"If an HYPP positive horse doesn't show signs of HYPP by
the time it's three, it won't ever have an episode."

"HYPP positive horses have less episodes as they grow older."

"HYPP positive horses have more episodes as they grow older."

"HYPP double positive horses die at birth."

"Breeding HYPP positive horses causes them to have more episodes."

"HYPP positive horses that are used for breeding do not have episodes."

The statements I have heard over the years regarding Hyperkalemic Periodic Paralysis, HYPP, are as vast and varied as the horses themselves.  I have never been able to find any actual clinical evidence for or against any of the above statements.  What I will say is that we, as Quarter Horse enthusiasts, are responsible to become fully educated on this condition prior to coming to any final conclusions or offer advice to others.  It is my belief that ALL Quarter Horse owners and enthusiasts should be able to offer sound knowledgeable advice gained from education, rather than hearsay.  I have found a number of very informative articles regarding HYPP that I suggest anyone involved with, or considering becoming involved with Quarter Horses, read!

Equus - 185.....  and the Quarter Horse Journal - January 1996 issue.....  The American Quarter Horse Association offers an information booklet as well.  As well, there is considerable information available on the internet - check out TheHorseSource.com - for information on this subject.

I will not advocate one way or the other - as to if a person should purchase or breed to an HYPP positive horse or not.  I advise - the choice be made after carefully researching the actual documented evidence, it is solely up to each individual purchaser and/or breeder.  What I hope to do here, is offer some advice gained from my experiences working with HYPP positive horses.

Our family has been involved with Quarter Horses for over twenty-five years.  We have a showing and training facility in Kelowna, British Columbia where, every year we fit and show a limited group of horses for our clients.  We usually have at least one or two HYPP positive horses in our show string.  These horses, in general, have been no different than any of the HYPP negative horses we have worked with over the years.  Along with all our other clients' horses, the HYPP positive ones, have brought us much joy!  Each and everyone of them have been a thrill to work with!

When people ask me about HYPP, I begin by explaining that this condition is, in many ways, similar to Diabetes in people.  For the most part, through proper diet, exercise - and, if needed, with the use of medication - we can help these horses live long and productive lives, giving their owners many, many years of enjoyment.  Those of us who own and exhibit HYPP positive horses were thrilled with AQHA's approval of the use of Acetazolamide.  Prior to this approval, we would have to take our horses off the medication before the shows and run the risk of our horses having HYPP episodes.  Now, we can treat our horses and show them with that risk considerably reduced.

Initially, when we have an HYPP positive horse arrive in our barn, we ask about its history. 

-  How many episodes are the owners aware of the horse having?
-  Has the horse ever exhibited some of the pre-episode symptoms (we'll get into that later)?
-  What type of diet and exercise program has the horse been on?
-  Is the horse currently on medication?
-  If there have been episodes, we ask for detailed descriptions of each episode.

Most of the time, our owners tell us they have never seen their horse have an HYPP episode.  In many cases, this proves to be true and we never have any problems with their horses.  They come into our barn - some of them staying for years - showing and training with us like their negative counterparts - never having an episode.  We have learned that just because a horse is HYPP positive - it doesn't mean they ALL have HYPP episodes.  On the other hand, just because the owner has never seen the horse have an episode it doesn't mean the horse hasn't had them.

In our experiences, most HYPP episodes have happened when the horse is at rest - quietly in its stall - usually about an hour or so after being worked.  Sometimes the horse can be having - what we call a very minor episode and the owner doesn't even realize it.  However, we have seen a very few instances happen where is 'seems' excitement has brought on an episode.  We have found a correlation in some of the horses we have worked with, that the episodes occur just prior to feeding time.  We, again, have no clinical evidence to substantiate this, just our personal experience working with the positive horses we've had in our care.  Again, our experiences have shown that some severe weather changes have brought episodes on - especially going from cool weather to extreme heat.  In the summer, when it's really not, we keep fans on our horses - this seems to help.  Our positive horses seem to be warmer to the touch than our other horses, so checking under the blankets often is a must!

If the horse has a history of past episodes, we document as much of the history as we can.  We initially pay particular attention to the diet and exercise program the horse has been on.  Like the documented clinical evidence that has been compiled by the experts, we have learned by experience, that diet plays a BIG part in maintaining these horses successfully.  Positive horses that are fed alfalfa hay, processed feeds and sweet fee, we think, are horses in potential danger.  They might not have had an episode yet - but they very well could!  We know numerous top rpfoessionals in the Quarter Horse industry that keep their HYPP positive horses on straight alfalfa hay and processed feeds and/or sweet feed and they tell us they have done this without problems!  We think that's wonderful but, aren't willing to risk the chance in our barn.  We have found that keeping HYPP positive horses on a diet of whole grain - particularly whole oats and feeding a good quality grass hay - we like the high quality Timothy/Brome mix - is all they really need - AND THIS IS WITHOUT MEDICATIONS!  Splitting your feed rations into as many feedings as possible really seems to help, too!

Exercise plays another GREAT role in this combination.  Keeping HYPP positive horses confined all the time doesn't help them.  In fact, the positive horses - known to have regular episodes - that we've had here that were kept on pasture never had any episodes.  ALL our show horses - HYPP positive or not - get daily turnout.  We do, however, provide more turn out time for our HYPP positive horses.  Here's how we do it..... turn out time is done early in the morning and late in the evening - if it's cool-ish they wear heavy blankets and hoods - if it's warm-ish - they wear a light hood and blankets.  They wear splint boots and/or leg wraps along with bell boots.  They are liberally sprayed with fly spray - blankets and hoods, too.  Usually our positive horses get out to play for at 1 to 2 hours morning and night - everyday.  This is done in addition to working them.  They are turned out - either in a big round pen or small pasture - some place where they can move and play.  Not only is this great for HYPP positive horses - it also does wonders for all our other horses, too!!!  THEY ALL LOVE IT!!!  We've found that not only does this turnout time prove very, very helpful - but REGULAR DAILY (no matter what) exercise helps, too!  No matter where we are - at home or at the shows, we keep our exercise program the same - especially for our HYPP positive horses.  We've learned that many episodes occur at shows and while some people chalk this up to the 'excitement', we feel it's the change in routine - either feeding or exercise or a combination of both.

Constant access to water is very important.  This means that while hauling, you have to stop more frequently to offer water to your horse, but it's worth it.  Make sure your horse is drinking - in our barn we use water buckets instead of automatic waterers.  By doing this, we know exactly how much water each horse has consumed and can monitor it carefully.  Talk to your veterinarian for suggestions on things you can do to encourage horses to drink if they seem to have a low water consumption habit.  And don't forget - your horse needs free access to salt too!!!

KNOW YOUR HORSE - these are wise words for ANY horse owner, but are particularly wise words for owners of HYPP positive horses.  Often times, we can 'see' an episode starting and can help fight it way before it becomes a big deal!  Here are some hints for initially spotting an HYPP episode coming on - droopy lower eye lid or droopy lower lip, quiet but worried or sensitive to noise and/or light, or slight evidence of the third eyelid in the corner of the eye - if we have a horse that is exhibiting these signs, we will quiet (it's important to stay calm and quiet) give them 3 does of what we call our "Sweet Treatment".

-  Using a 60 ml syringe, we pour in 30 mls of corn syrup and then add 20 mls of very warm water (NOT HOT) - shake well to mix, then administer orally.  Then we give them one does every 2 to 3 minutes thereafter.  This treatment is continued as long as the symptoms stay at this level.  Because episodes can involve sweating, we suggest - if it's not cold out - to remove all "clothes" that your horse might be wearing at this time.

-  If the symptoms elevate to:  slight muscle tremors and light sweating, we start calmly hand walking - (some cases where we know the horse well and know how their episodes 'run' - we'll quietly longe the horse at a very easy job) for 10 or 15 minutes...  "Sweet Treatments" at this level increase to 2 does ever 3 to 5 minutes.

Now, right here you might be thinking...  Where does Acetazolamide come in?  Well, if we have our horses on Acetazolamide there have been very few times where we have had them have an episode.  If they have one, we know we need to increase the medication levels.  If we have a horse on Acetazolamide and they do have an episode, we treat them just like we would if they weren't on medication.  So, the steps recommended here would be the same.  Giving Acetazolamide during an episode doesn't help them, so these steps are important to remember.  Acetazolamide needs time to be absorbed into the system prior to it becoming effective.  If we have a horse that is know to have regular HYPP episodes, we discuss with the owner the option of using medication as a prevention.  We strongly suggest using medication on any horse with a history of having regular episodes.  Acetazolamide is usually given every 12 hours - example:  6:00 am and at 6:00 pm.  The dosage levels are recommended by a Veterinarian.  It costs an average of $12.00 per month.  You can crush the tablets up and mix it with the horse's feed - we put them into a syringe and add about 10 mls of water to dissolve them and then give it orally.  this way, we are sure the horse is getting all the medication.

If the symptoms are diminishing after about 30 minutes or become more elevated, we suggest that you call a Veterinarian.  If respiration and heart rates increase and/or the horse starts to stumble and or starts sweating profusely - more aggressive treatment is needed.  At this point in time, we suggest that you no longer try to exercise the horse.  If possible, find a nice grassy spot, where it's quiet and just let the horse relax.  Be careful, sometimes in extreme cases during bad episodes the horse may stumble or fall - sometimes even sit like a dog - don't panic if this happens - just make the horse comfortable.  If they're lying down, make sure their eyes are protected from the dirt and sun - it's important that you remain as calm as possible.  Don't try to get the horse up if he is down - just simply let him relax.  I do not recommend giving any more "Sweet Treatments" at this stage, because you can't be sure they can swallow properly and this might cause them to ingest some fluid into their lungs.  Once the Veterinarian arrives and has the opportunity to make an assessment of the situation, he or she, will probably administer intravenously a dose of calcium gluconate, sodium bicarbonate or dextrose - all of which, stabilize the muscle membranes and lower the level of potassium in the blood.  We always have a supply of these medications on hand for e Veterinarian to use in these cases.  As well, in our experiences, we have learned that administering low levels of tranquilizers have proven to be of benefit - lower both heart and respiration levels.  This would be something you would want to discuss with the attending Veterinarian.  Once the horse has been treated, we usually see them coming back to normal quite quickly.  You will probably want to have a slight blanket or sheet handy - they always seem a bit cold at this time.  Once you've been through one of these episodes, you should consider putting your horse on, or increasing his dosage of Acetazolamide.  Discuss this with your Veterinarian.

At this point in time, I would like to say that I have had only one horse who is HYPP positive who had an episode after being on Acetazolamide.  Prior to being on medication, this particular horse was known to have severe episodes as often as once a week.  Since increasing his medication level, he has never had an episode.

In reiteration, I do not advocate one way or the other, as to whether or not a person should purchase and/or breed HYPP positive horses.  I very strongly advise, the choice be made only after carefully researching the documented clinical evidence.  It is a choice to be made by the informed individual purchase and/or breeder!

IT MUST BE REMEMBERED - Acetazolamide is not a cure for HYPP - it's a treatment!!

Using Acetazolamide and managing a horse's diet and exercise goes a long way to helping HYPP positive horses.  I also suggest that people who own positive horses talk to each other.  Sharing information and experiences about HYPP and the episodes these horses can have, has proven very helpful to us. Also, it really helps to know you are not alone in this!!