3 Responses

1. I owned 4 horses who each developed DSLD, causing me to join the DSLD horse owners chat list where we participated in raising funds for scientific research at Univ of Georgia and Univ of Kentucky. UGa (lead researcher Dr. Slavka Halper) found it is a systemic disease and their working re-name was ESPA (Equine Systemic Proteoglycan Accumulation) back in the early 2000’s when I was involved, and Dr. Gus Cothran found it is genetic based on inbreeding and breeding patterns that are too close (grandparents to grand-offspring is too close) – and it is definitely not breed specific; it can happen in any breed where breeders start breeding for specific colors or traits or styles (often driven by show-ring fads or for speed in race horses).

   My horses were all from championship pedigrees, ranging from a foal born very down in all 4 legs to watching it develop in my favorite mare, starting as lameness of unknown origin (per Univ of FL Vet School) to fully-checked ligament to definitively diagnosed DSLD, starting in one leg but eventually developing in all 4 legs, all documented via ultrasound at UF Vet School. Another mare kept having strokes, which led to her humane euthanasia at age 5 years and she was diagnosed via autopsy at UF Vet School (and that was the first time I ever heard of DSLD), the foal’s dam was initially diagnosed by California vets as just having arthritis in both hind legs but she was then diagnosed with DSLD at UF Vet School after her foal’s birth, which was then confirmed upon her donation to Dr. Jay Mero’s DSLD research in connection with Cornell Vet School and in cooperation with Uky and UGa.

   One early warning sign I encountered in all 4 horses was an extreme over-reaction to needles, including my stoic mare who had always loved acupuncture suddenly dropping to her belly when the first acupuncture needle was inserted into her hip, and she reacted equally strongly to the next needle in another location so we stopped. My foal who was born with DSLD (diagnosed with ultrasounds at UF Vet School and confirmed upon his donation at age 2 to Univ of Georgia’s DSLD Research Program) required 4 adults to hold him down for all his shots, starting with the routine first shots given to foals.

   Dr. Eleanor Kellon also became involved with our DSLD chat group and helped us research best care & management (24/7 turnout for free exercise and sunshine, give them a job to do that they love, low-sugar low-protein diet, watch for comorbidities like iron overload, which my mare developed around age 16 years after her quadrilateral DSLD diagnosis) or Cushings.

   We found diet and free-exercise and sunshine were very important factors for managing DSLD horses, as there is no cure — but the only way to prevent DSLD was to check pedigrees for too-close linebreeding (especially if it appears more than once within 3 generations back, but best to check for 5 generations back) and to educate breeders to stop breeding for color or for show ring fads or other attributes.

   Be aware that many field vets refuse to diagnose “DSLD” and will instead call it a fully-checked ligament or other euphemism, so it is best to get ultrasounds of all 4 legs and send them to one of the vet school research programs for an accurate diagnosis (either rule it in or ideally rule it out). I think the DSLD chat group moved to Facebook Groups – I stopped participating after the heartbreak of losing 4 horses to DSLD, but the folks on the list are owners of DSLD horses or are involved with the research programs, and they’re very nice folks who are friendly and helpful and very supportive – they helped me enormously through each heartbreak of each of my 4 DSLD horses.

2. My German Riding Pony was diagnosed at 11 years old. He probably had it for several years because it took so long to identify his pain problem

3. My Irish Draught x Belgian Warmblood was scanned positive for DSLD at 6 years old : no obvious symptoms