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Date Posted: 22:22:49 08/30/02 Fri
Author: Maureen
Subject: Re: hypp
In reply to: Scottie Phillips 's message, "hypp" on 07:51:29 07/28/02 Sun

>I recently bought a horse at the Reg. QH sale in
>Lexington, VA. I have been out of the horse business
>for a number of years so I was a bit impulsive. After
>watching a horse work and perform I was sold and
>didn't pay attention to the latter notes in the
>description. The horse is +/- for hypp. I did not
>remember anything about the Impressive lineage. The
>previous owners said he had never shown any signs for
>the disease however after riding him a couple of times
>I am wondering. He seems to roll his right eye back
>for several minutes and seems to be "winking". I have
>never seen a horse do this and I am a bit concerned.
>I have tried reaching the previous owners but they
>have not responded. Any advice as how to feed or care
>for this horse. Am I worried over nothing?

I, too, have a horse that is HYPP N/H, or -/+ as you note in your post. Firstly, HYPP is NOT the death sentence that so many horse people would have you believe! The HYPP gene is a NATURAL gene mutation. Unfortunately for Impressive's reputation, it occurred in his lines, but could just have easily occurred in ANY horse's lines. Secondly, it is also helpful to note that HYPP is NOT just a horse disease. HYPP was documented in humans long before it was noted in horses.

Impressive-bred horses can be broken down into 3 categories: 1) N/N or negative/negative, 2) N/H or negative/positive, and 3) H/H or positive/positive. The N/N horse is completely free of the HYPP gene and, therefore does NOT have the disease and WILL NOT be symptomatic. The N/H horse has ONE normal gene and ONE HYPP gene. These horses can exhibit varying degrees of HYPP symptoms or even go through life without ever having an HYPP event. If mated to an N/N horse, the N/H horse will throw approx. 50% HYPP positive foals and 50% HYPP negative foals. The H/H horse is rare and is usually severely affected with the disease, often not surviving for more than a few years.

Now that you know your horse is HYPP N/H the single most valuable tool you can have is to know how to decrease the chances of an HYPP event. Horses afflicted with HYPP have difficulties maintaining a proper Potassium balance, especially under physical or mental stress. Dietary control of Potassium intake is the number one best, and easiest, way to decrease the likelihood of HYPP-related problems. How do you do that? Well...if your horse is on a molasses-based grain product, change to a NON-molasses product ASAP! Molasses is high in Potassium and should not be fed. Some experts suggest changing from alfalfa hay or alfalfa-based grain mixes to grass-type hays. Again, this is to decrease the Potassium intake. Some HYPP horses need to be maintained on medications, such as Acetozolamide, but this is usually only in HYPP horses that are fed large quantities of alfalfa, most of those being Halter horses.

Your next defense is to involve your vet in examining your horse and planning out a personalized care strategy taking into account the horse's age, nutritional requirements and activity levels. Lastly, you should always make sure that your HYPP horse is slowly conditioned to do the activities you're asking it to do. It's not healthy for ANY horse to suddenly go from being a "pasture spud" to being asked to perform strenuous activity and that goes double for an HYPP horse.

I would definitely recommend that you visit the U. C. Davis Website. They are leaders in the field of HYPP research and have very good information about managing your HYPP horse and what to do if it should experience an HYPP event. I don't have that Web address handy right now, but will get it and post it for you tomorrow.

My mare is a 16 hand, 1500 lb. Halter mare that has been shown extensively since her yearling year. I also use her for recreational riding. She is a certifiably ROTTEN loader and shipper. Even short trailer trips make her extremely nervous and cause her to break out into a whole-body sweat. If there ever was a scenerio that is supposed to cause HYPP symptoms, that's it. BUT...she has never had even the slightest symptoms because I'm careful to monitor her feed regimen. I fed her Purina's Strategy, 2 hours turnout and a diet of 75% grass hay, 25% alfalfa to maintain her at Halter weight. I no longer feed the alfalfa now that she is retired from showing. I also recently changed to plain oats when one of my non-HYPP horses wouldn't eat the Strategy. Both the grass hay and plain oats are very low in Potassium. She does have access to a free-choice salt/mineral block. I have also bred this mare, much to the dismay of several HYPP-phobic friends, and gotten a beautiful N/N filly. The mare sailed through the added physical stresses of pregnancy and delivery without any HYPP symptoms. The last thing you need to keep in mind is that your horse will ALWAYS be considered inferior and undesirable by those people that misunderstand HYPP, and believe me, there are ALOT of them! Don't let it get you down, though. Your horse is just as good as theirs and with the right management and good vet care, can be just as athletic and productive as any non-HYPP horse. Good luck. -- Maureen

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