horse. They forgot to put that she was the 1997 AHSA Intermediate Horse of the Year, but overall, they did a nice job.

After treatment of Panalog, Quest and DMSO

I wish you a Happy New Year with lots of good riding days!

Farewell, Impulsive

Several hearts are breaking today. Mine. Jennifer's. Jane's.
Impulsive has crossed the rainbow bridge.
Imp was a life time horse. A heart horse. A best friend.
It was my priviledge to be her caretaker.



Jen and Imp At Poplar

She was an amazing partner not only for Jen, but to Jane, who took her to the upper levels of eventing. We are forever grateful for Jane's generosity in giving us Imp.


Farewell, Imp. You loved Jen and you took good care of her. You taught her to be the horsewoman she is. You gave me much anxiety as I worried and fretted over you like a good horseshow mom and barn manager should. We miss you.


Her story and how we came to own this beautiful horse is here:

http://www.calypsofarmeventers.blogspot.com/2011/04/it-is-officialimp-is-retired.html






Imp and Jane, AHSA Intermediate Horse of the Year Zone Champion



Jen and Imp sharing peppermints

Jane and Imp

Jane and Imp

Jen and Rachel learning that they are going to Champs in 2004

Jen and Imp at Poplar

Jen and Imp at Rocking Horse

Jen's senior portrait

Kentucky Horse Park

Kentucky Horse Park

Jen and Imp at Kentucky Horse Park

Imp flirting with John Henry at the KHP

Life imitating art, as Imp imitates Secretariat at KHP

Carrots!

Jane and Imp