Any experience with DMG?

[mswillie]

Has anyone ever used DMG for a horse with PSSM? My vet suspects that my horse may have PSSM (hair test negative and I’d rather not biopsy) based on symptoms and blood work.

I cannot, for the life of me, get this horse fit. He’s on a high fat, low sugar diet already and although this has helped, I just can’t ride him enough to develop any endurance. I’m working on getting him some extra rides in the mornings. I ride in the evenings after work so I’m hoping some extra exercise will help too.

I’ve read that DMG may help with preventing tying-up and helps with oxidative stress and I’m just wondering what experiences others may have had.

I did a search for DMG and came up with no results. I can’t believe that it hasn’t been mentioned before so I’m wondering if there might be a bug in the search function.

[flyracing]

DMG won’t search on this board because it’s shorter than 4 letters.

I used DMG for 3 years and never saw a difference on versus off of it. I saw better results with high quality magnesium, B1, “JC’s X-tie up” monthly, and a gut conditioner.

[pony_grandma]

For search maybe type in ‘use DMG’

We tried DMG for a young horse that had a period of some sluggish growth spurt. It seemed to work. But I am also a fan of Mag supplement.

[flyracing]

https://www.google.com/search?q=chronicleforums+dmg&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a#rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&q=dmg+site:www.chronofhorse.com

This is the only way that I know of to search the forum using words that are shorter than 4 letters.

[beowulf]

You say he can’t get fit… I’m assuming there is some sort of exercise intolerance going on? Has both upper/lower airways been cleared, and respiratory disease ruled out?

Mixed feelings about DMG… didn’t see much a difference when it was used.

[mswillie]

[QUOTE=beowulf;8163023]
You say he can’t get fit… I’m assuming there is some sort of exercise intolerance going on? Has both upper/lower airways been cleared, and respiratory disease ruled out?

Mixed feelings about DMG… didn’t see much a difference when it was used.[/QUOTE]

Interesting suggestion. I never considered airway issues since we know that he has problems with tying-up and that’s where we’ve been focusing our attention. The intolerance seems to be muscular and his respiration recovery seems normal (for what little he does) but I need to have the vet out soon for some routine stuff and it’s certainly worth mentioning.

[mswillie]

[QUOTE=flyracing;8162999]
DMG won’t search on this board because it’s shorter than 4 letters.

I used DMG for 3 years and never saw a difference on versus off of it. I saw better results with high quality magnesium, B1, “JC’s X-tie up” monthly, and a gut conditioner.[/QUOTE]

Thanks for the search tip. I guess I’ve never tried to search less than 4 letters before. He is already on magnesium and it’s seemed to help some. I just feel I’m constantly pecking away at this issue.

I’ve gotten some improvement with the PSSM diet, some with the magnesium, some with vitamin E supplement, some by solving saddle fit problems.

I’m a bit past middle aged re-rider and I’m not looking for some super horse but I’d like to be able to do a reasonable amount of work and not feel like I’m pushing too hard after 30 minutes of W-T-C (probably at least 70% walk).

It could simply be that he needs more work than I can reasonably give him. I try to ride 6 days a week but work and family obligations don’t always let me do that. I’m going to try to find someone who’d like to ride early in the day and who will be willing to do just conditioning work. (busy barn, plenty of people to keep a lookout for me)

Of course that search is a whole different thread.

[DoubleDown]

I use it for my draft cross who is suspected PSSM. It didn’t help with her fitness work, just increased conditioning did that ( I event her), but there was a noticeable difference in her stiffness after work. I have to be pretty careful and cool her out completely after work, or else she starts getting really stiff standing while I’m untacking and will walk off with a weird hitch in her walk. The DMG really helped with that.

I also have her on a grain free diet with rice bran pellets added. My vet just suggested the diet change without the biopsy and there was a difference in her work.

[mswillie]

[QUOTE=DoubleDown;8164222]
I use it for my draft cross who is suspected PSSM. It didn’t help with her fitness work, just increased conditioning did that ( I event her), but there was a noticeable difference in her stiffness after work. I have to be pretty careful and cool her out completely after work, or else she starts getting really stiff standing while I’m untacking and will walk off with a weird hitch in her walk. The DMG really helped with that.

I also have her on a grain free diet with rice bran pellets added. My vet just suggested the diet change without the biopsy and there was a difference in her work.[/QUOTE]

May I ask roughly what she weighs and what dose do you give her? I did manage to do a search and found that a number of people thought it helped, or at worst just didn’t do anything at all so I figure I’ll give it a try.

[mlb722]

I tried it for my exercise intolerant draft cross, made no difference. Turned out he had a heart issue (which came and went, vet had never heard any abnormalities in the past)…not saying that’s your issue but just mentioning. I also thought he was PSSM, but that was never confirmed and diet changes did nothing.

[DoubleDown]

May I ask roughly what she weighs and what dose do you give her? I did manage to do a search and found that a number of people thought it helped, or at worst just didn’t do anything at all so I figure I’ll give it a try.

She 16.3 and comes in about 1,447lbs :winkgrin: the one time I weighted her on a vet scale years ago. I don’t think she’s deviated too far from +/- from that right now. I give her the Animed DMG 2000 and a single rounded scoop once daily. It’s relatively cheap so it doesn’t hurt to try. Also, I did have her on the Purina SuperSport last summer, (not at the same time as the DMG) and I did feel her recovery was better as was stiffness the day following hard work. BO was also better about cutting back her hay last year too. I found that if she’s a tiny bit leaner she’s much fitter. By leaner, I mean like a BCS score of 5 rather than the 6/7 she normally is in the winter. This is something that I didn’t get after my BO about early enough this spring so we are playing a bit of catch up.

She’s an air fern and BO HATES anybody to have a bit of rib showing

[NorCalDressage]

Yes, I noticed positive changes with it. Used 1500-2000mg for a 1000# horse. Horse was IR and had problems with labored breathing & lack of stamina towards end of work.

Helped the breathing and ability to work longer. Also seemed to develop muscle better as time went on, but that may have been increased work. It’s certainly cheap enough to try and see if you notice changes.

[piedmontfields]

@mswillie;8163478

I’ve gotten some improvement with the PSSM diet, some with the magnesium, some with vitamin E supplement, some by solving saddle fit problems.

I’m a bit past middle aged re-rider and I’m not looking for some super horse but I’d like to be able to do a reasonable amount of work and not feel like I’m pushing too hard after 30 minutes of W-T-C (probably at least 70% walk).

Not an expert here, but I also have a PSSM (diagnosed by bloodwork and exam during an episode) horse. With a grain-free diet and 5-6 day a week work, she is fit and capable of real work including a lot of canter. She is schooling 2nd and 3rd level dressage.

Given my experience, your description of running out of gas after 30 minutes of easy work makes me wonder if something else might be going on. Is your horse heavy? Or a heavier breed/type? Were they ever able to get fit more easily? My mare takes quite a bit of feed to stay at body condition of 5, so she is not the easy keeper type.

FYI, I have used DMG before, but do not use it currently. I do use give her Acetyl-l carnitine now, though. It’s pretty cheap if you haven’t tried this yet (source Fox Den Equine).

Good luck!

[mswillie]

[QUOTE=piedmontfields;8165637]
Not an expert here, but I also have a PSSM (diagnosed by bloodwork and exam during an episode) horse. With a grain-free diet and 5-6 day a week work, she is fit and capable of real work including a lot of canter. She is schooling 2nd and 3rd level dressage.

Given my experience, your description of running out of gas after 30 minutes of easy work makes me wonder if something else might be going on. Is your horse heavy? Or a heavier breed/type? Were they ever able to get fit more easily? My mare takes quite a bit of feed to stay at body condition of 5, so she is not the easy keeper type.

FYI, I have used DMG before, but do not use it currently. I do use give her Acetyl-l carnitine now, though. It’s pretty cheap if you haven’t tried this yet (source Fox Den Equine).

Good luck![/QUOTE]

He’s a grade horse, most likely with a good dose of QH, maybe some TB in there. The vet has him listed as Appendix for lack of any better knowledge.
He’s heavy built but not overweight. Very typical QH muscling. I’ve had more than one person ask me what his blood lines are.

He’s a very easy keeper. Wears a muzzle, gets only a small amount of low NSC feed to carry the oil, and ~ a pound of ration balancer a day for the vitamins. He also gets about 10-12 lbs. of hay/day in addition to what grass he can get through the muzzle.

He’s always been hard to get fit, this isn’t anything new.

I tried ALCAR once and he seemed to do worse on it. I don’t know if it was the ALCAR but it didn’t help so I stopped.

I know there is no magic bullet and it’s hard work getting any horse fit. My hope is that the DMG may help with muscle fatigue so that he doesn’t hit the wall quite so soon.

I talked to the BO and he’s going to do “pony camp” for 5 weeks this summer. The vast majority of the work will be walk and trot primarily in the mornings. All of it will be under supervision. He’s a nice, amenable guy and he’ll eat up the attention. I’ll ride in the evenings as usual. If I notice improvement in his fitness level I’ll look into finding him some additional rides after camp is over.