Name: Portmans Pendragon

Born: 2004 Breed: Welsh Section B Height: 13.2hh Owner:  Amanda Whitehall Ridden & Produced by Rachel Whitehall of R Whitehall Showing He was purchased back in 2005 from the stud where he was born, after the Christmas he was then gelded and led perfectly normal life.  As a standard 3 year old would be, he was broken in and ridden on.  After the winter off, he started his ridden career on the flat show circuit and also in the working hunter pony classes. During this time he was showing no signs of having any underlying conditions. In 2010, he rapidly went downhill in his health and condition starting with his skin gaining small lumps all over and his behaviour dramatically changed when being ridden. This started with him just simply refusing to walk downwards however then got to the point where he would simply flinch and react to the saddle being girthed up.  Once recovering in 2011, he was back on top form only for it to reoccur in 2012 when he was on and off sound but the lumps in the skin still remained. 2013 was his worst year, when he went into a critical state to the point he use to prop himself up against the wall instead of lying down in the stable. During this time he was on an excessive amount of medication to keep him comfortable. That Christmas was his worst time yet to come as he was not only propping himself up, but he was balancing by pushing his head into the stable wall. At this time he was unable to move out of the stable regardless of how strong the painkillers he had were. During this time he was also clinically depressed, which was helped and improved by bringing in his long term friend who he had known all his life as they were together at the stud. He was later diagnosed with laminits however there was no cause found to why this had happened. In 2014, he was on and off sound again with no reasoning to why.  After researching into his symptoms, a condition called Equine Metabolic Syndrome was discovered to be a relative link. With this in mind we discussed with the vets the best possible way to progress forward and test for this condition. Unfortunately no bloods could be taken until he was sound and well again. Even though it was unknown to what was wrong, the appropriate actions were taken to change his routine including no turnout and being feed good quality hay, that is a least 12 months old, and he soon made major improvements. Finally bloods were able to be taken and tested, and feet x-rays were done. This showed that he was EMS positive and that Cushing's will develop in old age. The x-rays proved to be very informative, confirming that there was damage in his pedal bones as well as showing that his hooves were growing at inconsistent rates, however luckily remedial shoeing was not necessary. Since being diagnosed, he has only had one set back which was when he undid his stable door and managed to get onto the garden with the lush grass for half hour. This set him back approximately six weeks and his stable door went under a lot of maintenance to stop him opening it. He did learn that if he kicked hard enough that he could pop the bottom kick bolt undone as well. Since his last relapse in 2014, he has been on top form however we started to notice that he was not carrying as much weight as he should of. At one of the yards I attend to the horses at, they were feeding your Solution Mash to their own dressage horse that also has EMS, which proved to improve his condition. After using your product for 4 months, there is a considerable difference in his skin condition, his hooves and is finally gaining some weight which has been our main struggle with him. We feel that since being on this feed, he has improved no end and his ridden work is better than ever!