A lot of vets may not know about it. Dr. Bertone at western university pioneered a lot of the research. More and more people know about it these days but nine years ago my horse was diagnosed as narcoleptic at a major equine hospital. They weren’t aware of the research that had been done. My regular vet (who is a board certified surgeon) amended the diagnosis.
The difference, as I understand it, has to do with when the horse falls asleep. A truly narcoleptic horse will fall asleep while being ridden, for example.
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We currently are having luck using melatonin for a sleep deprived gelding. Might be worth a try before bute or steroids. Also had success with another horse by treating for ulcers.
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I have tried that…he is actually stall bound now for a tendon injury and I see no indicators that he lays down at all. I have it bedded pretty deeply. Very frustrating and I have no idea how to fix it!
I had one years ago. IDK if it was narcolepsy, or sleep deprivation, but the symptoms were the same. Mine would lie down to roll, then groan, sigh, and get back up again. He would collapse at any given moment, if he fell asleep on his feet. Sometimes when I was on his back, many times at night or in crossties. Once in the barn aisle at “East Meadows” barn at Spruce Meadows, when a bunch of school children were touring the barn and passing him. He simply would NOT lie down to sleep, and for some reason, his knees did not lock like they should have when sleeping while standing. This was many years ago, no internet, and no one I talked to (including Mathew MacKay Smith) had much input that was helpful. So I will tell you how I treated the problem… I treated the symptoms. Get your horse a good strong stall door, pad it if you like. The horse will hold himself up with the door, lean on it and sleep. Standing bandages with figure 8 bandages over knees, to help to keep those knees from buckling forward. The bandages will help to cover the points on the knees and ankles that get abrasions on them from the constant crashing. Deep bedding to cushion the inevitable crashes. Good luck. My horse was not a “long lived” horse, he had what was apparently a stroke at 14 yrs old, in the stall, and was put down. IDK if this was related to the sleeping problem, it may have been. My horse did have soundness issues, but was on painkiller (bute) long term with no noticeable side effects. He was a Jumper regularly competing in the 4’9" divisions and local Grand Prixs successfully. So though he did have issues that were present, he was a functional athlete. He first fell down when I was on his back as a 3 yr old. So this was a long standing situation for him.
I can tell she’s exhausted. When I went to put her halter on, her eyes were closed. I getting the idea that it’s herd bound, becoming anxious and, if she lays down, being out of sight of the others. However, that didn’t come into play while boarded, that’s where it started. Melatonin is worth a shot. How much of a dose would it take? Is there horsey melatonin?
Oh, the poor girl. What a challenge.
Yes, it’s a challenge. Everyday I go out there hoping to see shavings in her tail. I know she goes down to roll, Just wish she’d stay down and take a nap.
Bold is mine
These sores are 'bed sores’usually caused by lying down a lot.
Instead of looking for shavings in her tail can you put a video camera in her stall.
You can then show the video to your vet for a diagnosis.
I feel your pain. By the way, my gelding came to me with scars on the fronts of his fetlocks from buckling over and hitting the ground. If I leave him unwrapped (even though his stall is well bedded) they come right back.
Talk to your vet- try to get it on video. We tried the fluphenazine and it made a world of difference for my horse. Apparently it works in some and doesn’t work in others. My horse’s symptoms were reduced by about 90%- he would occasionally lapse but he had been doing it 4-5 times a day in the turnout (and those are just the times we observed).
Yes, I mentioned that they were likely bed sores. I can try to set up a camera, see what’s going on at night.
A video is a good idea. In my experience those bed sores are caused by falling in cases like this more than lying down too much. Can also be caused by having to struggle a bit to get up.
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