b'enough energy to allow him to work normally. 4. Offer a vitamin and mineral ration balancer (designed to provide a horse with required nutrients that cant be met with forage alone) if needed.If your PSSM horse 5. Again, use a grazing muzzle whenis in moderate work turning horses out on lush pasture.and needs additional Turn out every day in as large a pastureenergy, supplement with as possible and as often as possible toan appropriate oil for added fat.keep these horses moving.Most research regarding management has been done in horses with PSSM1 because Valberg maintained a herd of type 1 horses when she was at U of M and performed controlled diet and exercise trials on them. No controlled manage-ISABELLE ARNONment trials have been performed on horses with PSSM2.Until now the recommendations for both PSSM1 and PSSM2 have been similar, even though we dont know whatfound that Quarter Horses respondedimpressive as the Quarter Horses, but it causes PSSM2, Valberg says. remarkably well to the same diet andappears we are still moving in a very posi-She and her research team recentlyexercise regimes used for PSSM1 horses,tive direction. explored whether the above-describedshe says. In terms of Warmbloods, ap-management recommendations appliedproximately 80% showed improvements,Future Directionsto both groups of PSSM horses. but many horses didnt achieve the levelResearchers are continually trying to We applied the same managementof athleticism that owners expected. Thedevise more targeted management strate-strategies to horses with PSSM2 andWarmblood results, therefore, werent asgies to help horses afflicted with PSSMnever ages.As Boo got older, so did his immune system. To help him live his best life, Purina Equine Senior horse feed was added to his diet. It has ActivAge,a proprietary prebiotic proven through years of research to support a senior horses aging immune system. So, now at 31, Boo shows how animals speak louder than words.Your Purina retailer could tell you more than this ad ever could, or visit purinamills.com/equinesenior to learn more. 2018 Purina Animal Nutrition LLC. All rights reserved. Equine Senior is a registered trademark of Purina Animal Nutrition.March 2018 THE HORSE TheHorse.com 29'