Nutrition-Responsive Diseases in Horses: Tying Up

“Tying Up” refers to a group of different diseases that have similar signs which include painful muscles, lameness and gait abnormalities, and pain. This condition may be sporadic (that is, they occur occasionally or once-off) or chronic.

Sporadic tying-up syndromes include sporadic exertional rhabdomyolysis. This is associated with extreme exertion due to insufficient fitness, electrolyte depletion and hypothermia.This condition can be managed by including sufficient vitamin E and selenium are included in the diet. Electrolytes and minerals, especially calcium, sodium and potassium should be supplied in adequate amounts too.

Chronic or repeated tying up syndromes include recurrent exertional rhabdomyolysis (RER) and equine polysaccharide storage myopathy (EPSM). RER involves repeated episodes that follow exercise or excitement. The pathogenesis is poorly understood at the moment byt it is thought that high grain diets increase the risk of developing this condition. EPSM results in an abnormal glycogen accumulation in muscles. This condition is genetic in nature and seems to be more prevalent in quarter horses and warmbloods. It is also understood that soluble carbohydrates in the diet may worsen the symptoms of EPSM.

Chronic syndromes can be managed by minimising the non-structural carbohydrates in the horse’s ration, particularly starch. These soluble carbohydrates can be replaced with fat as fat metabolism bypasses the process that produces glycogen. Vitamin E, and selenium should be supplied as well as magnesium and other electrolytes.

 

That’s all for this post, if you have any questions please let me know in the comments section below. In the next post we’ll take a look at the many causes of laminitis in horses and how we can manage this condition through nutrition.