Posted by Malcolm Green on Mar 28th 2021
EquiFeast PSSM Trial
EquiFeast PSSM Trials
In early 2021 a number of owners with PSSM horses, having seen the impact of Chelated Calcium on a number of horses affected by oxalates in Australia, became excited about the prospects for horses with PSSM1 and PSSM2. The similarity being that traditional advice for oxalate affected and PSSM horses has involved high levels of calcium and magnesium supplementation. This has clearly failed many animals and, in many cases seems to have made them more ill. There is even an independent Facebook group set up to discuss this.
For a number of years EquiFeast’s research has pointed to improvements in all horses (not just PSSM or oxalate affected ones) when all artificial magnesium and calcium supplements are removed and chelated calcium is fed instead. Chelated calcium is NOT a calcium supplement but a nutrient in its own right.
Whilst EquiFeast had anecdotal reports that their approach helped PSSM horses they have no evidence from carefully monitored trial horses. So in February 2021 they started to recruit horses for a trial. These animals come from the UK, Portugal, USA and Australia.
There are about 400,000 different potential combinations of the PSSM genes detected by Equisec’s DNA testing. Clearly no double blind, placebo controlled trial is possible with such numbers. Instead horses are being recruited to stick rigidly to EquiFeast’s diet protocol – just as if they were normal new customers.
With so many variants it is inevitable that the EquiFeast approach will help some horses and not help others. Negative feedback is just as valuable as the positives. EquiFeast does not want to sell products into situations where they are likely to fail.
As of 28th March EquiFeast is no longer recruiting trialists however many people are still keen to try the approach on their horses before the trial results are available. Owners/riders are encouraged to contact EquiFeast to discuss their horse and its current diet so that a new diet can be developed within the constraints of each horse’s environment. These diets also avoid a number of herbal ingredients. We hope these people, though not constrained by the tight trial protocols, will later share their experiences with us and contribute to the database.
Americans should email advice@equifeast.net
UK, Europe and Australian riders please email advice@EquiFeast.com
Please note: You are on our USA website
For information about products available in UK and Europe: www.EquiFeast.com
For Australia: www.EquiFeast-Australia.com