HorsesDaily Horse Health News

EPSM (Equine Polysaccharide Storage Myopathy)
By Charlene Strickland

A talented sport horse, bred to excel—but he resisted training. Was the problem that he refused to respond to his rider, or that he wasn’t physically able to perform?

That question tortured owner and trainer Stefany Wolfe of Skyline Farm, Laytonsville, Maryland. Her Hanoverian Rheingau (Regazzoni—Forrest xx), known as “Reno,” didn’t feel right when she first began riding him. Imported from Germany, the bay felt “tight,” when she started him as a three-year-old. At four, he had trouble cantering. “He would get too round, and his back would arch up like that of a cat.”

When Wolfe asked him to round up and move “through,” Reno resisted. She agonized over her colt’s opposition. “I have never had a horse with such talent. His gaits all appeared wonderful when he was free, but as soon as I was riding he was ‘explosive’ if I so much as touched rein contact or put my leg on.”

She added, “He seemed possessed. I know everyone was questioning my training at the time, and quite frankly, so was I.”

Frustrated, she gave Reno time off. When she resumed schooling, “He just seemed tight everywhere, like a ticking time bomb.”

In 2000, after a lesson with Scott Hassler, Reno tied up. The treating veterinarian reported “only a minimal increase in muscle enzymes—they seemed not totally convinced that he had tied up,” recalled Wolfe.

“Things just never seemed the same after this day. Where did the horse that I broke go to? He had become impossible to ride.”