Q. What are genetic disorders?

If you need a quick brush up, check out of the AHA's Nov '09 presentation on Genetic Disorders (in PDF format).  While most of this presentation is directed at the Arabian horse owner, the information found in pages 3-13 of this report is not breed specific.  The information is thoughtfully presented for the layman in an easy-to-understand manner and will benefit anyone needing a quick refresher course.  Pages 71-73 of the presentation include information on breeding, genetic testing, and research and are well worth reading.

DSLD-ESPA in Germany?

The annotation for this video is in German. Loose translation follows:

We have four Peruvian Pasos with showing DSLD symptoms. I hope to find other people who have experience with this disease.

Chances of owning two DSLD/ESPA horses?

Here's an older discussion from CotH involving those who have owned or knew someone who owned more than one DE Horse.  Horses listed in the discussion include Appy, TB, TWH, Arab, & Peruvian.

False Colic in QH w/DSLD - ESPA

The quote below comes from the a post in this thread on Horsetopia. Interesting observation from the vet (last sentence). Note that the vet didn't associate the colic/internal organs dying off as part of DSLD-ESPA.

my gelding (quarter horse) who I put down almost exactly one year ago. He was diagnosed with DSLD about 7 months before he died. Notice his low rear fetlocks. He had been having hard to identify hind end lameness, and back pain when the vet diagnosed him. We stopped ridding, put on corrective shoes and made him comfortable. He started laying down a lot and had a hard time keeping on weight. Just 4 week after I bought a new horse to ride, my gelding presented with colic. No impaction, no gas bubble, but it sure looked like colic. After 48hrs 4 vet calls (two tubings), fluids, blood work and no improvement it was obvious he was dying. The vet said they suspected it was some sort of organ failure, not colic.

Obviously, we need more education regarding DSLD-ESPA. False colic is but one of the myriad of symptoms we see as the horse breaks down. It bears repeating. DSLD-ESPA is a systemic connective tissue disease that can affect the legs, but it is NOT a leg disease. Breakdown of the suspensory ligaments is an outward symptom of the chaos that starts in many parts of the animal's connective tissues and progresses through acute degeneration and phases of relative stability. Necropsy results have shown that horses are affected in tendons, ligaments, eyes, aorta, internal organs, and skin.

Although we see nothing wrong on the outside, the horse is being attacked through many areas of it's system. For example, when a horse's skin hurts because the fascia is in an acute phase and they pull away from touch, we may think they're just cranky, when their lungs are in crisis, we think it's allergies, when their gut hurts from acute phase of the organ linings, we think they have colic, etc., etc.

Daniel, Welsh/Arab Cross Lost to DSLD-ESPA

Another one lost to this tragic disease. This comes from:

http://www.yourhorse.co.uk/Your-Horse-News/Search-Results/Your-news/News-from-your-area/Daniel-RIP/?&R=EPI-5223

QUOTE:
"Daniel, R.I.P

By haze

Your news

14 September 2008 16:42
my lovely welsh X arab, sadley lost aged 7 to Degenerative Suspensory Ligament Desmitis (DSLD, very sadley missed xx"

British Equine Veterinary Association Congress 2007

Here are the DSLD-ESPA session highlights presented at the 46th British Equine Veterinary Association (BEVA) congress, held in Edinburgh, Scotland in September 2007. You'll find this (and much much more) located at The Horse: http://www.thehorse.com/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=11043

"They found excessive amounts of proteoglycans in the suspensory ligament, superficial digital flexor tendon, and the patellar and nuchal ligaments (which lies in the neck near the withers)," said Schramme. "This study demonstrates that DSLD is a systemic disorder of all connective tissues and should be more appropriately named.

"They have set up a service where they encourage you to take a biopsy of the nuchal ligament," said Schramme. "Send it to their lab and they will get a response to you at a fairly quick turnaround time. We've used the service several times. It's something that we've used on occasion in that particular scenario, to decide whether to do a neurectomy. If they come back positive, we paint a pretty bleak picture and prognosis." Veterinarians can access the service at www.angelfire.com/bc/curlygait/biopsy.html.

McIlwraith observed, "It's almost like we have a storage disease of proteoglycans," also noting, "we're always behind our human counterparts in (understanding) connective tissue disease. Where does the accumulation of proteoglycans fit in as far as disease goes?"

From Chronicle of the Horse Forum

Some of us with diagnosed D/E horses know that this disease has been compared to Marfan's. A member of the CotH forum has made some interesting observations regarding DSLD-ESPA, Marfans, and aortic aneurysms. Click here to read the post, and click here to read the entire thread.

Originally Posted by JER
...thought it might be worth mentioning here as the subject is aortic aneurysms.

A few years ago, there was a study done that recommended renaming Degenerative Suspensory Ligament Desmitis (DSLD) as Equine Systemic Proteoglycan Accumulation (ESPA) as studies showed the causes of DSLD ... affected other parts of the body, including the aorta. ...

In human Marfan's, the aorta may leak and 'heal' at various intervals without creating a fatal rupture. I was wondering if this might be what's going on in horses. Perhaps the stress of XC in competition contributes to the final rupture.

Marfan's is a genetic mutation ... but I mention it because it's well-known and often results in a ruptured aorta.

Definitely something we should be looking at in event horses: is there a horse version of Marfan's?

Posted by Teach
I own a DSLD/ESPA horse right now--he was fine for years as a low-level dressage horse who occasionally would be jumped 2-2.5 feet or so, had some intermittent "back trouble" & what I initially thought was a 'mild suspensory pull', was on & off for a bit, then flared into full-blown DSLD ... One of the things we have been told is that DSLD/ESPA is indeed quite similar to Marfan's, & that sudden aortic rupture is often seen in these horses...

In Loving Memory

From Page 9 of the Maryland Arabian Horse Association Newsletter (this is a PDF file):

Magic Man Snickers, owned by Kathy Werner was euthanized due to severe DSLD (degenerative suspensary ligament desmetitis)

History is the present.

Another day, another story. Another person looking for answers -- and finding them. Only the names and faces change. Here are some selected quotes from a Gaits of Gold Forum post. I've included the links for each quote, but please read the entire thread for all the details.

http://www.gaitsofgold.info/wowbb/forum43/7288-1.html

Tue Mar 25th, 2008 08:38 pm
I recently bought a 14.3 Paso mare 12 years old from a woman who would tell me nothing about her. I suspected right away there were problems she wasn't telling me about.

http://www.gaitsofgold.info/wowbb/forum43/7288-2.html

Tue Apr 29th, 2008 09:43 pm
...today when I finally took her out on trail, she started trying to rear again when we got to a place where she wanted to turn around and go home. I kept her from rearing but she was very balky and suddenly started scrambling backwards really fast. I've had horses go backwards before and they usually just stop when they see they are going nowhere, but not this one! She scrambled back and got her rump under herself and then reared and flipped over.

http://www.gaitsofgold.info/wowbb/forum43/7288-3.html

Fri May 2nd, 2008 07:11 pm
...what bothers me is she was a good horse for a couple of different riders for nearly 10 years...

and

Sat Jun 14th, 2008 01:59 pm
Yesterday I had my lovely white mare euthanized. It should have been done years ago because she has been in pain for such a long time. When she reared over backwards with me, it was not because of orneriness, it was because her hind legs could not hold her up. She was objecting to being ridden and wanted to go back home but it was because she had an advanced case of DSLD (degenerative suspensory ligament disease) also know as ESPA (equine systemic proteoglandin accumulation).

Lessons Learned

A horse owner wrote Don West regarding her DSLD-ESPA diagnosed Peruvian Horse. She didn't get a vet check and believed the owners when they told her the horse was "out of condition." You can read her letter here on Don West's website. (Note: This letter and reply were written four years ago. There is more information on DSLD-ESPA available now than there was then.)

In his reply, Don West states that DSLD is found in many breeds.
TRUE! There are many members participating on the DSLD-ESPA Equine Yahoo Group, and they own various horse breeds affected by DSLD-ESPA.

Don also states in his reply that Paso Finos don’t seem to have the problem. Sorry Don, there are owners of DSLD-ESPA affected PFs on the DSLD-ESPA Equine Yahoo Group, also.

For those with recently diagnosed horses: Members of the DSLD-ESPA Equine Yahoo Group are trying a few experimental treatments (treatments--not cures) with some success. If you have a horse with DSLD-ESPA, please consider joining the DSLD-ESPA Equine Yahoo Group and participating in these trials.

Answers...

I don't have anything else new to post about, so here's a link to a Question posted on Yahoo Answers from the young owner of an Arab cross asking people to look at pictures of her gelding and tell her if her horse has DSLD. I tried to post an answer (even though the question is a couple of months old); however, Yahoo won't let me post or even vote. Don't know why. So if you have a Yahoo account, please try to post an answer directing the owner over to the DSLD-Equine forum for answers. And don't be too shocked at some of the answers posted in response to her question.

High Suspensory Ligament Injuries in Horses

Interesting article on suspensory ligament injuries. Note the last sentence in the quote below. I wonder if any of the nonresponsive horses were examined for DSLD/ESPA according to Dr Mero's protocols.

High Suspensory Ligament Injuries in Horses: "While shock wave therapy is able to help most of the non-resolving cases, there are specifically difficult situations. First, older horses seem not to respond as well to therapy and in my experience seem prone to re-injury. Second, horses with hind limb high suspensory injuries are often career threatening. While the horse can return to a reasonable degree of athleticism it is often at a lower level than where they were at the time of injury. And finally, horses with progressive chronic dropping of the fetlock are often not responsive to therapy."

ScienceDirect - Journal of Equine Veterinary Science : Diagnostic criteria for degenerative suspensory ligament desmitis in Peruvian Paso horses

ScienceDirect - Journal of Equine Veterinary Science : Diagnostic criteria for degenerative suspensory ligament desmitis in Peruvian Paso horses

If You Ride Your DSLD/ESPA Horse, be Prepared

for comments like this one found in this forum. Scroll about halfway down the page. Look at the picture with the caption It was painful to see this poor Peruvian

Video: 1981 Peruvian Paso mare affected with DSLD - ESPA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FshquBJVeBw

Paso Fino horse suffering from DSLD-ESPA

on the Fugly Horse blog. Click and scroll down to read/view picture.

Another story of heartbreak

Long, but worthwhile reading IMO.

http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/PPasoRescue/message/732

DSLD Entry From the FuglyHorse Blog

And now a few words about DSLD