What is the best diet for an EPSM horse?
The best diet for an EPSM horse is one that includes at least 1 pound of fat (2 cups vegetable based oil or equivalent) per 1000 pounds of horse per day, mixed with a base feed that is as low in starch and sugar as your horse will accept. Forage based products such as alfalfa pellets, water soaked beet pulp, or alfalfa cubes with added oil are ideal for horses that will eat them. Next best are products such as senior feeds or other feeds designed to be complete feeds that can replace hay if necessary. For really fussy horses, try something like Purina Strategy or Nutrena Compete 14% protein, which contain what I consider to be the highest acceptable level of starch and sugar (34%). Strategy or Compete with added oil works well for a lot of horses, but may be slightly too high in starch and sugar for sensitive horses. Mixing these feeds with a forage based feed will help reduce the starch and sugar intake. If it takes a bit of something “sweet” to get your horse to accept the added fat,
