Hello Dr. Valentine!
Thought i'd update you on Hunny since she's been on
the epsm diet--last summer 20 minutes of pulling the sled would leave her shaking. Now she's been on the
oil since about October--long story short: she's doing wonderful! Even after not getting a whole lot of exercise,(due to crummy weather and Hillary's homework load)..they got to go play in the snow with the sled 3 times last week for over 2 hours each time and Hunny breezed through it! She was very hesitant taking her out like that--Hillary watched her like a hawk and did alot of walking so she wouldn't get too tired. It was Hunny that wanted to keep trotting! Hillary had to hold her back. Understandably snow is much easier to pull in than grass but the fact that she was able to go from only 20 min to 2+ hours is amazing.
It was equally amazing to read the post about John Henry...Hunny won't canter either. Well she wouldn't last summer--I can't wait for Hillary to try it this year. (it's way too muddy/slippery/icy now) We were thinking it was a 'behavior' issue--it sounds like a epsm issue now. Why does epsm effect cantering?
One other question: I'm thinking we caught her epsm early...but will she continue to get worse even if she's on the diet?
THANK YOU for all of your help! We would have been groping around in the dark if it wasn't for you.

:)
Deb Reeb

Hi Deb. Great news about Hunny - thanks so much for taking the time to let us know! The cantering issue is interesting. I think that the problem is that cantering takes more back and hind leg muscle strength/flexibility than trotting, and those are the muscles most affected by EPSM. We'll all be interested in hearing what happens when your ground reappears and dries up. As to progression, no, with continued diet and exercise she should only improve. So tell Hillary to enjoy her new horse!