My horse is incredibly fit, showing no other signs or symptoms of anything but is being lethargic under saddle. Eyes bright, no fever, good appetite and drinking well. He’s going to the vet today but I’m polling the masses to see if anyone has experienced this before? He’s not normally lazy but he was extremely lethargic last night and had a hard time recovering after loping. Was thinking about putting him on Red Cell to see if that might help.
Have the vet pull blood. Ulcers also comes to mind.
Have you changed feed recently?
Blood work, and if that turns up blank look into deworming (run a fecal) and diet.
A friend of mine is going through this and it appears to be Lyme.
Diet has not changed and he’s had ulcers before and I maintain for that because he’s been scoped and confirmed. He was scoped clean previously. No diet changes, having a blood panel pulled.
Highflyer, what is making your friend think Lyme?
[QUOTE=AirForceWife;8705069]
My horse is incredibly fit, showing no other signs or symptoms of anything but is being lethargic under saddle. Eyes bright, no fever, good appetite and drinking well. He’s going to the vet today but I’m polling the masses to see if anyone has experienced this before? He’s not normally lazy but he was extremely lethargic last night and had a hard time recovering after loping. Was thinking about putting him on Red Cell to see if that might help.[/QUOTE]
You are in Florida, a place of high heat indices (heat + humidity combined). Check to see if he is developing anhidrosis, or is otherwise showing signs of heat intolerance.
Red cell will not be likely to help, and in fact could be a bad thing. Horses, if they are anemic, do not suffer from iron deficiency anemia. Horses also store RBCs (red blood cells) in the spleen and do not normally have as many circulating as in humans, so it is very easy to get a ‘false’ low reading of RBCs on a blood panel.
I am sure the Vet will also check respiratory system, and listen to heart, as if heaves or RAO is going on, or any cardiac issue, that can cause exercise intolerance.
Her horse is a youngish OTTB that suddenly went from kind of a handful to very quiet. It’s common enough here that everyone tests for it whenever something changes.
He came from south Florida which is even more humid/hot. He’s displaying no signs of anhidrosis. Vet recommended Red Cell or a similar supplement after checking him over.
Anhydrosis was my first thought, too.
Red Cell is a waste of money in your horse’s case. (And avoid Lixotinic for now – I just heard that it has several contaminated batches.)
Why would the vet recommend me waste my money?
I too wondered about Lyme. My gelding had it a number of years ago, and the only signs were some lethargy, and an almost imperceptible lameness that wandered from limb to limb. My b/o spotted the latter – she has an amazing eye which rivals most vets. The vet was on the farm so she had him tested and he turned out to be positive. Six weeks on doxy took care of it.
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Why would the vet recommend me waste my money?[/QUOTE]
Because the Vet is not as knowledgeable as he or she ought to be!!!
gotta chime in, lethargy was one one of the subtle symptoms for my OTT TB. In fact, I was called in by a dressage judge at a show, who was concerned that he just didn’t look right because of that. That spurred my vet into doing a spinal tap and my boy was diagnosed with EPM. He also would fairly regularly buckle on his right hind, had odd sweaty patch on his neck, and when we stepped back and looked, his right side croup was much flatter than his left side. Not that I am saying I think this is what’s up with your fellow, just want to let you know that lethargy is among the many obscure symptoms of EPM.
I just had blood pulled on my lethargic “came from Fla” horse. All results came back fine, except that he was very slightly anemic. Vet said I could put him on Red Cell if it made me feel better, but it would probably do little for the lethargy.
I am still not sure why my horse has so little energy under saddle — he is not sweating much, but he gets ridden very early and there has not been a lot of humidity recently. He is happy and looks great – he just runs out of gas quickly.
OP, is your horse the same way?
My then 15 year old did that, it was Cushings, thyroid levels so low the vet was worried and supplemented right off with a shot.
Not too apt to be on a “youngish” horse, but if you are ruling out zebras, that is one more to look into.
OP, did you get any answers at vet visit?
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Because the Vet is not as knowledgeable as he or she ought to be!!![/QUOTE]
I can assure you my vet is quite knowledgeable and wouldn’t make a recommendation he didn’t believe would help based on what the horse was presenting.
Lord Helpus , he isn’t having any issues sweating at all. I had him seen by the chiropractor as well and he was out at the withers which I believe considerably impacted his want to move (again, he’s normally very lazy anyways but not reluctant). He’s been on RedCell since the afternoon of this post because that was the vet recommendation, I’ve seen an improvement for his recovery time during our rides.
