FLITASTIC - 2016-06-01 10:15 AM Seriously Look into PSSM. There has been a lot of info about this lately. There are a LOT of horses out there with varying degrees of PSSM and a lot of research on bloodlines etc. The good news??? Its totally manageable with DIET. Yes you can have your horse tested for type 1 and 2 BUT the bottom line is, you treat it all the same. No medications, just diet changes. My colt with intermittant suspected lameness, etc. I have not had tested but I am seeing absolutely tremendous results by changing his diet as IF HE WAS PSSM positive. As you know I went through just about every Curost product their was for his Hind gut, ulcers, allergies, joints, inflammation etc. Probably spent over 1500 on curost. My horse has been on PSSM diet for a week and is a new horse.. You know what fixed it?????? One little scoop of magnesium daily and some natural vitamin E.... My horse that was once tight in the hind end, back sore for no reason, Muscle twitching only on the Left side, Not wanting to turn the first barrel sometimes, thin soled foot sore after shoeing, WENT TO SLEEP Monday when the shoer was doing his feet like a 25 year old horse!!!! Farrier asked if I drugged him. He no longer sweats sometimes and not others etc... I joined the PSSM page on Facebook and they are extremely helpful. Through it all I could tell my horse WANTED to work and was trying but they can't speak so I was doing what I could. 5,000mg Magnesium daily with a little vitamin E. Near Miracle results.

merdth6 - 2016-06-01 8:27 AM


I was maybe suspecting this, but I'm not very aware of PSSM or knowledgable.  My mare is all cow bred. Does this PSSM affect those lines? 

luvropin - 2016-06-01 9:26 AM

Going through this right now with my 12 year old cow bred mare. I can't get her to quit tying up even after light work. She has a history of tying up occasionally but I could control it with diet. Not working any more and we are headed to the vet for testing.

jewels - 2016-06-01 10:29 AM

Where do you order the magnesium & natural vitamin E from?

FLITASTIC - 2016-06-01 10:59 AM I'm just scratching the surface on PSSM information, and it can be overwhelming. LOL BUT YES cow bred horses tend to have type 1 more than 2. If you look up PSSM FORUM on facebook, join it. You can post your horse's registered name and there is a gal doing research/database tracking the genes and bloodlines. SHe knows her stuff. lol A lot of Halter horse lines are showing up type 1. The problem is there are a LOT of horses out there with type 1 or 2 and sometimes the symptoms are screaming like tying up , etc. Mine never tied up, mine had more subtle symptoms. BUT THE BOTTOM LINE IS....... its ALLLLLLLL treated with diet. So it really doesn't hurt to give the diet a go, that's what I did. Here is some quick basic info to see if your horse might fit the bill. http://www.equinews.com/article/update-pssm-horses Also look up " Magnesium Deficiency in horses" and a lot of the symptoms are very similar. One of the diet changes for a PSSM horse is to ADD magnesium so doesn't hurt to try it. Magnesium is CHEAP CHEAP CHEAP. I do think my horse had gut issues, ulcers etc, but I believe those were due to the pain aspect of the suspected PSSM. They are working on a Hair test for PSSM 2 and it will be out in a few months. Until then, I'm sticking with the diet changes. One major major trigger is Oats. I know that is what Dr. Schell advocates with curost. I am no longer a member of that forum so maybe ask him over there what he suggests. Hope that helps! Oh, My horse's pedigree was analyzed and the person doing the research/Data reported back and said that she feels 99% comfortable that he does NOT have the gene for type 1 ( Makes sense, he has very few if any type 1 symptoms), but based on Pedigree alone she feels just as confident he most likely is TYPE 2. These are bloodlines that will rock the barrel racing world and are VERY COMMON in the barrel horse industry. At this time she would not tell me the names of those bloodlines that are on his papers that are showing the most research on passing on the PSSM2 problems. All she said was that I had for sure 3 potentially 4 bloodlines that are definite markers that they are finding horses with those are testing positive for type 2. Once the type 2 hair test comes out SHe wants me to submit a sample for testing. You can get a PSSM 1 test for $40 right now if you want using HAIR.

merdth6 - 2016-06-01 10:41 AM


I have noticed the back soreness since I bought her in early March.  I assumed it was due to her fore and hindgut problems.  Now though it seems worse. My horse doesn't buck, rear, and doesn't have tying up problems.  She also is not a easy keeper.  I've been trying to put weight on her since I bought her. She has been treated with omeprazole and she's on ulcer/hindgut supplement too.  She's eating better, but still sore in her back.  She's a hotter type mare and is on a dry lot currently.  She gets about 4 hours of turn out on a regular grass field in the morning.  I had a horse hair analysis done on my other mare and it came back with many mineral deficiencies.  I'm leaning toward mineral and vitamin deficiencies.  She is not fed grain, I have her on alflafa pellets, and flaxseeds with her supplements.  I did get a power block for everyone to lick on and this mare wanted to eat it.

FLITASTIC - 2016-06-01 8:15 AM

Seriously Look into PSSM. There has been a lot of info about this lately. There are a LOT of horses out there with varying degrees of PSSM and a lot of research on bloodlines etc. The good news??? Its totally manageable with DIET. Yes you can have your horse tested for type 1 and 2 BUT the bottom line is, you treat it all the same. No medications, just diet changes. My colt with intermittant suspected lameness, etc. I have not had tested but I am seeing absolutely tremendous results by changing his diet as IF HE WAS PSSM positive. As you know I went through just about every Curost product their was for his Hind gut, ulcers, allergies, joints, inflammation etc. Probably spent over 1500 on curost. My horse has been on PSSM diet for a week and is a new horse.. You know what fixed it?????? One little scoop of magnesium daily and some natural vitamin E.... My horse that was once tight in the hind end, back sore for no reason, Muscle twitching only on the Left side, Not wanting to turn the first barrel sometimes, thin soled foot sore after shoeing, WENT TO SLEEP Monday when the shoer was doing his feet like a 25 year old horse!!!! Farrier asked if I drugged him. He no longer sweats sometimes and not others etc... I joined the PSSM page on Facebook and they are extremely helpful. Through it all I could tell my horse WANTED to work and was trying but they can't speak so I was doing what I could. 5,000mg Magnesium daily with a little vitamin E. Near Miracle results.

FLITASTIC - 2016-06-01 1:04 PM She sure sounds like a PSSM candidate to me. You know of my struggle with what I thought was hind gut/ ulcer type problems. And it very well may be she has them!!! My colt had them because really responded well to Ulcerguard. But the cause of the ulcers was his low grade muscle pain that his potential PSSM causes. You might order some su-Per Mag Pro ( Calm) from gateway. Its 10-12.00 and try it. You will see results within about 3-7 days if indeed that was the issue. Sounds like her Diet might be just fine for now. Don't stop the other supplements, just add some magnesium and if you see drastic results then maybe go on that forum and have her pedigree looked at and start treating her as if she WAS PSSM. Funny you mention buck and rear.. Mine has NEVER done that either but sometimes at a barrel race he will kind of crow hop and act like he " Feels to good" . I thought it was a good thing. LOL THat is the first symptom on the PSSM/Magnesium deficiency list. I should have paid more attention all along.

FLITASTIC - 2016-06-01 12:40 PM


I get mine from Su-per store. www.su-perstore.com Gateway products. Make sure with the vitamin E, that its NATURAL E. Natural will be WAY MORE EXPENSIVE. Gateway carries both. Synthetic E is like 9.00 and Natural is 49.00!!!! LOL But the scoop is SO LITTLE that it lasts forever. Hope that helps!!! I am staying away from Selenium for now. THats the only one you make make your horse toxic from. If they are not vit E or magnesium deficient they just Pee it out. No harm. Most manufacturers say you should see results in 2-3 days. My horse is on a loading dose for 10 days to get levels back to normal, then small maintenance dose. Or you can increase if needed. Each horse is different.

Scotch - 2016-06-01 11:03 AM

Wow. You just described what I am going thru right now as well! Just got done at the vets as a matter of fact. My colt's (4 year old) came up really body sore about 2 1/2 months ago. Thought it was his back and rump only. Had massage and chiro done. No help. Chiro said he's sore because he's low on selenium. (Common in our area) Been giving a organic selenium/yeast for almost 2 months. No change. Took him to the lameness specialist 2 weeks ago. Clean bill of health there. Hock x-rays were clean. He told me possible kissing spine, but unlikely due to his age and amount of training (only about 90 days). I haven't ventured up that path as of yet. Took him to get blood work today to check magnesium/selenium levels and lyme disease. He said unlikely that because it's not really in our area. Just have to wait now for the blood work to come back. I asked him about PSSM also but he didn't think so.


How is your horse's attitude? My horse acts like he feels awesome. Never looks better body wise. Runs, squeals and bucks around. Acts like he is totally fine until you palpate him. He'll about fall to the ground if you run your hands down his back muscles. Sinks away if you touch the top of his rump. Hates his "hamstring" area palpated. Can't stand his neck muscles done either. Tried to bite me today actually when I did that. Which is uncharacteristic for him.

I am at a total loss too. I am sick over it. This is my 'dream horse". :(


I am going to join the PSSM forum but to the others that have dealt with this..... is it "normal" for horses to act totally normal until you touch them with PSSM?