REAL TALK: This Is What PSSM Looks Like

There are always debates regarding 5-panel testing for breeding horses and I don’t usually share my opinion, but this is one of the few times I will.  We are so fortunate to have things like 5-panel testing, why not use them?!  Jessi Kopp shared some real talk on Facebook.  She wrote,

“Everyone wants to argue regarding 5 panel test, often debating PSSM. Okay, REAL TALK. This is what PSSM looks like. A sick, scared horse with muscle tremors in a lot of pain, unable to move. It’s incredibly painful for the horse and it ended his career. It breaks my heart every day. He is PSSM1 N/P1. This is the ‘easy’ form to deal with, Type 1 and only 1 copy. His supplements alone are over $250 a month. His feed bucket looks like a science lab.

Ignoring the tests and knowingly breeding stallions, or even mares who are PSSM carriers is unethical. Someone will fall in love with that foal, and be crushed when they have to watch them suffer later in life. Everyone wants to say that ‘their stud/mare isn’t symptomatic’. Guess what, most of the heterozygous carriers do not becoming symptomatic until they are adults. Nova was 9 before he had symptoms.