My mare has been diagnosed with polysaccharide storage myopathy type 1 (PSSM1). I am working through her diet now, and I came across an ingredient called dried distillers grains with solubles. Can a horse with PSSM consume this ingredient without agitating the muscle disease?

I’ve been reading more and more about feeding omega fatty acids recently. Can you give me some more information on them, please?

My horse has free fecal water syndrome (FFWS). Right now, his FFWS is severe, but I found improvement with EquiShure at three doses daily. Is there any problem with feeding EquiShure in more than two meals per day? The total amount fed per day is still within the recommended amount.

I have an older gelding doing very well on EquiShure. I’ve relocated to Aiken, South Carolina, and will add powdered psyllium to my gelding’s diet to reduce the risk of sand colic. Are there any potential issues with feeding EquiShure and psyllium together? Other than his forage, he is fed only a ration balancer.

I had a lot of problems with my mare for the past couple of years and through a process of elimination, including working with my vet and a nutrition specialist, determined this spring that the problem was related to her hindgut. I initially started her on EquiShure®, as that was all my feed store had in stock. Within a day of feeding EquiShure, her signs improved dramatically. I switched her to RiteTrac® in April, and she continued to do well. In August, I started reducing the amount of RiteTrac in hopes of removing it entirely from her diet one day. In October, I reduced the RiteTrac to about a quarter of the recommended dosage. Boom! All of the signs she experienced in the past were back within a few days. I am in the process of increasing her intake of RiteTrac and considering switching her to EquiShure. The initial plan was to eventually wean her off the supplement. Based on the recent relapse, I'm not sure if that is possible. Is there any harm in horses being on either EquiShure or RiteTrac for extended periods of time, as in years and years?

I am looking for a product to improve my Thoroughbred/Quarter Horse mare's hooves. She grows little hoof between farrier visits, and the hoof wall she does grow is extremely weak. She is currently in glue-on shoes. I was about to purchase Bio-Bloom PS but then became intrigued by Total Wellness. Does Total Wellness have enough "good stuff" to potentially improve hoof strength? Should I consider both products? Cost is a factor, but I also want to give her the best I can afford.

I am looking for a new joint supplement for my draft-cross gelding Zeke, as the product I use now has been discontinued by the manufacturer. He has allergies to oats, bran, flax, corn, soy, barley, and rice, and he will break out in hives when fed certain things. Do you have a joint supplement that does not contain these ingredients? Zeke is 17 years old and weighs 1,500-1,600 lb (682-727 kg). He holds his weight well and is not a finicky eater. He currently receives alfalfa pellets (a couple of handfuls), three flakes of alfalfa hay, and one flake of local grass hay per day. In the evening, he gets a vitamin/mineral supplement. He is allowed 8-10 hours on grass five days per week and 8-10 hours on drylot the other two days of the week. He is ridden four or five days per week, jumping only twice each week.

I own a 13-year-old, 1,000-lb (450-kg) Missouri Fox Trotter gelding. Right now, he’s too heavy, with a body condition score of 7 on the 1-9 scale we use. He’s stalled for much of the day, though is allowed into a drylot for a few hours daily. He is fed teff hay when it’s available, but coastal Bermudagrass and timothy at other times. He’s also fed 1 lb (0.5 kg) of a low-starch, low-sugar ration balancer, 2.5 oz of ground flax, and 2 lb (0.9 kg) of timothy pellets daily. He has access to a salt block. He is battling laminitis, so I am focused on managing the current episode and preventing a relapse.

I own a seven-month-old Hanoverian colt with physitis. He was weaned about a week ago and brought to my place from the broodmare farm. The physitis was first noticed about two months ago. At that time, his fetlock joints looked boxy, and the veterinarian advised his caretaker to reduce his feed intake. Fast forward to now and I am worried about him. Though he is not lame, something is not right with the joints. I understand that proper feeding is key to improving this problem. He currently gets 1.5 quarts of a high-fat, high-fiber feed providing 12% protein, 10% fat, and 17% NSC as well as an MSM supplement. I added the MSM when he arrived. I don’t think this is the appropriate feed for him but, because I didn’t have a better solution, I continue to feed it. Help, please! 

To complement an all-forage diet (grass hay and pasture grass), would I use Micro-Max or All-Phase for my two-year-old Arabian mare?