I saw the other thread on this board about EPM and vision, and then as if I wasn’t paranoid enough, I also read a few articles about Lyme. My horse is not spooky to spooky things, but has lots of trouble with bright footing changes like grass to gravel, grass to snow, and in general light to dark problems on XC like field to woods. He also has trouble with shadows in front of jumps. If I go to turn him out in the dark, he will plow into the fence or gate like he never saw it unless I am careful to check him back on the lead rope and use verbal cues. My lameness vet thought there was something slightly weird about his eye structure when I mentioned the awful night vision (I can’t remember what) and referred me to an equine ophthalmologist this past spring. The ophthalmologist couldn’t find anything wrong with him and unfortunately it was a bright day, so we couldn’t really test her theory of mild congenital night blindness. Nonetheless, I’ve never had him exhibit the stargazing behavior when going from dark to light that she said is helpful in diagnosing night blindness. He even got better about the gate in the dark for a while, but he has recently hit it again after he’d been better and I’d stopped being so conscious to carefully walk him through it at night. Combined with weird inconclusive lameness and his general clumsiness, all of this may tell me that I’m paranoid and shouldn’t read things on the internet, but also that it may be worth my money to have an EPM test done.
Also, apparently Lyme can cause weird lamenesses and bad attitudes. This horse definitely can have a bad attitude. In fact, after the several negative lameness workups, we were sure the only thing wrong with him was bad, and by bad I mean AWFUL, attitude that comes and goes. I also looked back on his race record again and realized he didn’t just race in KY and FL, but also in WV (Mountaineer) and MD (Laurel). I know it would really be a long shot for him to have been bitten by a tick in MD where deer ticks are endemic, especially on the track, and then be subclinical for the next 3-4 years, but it sounds like some horses can indeed go years without obvious symptoms. Likewise, it’d be a long shot for him to have been bitten by an infected deer tick in KY, since they’re pretty rare here, but who knows. I have really awful luck, so it really wouldn’t surprise me to have a horse that this happened to.
As for the EPSM question, I think that’s somewhat less likely than EPM and Lyme. He’s a Thoroughbred and it really only seems to be common in heavy breeds and QHs. I’m not ruling out asking the vet about EPSM, but I’m just not sure if it’s at the top of my list yet.
I still don’t think dressage saddle or feet are really major issues, but I will consciously pay attention to his saddle fit tonight as well as his front feet. I paid attention to his hinds on Saturday and they actually have a positive plantar angle. Especially for being a TB his feet do look great- short toes, upright heels, cup-ish sole. My farrier squares his hind toes and rolls the toe/shoe both up front and behind.