While any such diagnosis seems devastating, you are ‘on it’ as they say and doing everything you can with feeding and management and still seeking - so I applaud you for that.
A lot of drafty types have this and a lot of them are very manageable and can work to quite a high level with management and consistency…so I hope you can take some hope from that.
[QUOTE=Kati7095;8946716]
Thanks piedmontfields. I definitely have an ideal situation in regards to management because she lives at home and I work from home… so my life can basically revolve around her. It’s just overwhelming trying to decifer what changes help and those that don’t.
My local feed store owner is a nutritionist, but she had never heard of type 2 when I mentioned it. So she has helped with the basic requirements, but I still would like to consult with a nutritionist that has experience with type 2. [/QUOTE]
A good nutritionist would have heard of PSSM2 a long time ago, as it’s really not that new. Testing for it is relatively new. If you really want to talk to someone who knows more up to date stuff, I’d recommend Claire Thune at Summit Nutrition, or the “authority” on PSSM in general, Dr Valentine at Rural Heritage.
I’m also reading a lot about feeding alfalfa (which I used to feed T/A and soaked alfalfa cubes) but she wants me to only feed Timothy because she thinks the sugar content in alfalfa is higher than people tend to believe.
Sugar isn’t about belief, it’s about what tests, and in general, alfalfa IS lower then grass hays. That doesn’t make it automatically suitable for all metabolic horses. It’s proven that some IR horses cannot tolerate any alfalfa, while others do just fine on it. Alfalfa has been THE go-to for PSSM horses, and would fit the bill of the higher protein needs of the Type 2 horse as well, but as with all these things, sometimes you just have to try, give things a few months, and see how it shakes out.
Some Timothy pellets/cubes have a guaranteed NSC that would be low enough for you. But Timothy hay in general has to be tested. I just saw an analysis of 2 Timothy cuttings that were just about 14% NSC, so not something I’d feed large amounts of to a PSSM horse of either type.
Thanks, JB. I actually found Clair through the Facebook group and have a consultation set up with her for next week. It’s not surprising to me that our local nutritionist wasn’t aware of Type 2; the vets here were barely aware of it as well. Or maybe just the different nutritional needs of type 1 vs type 2.
Happy thanksgiving 
Dr. Valberg was very helpful to me years ago when I consulted her about my TB jumper with RER. I ended up working with her and with nutritionists at Kentucky Equine Research to find a solution that would allow me to keep him in training and competing for several years till his retirement.
While PSSM and ESPM are not exactly the same syndromes as RER at the molecular level and the genetics are slightly different, the solution to keeping these horses in work require pretty much the same approach.
No matter which of the syndromes is responsible, the key is that both the horse’s work load and nutrition must be managed closely to prevent the tying up symptoms from occurring.
The nutrition is actually much easier to manage than the work. High fat / low starch feeds are not uncommon, although not every feed that claims to be “high fat” is high ENOUGH fat…
Re-Leve from Kentucky Equine Research is the high fat feed formulated by Dr. Valberg and is what my horse gets to this day (though he is long since retired). Alfalfa is sometimes a trigger for the tying up; this seemed to be the case for my horse, so we stick to timothy or orchard grass for him.
The exercise factor is much more difficult because it takes a lot more care to get right. These horses can be trained and competed, but the level of their exercise and fitness has to be kept constant. The horse has to be brought into fitness very gradually, and kept fit, with a consistent level of work each day. No days off, EVER (these syndromes used to be known broadly as “Monday morning disease” or azturia). Since muscles make no distinction between work under saddle and turnout exertion, turnout has to be monitored closely so that enzymes that circulate through the blood after exercise aren’t increased beyond safe levels after a too lively turnout session followed by a hard workout.
For my horse, being in work was an all or nothing affair, and still is. He’s an easy guy to ride, and would make a perfect ‘guest horse,’ except that he either needs to be fit and working all the time, or let totally down and turned out. He never could be the horse to ride a few times during the week and then have a lesson with on Saturday. He had to work at just the same level, every single day (even on Monday). Under a consistent work plan, and on the high fat ReLeve, he was able to train and compete with no problems, although I would give him Robaxin after competing (not before, as it’s not permitted) to keep his back muscles relaxed.
Hope this helps…!
I just spoke with Dr Valberg and my mare actually has a subset of PSSM2 called MFM. Diet and exercise are similar. Also, spoke with equine nutritionist Clair Thunes and will be developing a diet specific to her.
Anyone have experience with MFM specifically?
That’s an interesting development! Glad you’re getting to the bottom of it- please update with more info on the specific diet recommended for your horse once you have more info!
I know this is an old thread …my 13yr old Dutch Wb mare was diagnosed via muscle biopsy by Dr Valberg at Michigan State -she’s got pssm2, MFM, and VEM…we are managing her well and easily …only symptoms were mild exercise intolerance-but she’s also got asthma so that does also play a small role as well…nutrition-low sugar & starch diet consisting of grass hay , and a combo of soaked Pink Mash /and a small amount (cup) Hygain Zero& Keyflow Sensicare or Cavalor Fiberforce and her forage mineral ration balancer Vermont Blend Pro, ground flax -supplements -Emcelle Vitamin E, KER NanoQ10, KER Eo3 Oil, and she was getting KER MFM pellets until she developed acute kidney failure from a vaccine reaction-that supplement is a high amino acid/protein supplement that is also alfalfa based -I need to limit her protein and alfalfa intake now due to her kidney disease-otherwise she would still be taking that …I’ve since replaced it with APF Pro-a liquid adaptenogenic herbal supplement that helps with muscle, recovery , stamina and glucose sensitivity. I have an entire nutrition and exercise plan from Dr Valberg specifically for these horses …exercise is generally 3 days on of ridden work followed by 2 days rest …long and low is important
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