I had written about a month ago about my mare that had what appeared to be a nasty neck injury. She had neuro symptoms from it, the vets all thought they were related to the neck injury. I had her to a chiro (who is also a very well respected vet in the KC area) who was visiting down here. He fixed her neck. I started doing the PT and stretches and she had full range of motion and yet… her neuro symptoms continued to get worse. Uh oh. My vet was in a bit of a panic. By the time we figured this out she’d been in full blown with worsening symptoms for 3 weeks. I was given a poor prognosis by him and a “specialist” from KC (different than the chirovet), but we started her on meds. She was so bad that trailering to the vet school in Columbia wasn’t an option. She never could have stood a 3 hour drive and I think she couldn’t have stepped up or backed out of the trailer. 10 days in, after seeing no improvement, one morning she cantered with the boys along the fence and even jumped a little rock pile she didn’t have to jump. Since then there have been no more miracle runs, but she continues to improve. Getting stronger and more confident about moving. Seeing a lot more evenness in her movement vs. leaning heavily right.
Yesterday (the day we were planning to put her down before her rather abrupt turn around) she went out into the pasture on her own choice and went to the farthest end and stayed out a couple of hours. Her demeanor is different, no longer fear in her eye. So… a little miracle appeared to have happened. Now I am asking (I will ask my vet too, but as you know, people who’ve actually been through it have tricks up their sleeves that not all vets know), what are good methods to rehab from the ground. I don’t plan on starting until she’s been off the meds a couple of weeks and is looking solidly stable on the ground.
I am also wondering what people use as a guide to if the horse is rideable again. She may not be, I’m set with that, but how will I know? I mean she may appear sound, but isn’t it dangerous to just get on and test drive? If she falls, that’s kind of ouchie, yes, I’ve done it, didn’t care for it. Is there any sort of test you do with your horse to assess if they appear stable enough to start riding?
When mine had EPM I’m not sure I rode at all until we had completed the course of treatment. We used turn out to gauge how he was doing in terms of movement and just observed as his personality changed back to normal. Once we completed treatment we did a combination of lunging work and riding to bring him back into shape. Lunging in loose side reins is a good way to see if they can coordinate their body parts. For mine it was fairly easy to tell because it manifested as a lameness that would move around certain body parts. When he became sound again and remained sound after a week or two of being worked we knew we were in the clear.
I am going through this right now. I would start rehabbing right away, I wouldn’t wait until she is done the meds.
My horse was diagnosed on 10/16. She spent 10 days at New Bolton because she was not stable enough to have the spinal tap. I brought her home on 10/26 and we started hand walking. After about 2 1/2 weeks of just walking, serpentines, large circles and backing girlfriend started jumping on my head !! She was getting so fresh that I decided to try lunging her, with a saddle and side reins to try to keep her somewhat on the ground. I was afraid to turn her loose because I knew she would run/slide like a maniac. She bronced around for a few minutes and then just went around like normal. No falling, leaning or slipping. I took her back to NB on 11/13 and they thought she had improved 1 on the Mayhew scale. They told me to continue doing what we were doing and that an experienced person could get on her and walk.
I will say that the trip (6+ hours in 1 day) took alot out of her. It took about 4-5 days for her to get back to where she was when we went. I personally am waiting until she is through her 60 days of meds before I get on. She is being lunged in a saddle and side reins Tues, Thurs, Sat & Sun and either being ponied at the trot or hand walked the other days.
If you watch her on the lunge, you wouldn’t think there was anything wrong with her. We will see when we add body weight and start asking her to move her hips. She is being checked again in 1 week. I plan to keep her on the meds for a minimum of another 30 days, maybe more.
Relapse is my biggest worry. She presented with a head tilt, dragging her left fore and hind, would not turn to the right, no paralysis in her head,thank God, but the Neuro at NB said that horses that have had their brain effected are the most likely to relapse. She suggested after the course of Marquis and Rebalance that she be on Protozil (feed through) 2 days a week for the rest of her life.
I am being cautiously optimistic. This disease sucks beyond measure. Allie is kept in a heated show barn, not turned out, on bagged bedding, bagged hay cubes, bagged feed…how in the H**L did this happen!!!
Wow, your horse wasn’t stable enough for a spinal and is running around sound now and they only gave her a one improvement? Surprising!
I have come to believe that my horse had EPM before, and something about winter brings a relapse. She was treated for it last year, vet was sure she had it, I didn’t think so, but now I do. I rode her normal the whole time she was on treatment last year. Caught very early if I’m right. This year because of the neck injury treatment was delayed 3 weeks with such severe deficit she couldn’t even get on a trailer. I am already walking with her, we go over oddly spaced poles and back up. She’s not dragging backward anymore, lifting her feet well. No more pulling right, she can make left turns with me on loose rein. I plan to wait until she’s done with the meds to start lunging and moving any faster than a walk. She’s not showing the enthusiasm your horse is, lol. Glad your girl is doing so much better. So she never had turn out or outside time? I don’t think I’ve ever known a horse like that. It can be in the hay. If I’m remembering right if can stay dormant for quite some time, so at another point in your horse’s life maybe there was exposure…
She is doing surprisingly well. I feel like I am just waiting for something bad to happen. She was a 3 on the Mayhew Scale when she was at NB. They reported her as a 2 in November. She can be lazy as far as crossing over and turning on her haunches. If I get after her a little she will do it. They basically take her from me when I get her off the trailer and do the tests and she just kinda lollygags around. If they would let me show them they could see that she can do it but I just let them do their job.
I bought her in August of 2015, she was 3. She came up from Florida. She was turned out for the 1st 3 yrs of her life but since I bought her, she has not. My trainer thinks that she probably came with it.
They say stress can bring it on but she has never been the stressful type although now I wonder if she just internalizes things. I show AQHA and we go about twice a month from April until September and then Florida at the end of the year. Usually 3-6 hours away and stay for 4-6 days. I was literally at a show in Syracuse, NY where she was Circuit Champion 10 days before she started acting wonky under saddle. We thought that she needed the chiro but then we found her one morning with a head tilt.
The poles are a great idea. We had some raised poles set up and I would walk her over those. I am really glad your girl showed improvement before you made “that” decision. Hopefully she will continue forward.
