14/09/2026
๐๐ผ๐๐น๐ฑ ๐ถ๐ ๐ฏ๐ฒ ๐๐๐๐ต๐ถ๐ป๐ดโ๐/๐ฃ๐ฃ๐๐?
~ ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฉ๐๐ข๐๐๐ง, ๐ง๐๐จ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ผ๐พ๐๐ & ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐ก๐ช๐๐จ ๐โ๐ข ๐ฌ๐๐ฉ๐๐๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐ค๐งโฆ
If you've been following us for a while, you'll probably know that when our Cookie appears on a post, I'm about to talk about Cushing's. ๐
And yep - itโs that time again โ the days are shortening, coats are changing, and the seasonal ACTH rise is underway. That rise happens in healthy horses too, but in a horse with Cushingโs/PPID, the response can be exaggerated.
Which means Iโm on PPID watch. Not because every fluffy coat means Cushingโs, but because this is the time of year when some of those little changes can start joining the dots.
๐ฆ๐ผ โ ๐ถ๐ ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ต๐ผ๐ฟ๐๐ฒโฆ
๐ด slower to shed, coat becoming thicker, curlier, or just seems out of sync with the season
๐ด not as bright or cheery as they once were
๐ด drinking or weeing more than before
๐ด losing topline or muscle condition
๐ด struggling with seasonal changes more than they used to
๐ด becoming unexpectedly footy โ or had an unexplained laminitic episode.
Agreed, just one of those things on its own doesn't equal PPID. But several of them beginning to appear together? Hmm...
Thatโs when Iโd stop blaming age, weather, coat change or โjust one of those thingsโ โ and start looking at PPID โ because PPID is a pattern.
๐ฆ๐ผ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐โ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐๐๐ฎ๐น๐น๐ ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ป๐ถ๐ป๐ด?
Hereโs the bit that makes PPID much easier to understand โ at its root itโs a gradual decline in dopamine signalling.
We all know dopamine as the โrewardโ chemical โ we eat chocolate and it makes us feel happy! But dopamine has lots of jobs, and one of the important ones in the horse is helping keep this particular part of the pituitary gland โ the body's "master control centre" that produces and releases key hormones โ under control.
Think of it as part of the braking system โ as those signals weaken, the brake becomes less effective, hormone regulation becomes less precise and ACTH can rise more than it would do normally. And that affects much more than simply coat growth โ weโre talking energy, metabolism, immune function, muscle condition, and hoof health.
Which means PPID isnโt simply a hairy horse syndrome - it's a whole-horse endocrine condition. And come spring, or late summer/early autumn, when ACTH is naturally rising anyway, that seasonal response can become much more pronounced in the PPID horse.
๐ช๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐ผ๐๐ ๐๐ฒ๐๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด?
Now, this is one area where I get a bit of a twitch.
Early spring and autumn are the typical times when the ACTH naturally rises โ so if youโre testing now, youโre going to see higher numbers. Thing is though - ACTH naturally changes through the year for many reasons, i.e. it also rises from stress / vet visits / pain / herd drama / someone sneezed wrongโฆ
So yes you absolutely can test now when your vet sends you a heads up about a free test โ and we have seasonally adjusted reference ranges to account for that. Personally though, I still like the diagnosis to match the horse โ not just the blood result.
If I was already seeing several PPID clues together, as we did with Cookie, for sure Iโd test. But if an otherwise healthy horse came back with a borderline or higher result during the seasonal rise? I wouldn't rush into a lifelong diagnosis from that one result alone.
There are twelve months in a year โ so where appropriate Iโd want a retest outside the typical higher seasonal cycle.
The blood result is only part of the picture - the horse is the rest of it.
๐๐ป๐ฑ ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ถ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ ๐บ๐ ๐ต๐ผ๐ฟ๐๐ฒ?
If I suspected PPID, vet and appropriate testing first. Then I'd look at how best to support the horse living with PPID โ not simply the diagnosis.
That's exactly why we formulated ๐๐๐๐ต๐ง๐ผ๐ป๐ถ๐ฐ all those years ago โ in fact, it was one of the very first EquiNatural blends we ever produced.
And because medication changes the picture, we have two versions โ and choosing between them is really straightforward:
โข Not on Prascend? โ ๐๐๐๐ต๐ง๐ผ๐ป๐ถ๐ฐ-๐ญ
โข On Prascend? โ ๐๐๐๐ต๐ง๐ผ๐ป๐ถ๐ฐ-๐ฎ
That's it.
๐ฟ ๐๐๐๐ต๐ง๐ผ๐ป๐ถ๐ฐ-๐ญ provides natural nutritional support for dopamine pathways alongside wider endocrine and metabolic support.
๐ฟ ๐๐๐๐ต๐ง๐ผ๐ป๐ถ๐ฐ-๐ฎ is specifically formulated without the dopaminergic herbs, allowing Prascend to do its job while the blend supports the wider systems around it.
Same horse-supporting mission - slightly different route.
And there's a very personal reason why CushTonic exists in the first place.
๐ ๐ ๐ผ๐๐ป ๐๐๐๐ต๐ถ๐ป๐ดโ๐ ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐น๐ฑโฆ
Our first PPID pony was little ancient Dinky, back in, gosh โ very early 2000s. He was my step-daughter Tabatha's first lead-rein pony.
We'd only had him around six weeks when, quite literally overnight, he went from happily walking out to seriously lame in all four feet with acute laminitis. Looking back there had been clues โ his winter coat hadn't shifted, and he was drinking and weeing excessively.
We had him tested. PPID.
D***s sent me down my first PPID rabbit hole โ and ultimately inspired the original CushTonic formula.
Then came Cookie, Tabby's second pony โ the sweetest little hairy cob with a fabulous polar-bear winter coat. But in 2014, aged only fourteen, her coat simply refused to shed; by August it was still duvet-thick and curly. She'd become lethargic and, very unlike her, just seemed... sad.
Tested. PPID.
Same condition โ but two very different ponies telling us in two very different ways. But a pattern all the same.
Butโฆ
โข Not every hairy horse has PPID.
โข Not every horse who drinks more has PPID.
โข Not every horse losing a little topline has PPID.
Yet when several little things about the horse you know so well begin changing together? Again... Hmmโฆ
If you want my full PPID ramble โ what PPID actually is, dopamine, ACTH, testing, Prascend, natural support, nutrition and everything D***s and Cookie taught me along the way โ it's all on our Cushing's/PPID Info Page:
โ https://www.equinatural.co.uk/cushingsppid
Meanwhile?
๐ ๐ช๐ฒโ๐๐ฒ ๐ด๐ผ๐ ๐๐ผ๐ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฑ - ๐ฎ๐ฌ% ๐ผ๐ณ๐ณ ๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐ผ๐ป๐ฎ๐น ๐ฐ๐ผ๐น๐น๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป
Because the autumn ACTH rise is one of those very real biological September "shifts", CushTonic is included in our September Shift Sale:
โ Use code ๐ฆ๐๐๐๐ง๐ฎ๐ฌ at checkout
โ https://www.equinatural.co.uk/september-horse-health-sale
๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐ธ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐ฎ๐
September doesn't cause PPID, and a horse growing more coat as the days shorten isn't suddenly a Cushing's horse. But - September can make an existing PPID picture much easier to see.
So don't chase one symptom, or one number โ always look at the horse, and look for the pattern. And if the pieces are beginning to fit? Wellโฆ you know what to do. ๐
Carol & The EquiNatural Team
ยฉ EquiNatural 2026
๐ง [email protected]
๐ 01761 325032
Discover EquiNatural's premium organic supplements and high-spec mineral balancers for horses. Trusted by vets and practitioners for health, vitality, and well-being.