a VERY refreshing idea!
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Nowadays I keep a curb chain with one hook on my bedside table.
I find when I am jingling the curb chain that the sound is calming. I find the vibrations on my skin from handling it calming. It is small enough to stick into a pocket.
Find a spare curb chain and you are good to go.
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not sure i even own one. Welll…there is that antique studded mule head halter hanging in the bathroom, i think there’s a curb on it 
The very first curb chain I owned was from a bridle with a Tom Bass type 7" shank curb I found in an antique shop in 1970. It cost me $1.50. The headstall was hopelessly dried out so it got tossed.
I did throw that curb chain away after my husband spent an hour or two using a hacksaw to get the curb hooks off the bit. I occasionally used the bit itself, with a new curb chain, on riding horses for a brief time until I could get out and buy a 5" shank curb bit.
I have bought many more curbs and Kimberwicks since then, so I have LOTS of vacant curb chains floating around.
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SooooOOOOooooo…and update:
Titers for EPM came back and my mare had a 76% probability of having EPM. Had to track down Marquis and finally was able to get a box yesterday evening. She has begun her 28 day treatment.
She ACTS normal…in fact, the antibiotic given the first day the vet was here about two weeks ago i think was the thing that cleared up her neurological symptoms. Because by the time i hauled her to MIZZOU she was just ever so slightly vestibular, had almost no head tilt and was steady on her legs.
The vet at the university prescribed a 10 day course of antibiotics (which ends today). Also her written report said she was not to be ridden, and if ever sold, her neurological issue must be disclosed. HOGWASH i say. She was able to trot, canter and side step to attempt to avoid my catching her to give her the meds twice a day, was weaving in and around shed pillars… nimble and her normal athletic self. I’m pretty sure i WILL be riding her again. And i know for a fact i will never sell her…
What galls me is when i made that first call to the local vet, i told him i thought she had EPM. I told him when he got here too. So he drew the blood. Had to come back though because he didn’t know serum needed to be chilled… Anyhoo…what he came up with was such a complicated explanation (…arthritis which impacted a skull bone up by her ear which then broke)…i mean comeONNNNNnn!
I’m a farmer, i have sheep, chickens, cattle…even 3 llamas. What you go to first! is the most simple, most common problem. Not some esoteric complicated explanation.
I’m seeking a new horse vet. I’ll use local for emergencies, but i’ve lost all confidence. They guy might be fine with cattle. We do not use him for sheep or llamas, so i’ll just be adding horses to that list of “No”
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Does the titer just indicate that she was EXPOSED to EPM? If so, she may not have it. Lots of horses are exposed to the organism but far fewer have it cross the blood/ brain barrier. It needs to get into the spinal cord to cause damage and that is not the easiest thing to test for. But if you treat it with the EPM drugs and she gets better then it probably is. I do not think normal antibiotics are that effective in treating EPM. I had an older Arabian gelding get it before all the new drugs like Marquis, etc., We treated with SMZ’s I think because that was all that was available. That treatment did not slow down the decline at all.
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What the vet at the university said is that there is a 76% probability that she has EPM. So, we’re going for it. Acquiring the Marquis was quite the ordeal. and it’s pretty expensive too. Now, the antibiotics that i am just finishing her up on are supposedly a ‘distant relative’ to the antiprotozoal -or so my local vet reports. I don’t know. Don’t know anything really. I am just so frustrated …
The spinal serum extraction procedure supposedly costs much more than the EPM drug, and Marquis is supposedly not harmful. Seems like a prudent process to just go straight to it. Her clinical symptoms were potentially EPM, endoscope showed no infection, tumor …not positive about skull bone, but guttural pouch was normal and the stylohyoid bone was not cracked. So there was no explanation for her head tilt, neck crook and unstable balance except for two nerves that seemed to be pinched.
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yes if you do sell her you must disclose she was treated. EPM has an evil way of coming back and if it happens I would hope you have enough honor to have informed the new owner of this potential issue. Might save the horse some grief in going through a delay in diagnosis when the possibility of recurrent EPM should go to the front of the line. An yes you do need a new vet as serum must ALWYS be chilled if not frozen to keep the elements from degrading and changing That is vet tech 101
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like i said: She will NEVER be sold. Ever.
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Marquis isn’t harmful and helps so many horses with neurological issues. I used to board with a vet that worked on the trials for it. She always called it the wonder drug.
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The spinal tap is expensive, invasive, and painful – not without risks of secondary complication. In your shoes I would take the treatment approach also.
Keep us updated, continued jingles for your mare.
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Glad to hear she’s doing well. I hope she continues to improve.
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Great! I hope she continues to improve!
I think Hoopoe was getting at your giant hogwash in close proximity to the sale disclosure mentioned by the vet. That is absolutely not hogwash, but I assume your wording was just an oversight and didn’t imply that disclosure was not required.
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right. my comment “hogwash” was about how nimble she seems to be and mobile, and willing to charge around. There is not much lethargy and ataxia is gone. So i do think she will go riding with me again, maybe a few months from now. Had zero to do with disclosure upon selling…except that it is utter hogwash that i would ever sell my girl.
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The report says not to be ridden EVER? Or not to be ridden until after treatment? I’ve had two horses that returned to full work after being treated successfully for EPM (one of them had it 19 years ago and has never had an issue since), so “ever” would seem a little extreme to me. Although the vet could just be saying that for liability reasons I guess.
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Seriously outrageous if you ask me. This morning, after her final antibiotic, i released all 8 horses to the yard. They have been cooped up in the barn and corral to keep Brenna company and to keep her from being upset pulled out of her herd. So…i let them out and they went on a wild romp…round and around, leaping, bucking farting and Brenna led the charge. She is acting perfectly normal. I don’t get vets…i really do not. IF ONLY they would listen to owners more and their own internal mumbo-jumbo less! Here is her writtten report, verbatim:
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We recommended keeping Brenna in a quiet, confined space, for the next 6-8 weeks.
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Please monitor for neurologic signs, including a worsening head tilt, drooping of the ear or ataxia (abnormal gait), and contact us or your local veterinarian if you notice changes.
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If signs do worsen, our next recommendations would be skull radiographs and a CSF (cerebrospinal fluid) analysis.
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We recommend that Brenna no longer be ridden and that only adults informed of her
neurological condition should be handling the mare.
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I would speculate that the no riding recommendation is to cover themselves. Imagine if they released a horse with oh he’s fine to ride and then horse has a neurological moment under saddle resulting in a dead rider!
Lots of horses are perfectly pasture sound but not riding sound.
I’ve never met a vet that listened to mumbo jumbo. Usually they are busy listening to the horse and the output of their diagnostic equipment.
I’m sorry your mare had an issue and hope she will continue to improve. I’m also sorry you found your vet experience to be substandard.
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If you’re so outraged and think vets are so full of mumbo jumbo, why did you seek veterinary care in the first place? What did you think they would say?
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Admittedly, I’d be a bit surprised they would say that the horse should never be ridden again right now as opposed to recommending re-evaluation in a certain amount of time. I can understand that they likely said that because it could be a safety issue, but I can also understand wanting to wait until the horse has been treated and then evaluate whether or not the horse should be ridden.
I have a horse who recovered from mild epm. And antibiotics were not prescribed or from all I’ve researched helpful in the least. Anti Protozoals are certainly helpful with EPM and low risk. I just wonder why an antibiotic made such an impact.
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