Autism in horses

[Guilherme]

The article really doesn’t say all that much.

As noted “autism” in humans is not fully understood. The article specifically notes,

[I]“The behavioral abnormalities in these foals seem to resemble some of the symptoms in children with autism,” said John Madigan, a UC Davis veterinary professor and an expert in equine neonatal health.

“There are thousands of potential causes for autism, but the one thing that all autistic children have in common is that they are detached,” said Isaac Pessah, a professor of molecular biosciences at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine and a faculty member of the UC Davis MIND Institute, who investigates environmental factors that may play a role in the development of autism in children.[/I]

While the similarities noted may be a reason so to do further research the very ambiguous language used should give pause to anyone reading it.

Humans and horses are very different organisms. It’s a real “stretch” to try and use the “autism” label on a horse when we really don’t fully understand how to use it with humans.

G.

[candyappy]

[QUOTE=Texarkana;8297244]
It’s an exceedingly difficult topic to goggle because nearly all the hits are about dummy foals or therapeutic riding.

That “Benny” site has the credibility of a Crackerjack box… but orphan foal syndrome is very real (as are lingering behavioral problems after abuse).

In my mare’s case, I don’t know for a fact she wasn’t an orphan. I have pondered it myself. I do know her dam survived her foaling to have many other foals. I also know that if my mare was pulled off her dam for medical reasons, she most likely would have had a nurse mare. But I can say confidently that it’s highly unlikely my mare ever experienced any abuse like Benny. She was bred by a reputable TB breeder, briefly raced with good trainers, then was a commercial broodmare with other respectable breeders. Which is why I find it so baffling that she acts like she doesn’t know how to interact with other horses in a field![/QUOTE]

It was explained to me that a dummy foal is one who was deprived of adequate oxygen due to a complicated birth. My neighbor had one and he was indeed very " slow" all his life. They rushed him to the equine hospital upon finding him. Despite all they did he was not ever right.

I don’t see how you can compare that to autism in people?

[beowulf]

[QUOTE=candyappy;8298031]
It was explained to me that a dummy foal is one who was deprived of adequate oxygen due to a complicated birth. My neighbor had one and he was indeed very " slow" all his life. They rushed him to the equine hospital upon finding him. Despite all they did he was not ever right.

I don’t see how you can compare that to autism in people?[/QUOTE]

She wasn’t comparing it to autism in people. Read her post. Then read it again.

[candyappy]

[QUOTE=beowulf;8298067]
She wasn’t comparing it to autism in people. Read her post. Then read it again.[/QUOTE]

OOPS. I guess not. I must have been getting the wrong idea after reading other replies.

[Texarkana]

[QUOTE=candyappy;8298077]
OOPS. I guess not. I must have been getting the wrong idea after reading other replies.[/QUOTE]

My whole idea:

[QUOTE=Texarkana;8297559]
But for the sake of this conversation, one very plausible explanation is that maybe equines can experience some sort of neurological developmental delay. Autism is only being referenced as an example of one such delay in humans, not a “diagnosis” for equines.[/QUOTE]

[st_francis]

[QUOTE=Abbie.S;8297736]
My biggest concern with tossing around words like autism and personality disorders with horses is that it removes the human responsibility from the equation.

The vast majority of horses are born just fine. They have their own personalities, certainly, and ways in which they prefer to interact with the world. But developmentally, they are all there. Much of what “goes wrong” with horses is caused by mishandling on the person’s part: not necessarily abuse, although that is included, but more along the lines of not being able to read the individual animal, not addressing stressors effectively, not allowing for normal social behavior and experiences in the early stages of life…when you add in the human element, we can muck things up quite a bit.

Until there is a way to tease out the human aspect of how horses develop, I wouldn’t feel comfortable using terms such as those previously mentioned.[/QUOTE

On the flip side, some horses are probably just assholes, just like some people .]

[Lady_Eboshi]

Saw several of these types growing up, and later unfortunately bred one myself. And yes, took responsibility for him from foaling stall to his tragically early grave.

The vet described him years later as “autistic,” I still prefer the old-fashioned “having a screw loose.” You can’t fix these kind. I couldn’t, the cowboy couldn’t, and the former Olympian who wanted to buy him couldn’t. He finally died of Bastard Strangles at 5 years old, having literally stressed himself to death until his immune system collapsed.

Only place that horse could have had a life was if I’d pulled his shoes, shipped him to Montana (which would have taken mainlining Ace!) and turned him out on the Front Range.

You get one like this, the main point is not to get yourself killed.

[Gnalli]

[QUOTE=Texarkana;8297113]
I’d be curious to know as well. I had seen the literature parallels between dummy foals and autism, but have never seen anything on autism or other developmental delays in mature horses.

I have a horse who is just… Weird. Her reactions to stimuli and interactions with herd mates and people are unlike any horse I’ve ever known. When other horse professionals are around her, they say the same thing. I hope this doesn’t offend anyone, but it was a high school friend of mine with an Autistic toddler who joked that her toddler and my horse were one in the same. It really got me thinking if maybe there is a parallel…[/QUOTE]

I can believe it. My daughter’s mare acts weird if there is more than 1 person messing with her at a time, say grooming or tacking up. She just freaks out and then zones out. As soon as the stimuli is reduced, she calms down