Older horse, wobbly hind end

[sweetsalute]

Horse is a pony of unknown breeding, approx 20 years old. Lowest (basically zero!) maintenance horse ever, only real issue in her history in the 11 years I’ve had her was one acute laminitis episode in 2016, cause unknown, from which she recovered fully, went back into full work etc. She has been ridden somewhat sproadically for the last couple years, but for most of this year it was 2-4 times a week, mostly flatwork and trails with the odd jumping session. No signs anything was wrong, she appeared happy and sound and our last ride was July 11th, lots of galloping etc and had a blast.

Weekend before last I thought she was a little off, wasn’t keen on having her feet trimmed which I chalked up to her having an off day. I didn’t have time to ride so have her a quick lunge and she looked ok, maybe a tad stiff but it’s the middle of winter here and it was fairly early in the day.

Fast forward to Saturday and she’s struggling to balance while I’m picking out her feet. On the lunge there was a very noticeable issue which gave the appearance of her right hip dipping down and under with every stride. Cantering was a no go, and normally she is more than willing on that front. Called the vet and their preliminary diagnosis is one of the following:

1. Trauma from injury, likely a fall. Whilst this is not impossible, I would be genuinely astounded if she had. She’s as sure footed as they come and not once have I seen her even come close regardless of how much she is hooning. There is also no clear indication this is the case, no marks, bumps, swelling, heat etc.
2. Spinal degeneration/neurological

Essentially she doesn’t seem to know where her back legs are. She was standing with her left hind way out to the side and the right hind too far underneath her.

Initial treatment has been a week of bute and confined to a smaller paddock (lives out 24/7, stall not an option). As of today (day 4) there is definitely improvement, she’s standing straighter and moving a bit better.

This is a totally foreign issue to me, and based on her health and fitness not something I was expecting to encounter! I’ve already told my vet on the basis of her age I’m not interested in going down the diagnostic rabbit hole, my priority is more whether or not she is able to be kept comfortable and safe in her paddocks. She would not cope with long term confinement. Being able to still jump on and plod around would be great but at 20, if retirement is the case then so be it.

Has anyone experience such similar issues, and what was the end result?

[Amy3996]

I would pull blood for EPM. Hind end ataxia is a common symptom. EPM can progress quite rapidly and make the horse a danger to itself in the paddock and to any handler. Worthwhile to rule it out, IMO.

[WildGooseChase]

I would pull blood for a Titer for EPM. Any sudden ataxia or neurological symptoms should be treated like EPM until proven otherwise. If he does have it, it’s best to treat it as early as possible. Marquis is expensive but worth it if you catch it quickly, and recovery is possible. I have a mare who was treated for EPM in 2017 for dragging her hind feet. The previous owners were very tuned in and noticed it right away. She is 19 now and in full work with no issues because of it!

[Wyndwolfe]

First, I agree with your pragmatic approach. Blood check for EPM is also a good idea. Where I live, I have been told that the blood test for most horses will be positive because almost all have had some exposure to possum feces, so it may not be definitive.

[ryansgirl]

@Amy3996

I would pull blood for EPM. Hind end ataxia is a common symptom. EPM can progress quite rapidly and make the horse a danger to itself in the paddock and to any handler. Worthwhile to rule it out, IMO.

OP - Agree about checking for EPM. Took nine days from fine to being euthanized for my old pasture-pet TB. His backend basically started out as you described - no idea where it was. I took my guy to the hospital where I worked and the on-call vet took one look and said EPM. My gelding was over 30 so I wasn’t doing anything excessive for treatment - winter was coming and I didn’t need to find him after work in the dark down in the frigid snow. He was dangerous to be around because he had no control over his body and the only option was euthanasia.

So yes I’d start there and also do neck xrays as that can affect coordination too (we did them for my guy but only showed minor arthritis).

[NaturallyHappy]

All good advice and information above. I’d definitely radiograph the neck.

[sweetsalute]

Thanks for the replies, I should’ve mentioned in my first post that I’m in Australia and EPM is not a thing here. Her front end is completely fine, so vet doesn’t think it’s likely to be a neck issue. X-rays are a possibility, beyond that the diagnostic options here are limited and would mean taking her out to the university hospital 2 hours away (and I no longer have a trailer!).

She is showing some improvement, but difficult to tell if that is just the bute, and she may go downhill again when it stops. Her demeanour is still very much normal, happy to see me (or dad, the bringer of carrots), keen on treats, miffed about medication! I’m just desperately hoping she can stay healthy enough to be a paddock ornament but have also been attempting to prepare myself for the worst. I’ll be contacting the vet tomorrow after her last dose of bute to see where we go from here.

@awaywego those photos are extremely similar to how my girl has been standing. I’ll look up sidewinder syndrome.

[awaywego]

@sweetsalute I can email you videos too if you would find it helpful. I had never seen or heard of sidewinder before - and neither had my regular vet. We treated with bute initially and then with gabapentin. He did have some improvement for a bit but then degenerated quickly when I tried to wean him off the gabapentin. If your horse developed sidewinder from an injury it is possible that it will improve and stabilize. I did a bone scan of my horse’s spine, which did not show any signs of trauma. He was 27 so likely for him it was spinal degeneration that could continue to get worse. Initially I hoped he would be pasture sound but he did not stabilize. I’m so sorry. I was desperate to find more info when my horse came in one morning looking so alarming. Like yours he was otherwise his usual self and did not appear to be in pain. I waited a few weeks to see how things would go… if your horse is not dangerously wobbly maybe you can see if she will stabilize.

[sweetsalute]

@awaywego videos would be amazing! I’ll PM you my email address. At 20 my suspicion is that it’s degenerative. Injury not impossible but with her injury, idiot free history seems unlikely. She’s not dangerously wobbly at this point (fortunately she has never been a clumsy horse), except when having her feet trimmed…and as they really need doing every 3 weeks or so to keep them balanced, that is a potential issue in and of itself. Stabilization is what I’m hoping for. I’m having a pretty hard time with the idea that this may be it.

This is the little rascal

[ATTACH=JSON]{“data-align”:“none”,“data-size”:“full”,“title”:“IMG_0786.jpg”,“data-attachmentid”:10706254}[/ATTACH]

[knic13]

Depending on where an impingement occurs on the neck will dictate where the horse is neurologically impaired. So you unfortunately can’t rule out the neck just because the front end seems normal.

[NaturallyHappy]

@knic13

Depending on where an impingement occurs on the neck will dictate where the horse is neurologically impaired. So you unfortunately can’t rule out the neck just because the front end seems normal.

^^^^ This. It is my understanding that sometimes the joints in the neck can be injected, but sometimes the osteoarthritis is the problem itself, as it impinges the cord and injections will not help. Good luck to you-your pony is adorable!

[beowulf]

@sweetsalute

Thanks for the replies, I should’ve mentioned in my first post that I’m in Australia and EPM is not a thing here. Her front end is completely fine, so vet doesn’t think it’s likely to be a neck issue. X-rays are a possibility, beyond that the diagnostic options here are limited and would mean taking her out to the university hospital 2 hours away (and I no longer have a trailer!).

She is showing some improvement, but difficult to tell if that is just the bute, and she may go downhill again when it stops. Her demeanour is still very much normal, happy to see me (or dad, the bringer of carrots), keen on treats, miffed about medication! I’m just desperately hoping she can stay healthy enough to be a paddock ornament but have also been attempting to prepare myself for the worst. I’ll be contacting the vet tomorrow after her last dose of bute to see where we go from here.

@awaywego those photos are extremely similar to how my girl has been standing. I’ll look up sidewinder syndrome.

On the contrary, the bold is how many horses with neck issues (wobblers/sidewinders, etc) present. Your vet is incorrect.

Wobblers is a catch-all phrase, but usually boils down to cervical arthritis, bone spurs in the neck, narrowing of channels, degeneration, etc.

X-rays of the neck can be done in the field; I have done it several times now. If your vet is set up for PPEs, they’re set up to do x-rays of the neck. Hauling to a clinic is beneficial if you are doing more than preliminary x-rays, though.

If your vet is up to it, a few doses of prednisolone may help tell you figure out if it is neck related or not without going the x-ray method (though I would prefer x-ray, if I were you). In my experience the horses with CA and/or oesteoarthritis, will improve slightly on steroids.

Very cute little pony. I hope you can get some answers. My first OTTB went from sound and fit as a fiddle at 20 to listing to the side overnight with cervical arthritis. His front end was fine, he had full motor control of everything up to his croup. Steroids helped him for a bit, but we ended up putting him to sleep as we couldn’t get him safely shod, and without the shoes, we couldn’t keep him comfortable. It was an awful ordeal and I wouldn’t wish it on anyone.

[peedin]

I have nothing to add except well wishes to your horse. She is so pretty.

[sweetsalute]

Thanks all, I’ll raise the neck with the vet. This morning was her last dose of the bute and she is definitely looking better, so I suppose over the weekend we will get a better idea of whether the improvement will continue or not. I did find about 4 inches above her tail, a hard lump on the left side of the spine. The vet was suspect of that area as there was an odd raised patch of hair, but couldn’t feel anything on the weekend. Waiting on the vet to call me back re the next steps.

[RedHorses]

If you have one available a good equine chiropractor might be worth having out.

[Stretchy]

I had a horse that became ataxic behind and we tracked it down to neck arthritis. When it got really bad he got a Dexamethasone shot and that helped bring him back. He lived on Previcox for quite a few years.

[sweetsalute]

Good news is she is continuing to show improvement. Still playing a bit of a wait and see game, but she seems pretty happy, is eating well, moving reasonably well and balancing ok on three feet.

[Foxglove]

For what it’s worth —our 18 year old gelding came in one morning with his hind end to one side --almost two sets of tracks —one front and to the left were the tracks of the hind end. Called the vet who pointed out what I could not see leading the horse --massive swelling on left side from spine to stifle. Well, I say massive because the area was big, but the swelling to me was barely noticeable unless one stood directly behind the horse and saw him move. Then it did bulge enough to be seen. Best guess was horse did a fall flat on his side --like yours he was sure-footed, but no other explanation. Blood in the form of a bruise had pooled under his skin interfering with his movement. He was not in pain, just couldn’t move well. Bute, rest, and he was fine . . .

[sweetsalute]

Thanks Foxglove, that is encouraging! She’s still on bute but is pretty much back to her normal self. Came galloping up to the gate this morning, her movement is looking really good and she’s standing straight. Not the best photos, but this is about a week’s difference (please excuse my very average clipping skills haha)

[ATTACH=JSON]{“data-align”:“none”,“data-size”:“full”,“title”:“696B05A4-9D48-4D84-BCDE-3D31862394EF.JPG”,“data-attachmentid”:10709197}[/ATTACH]

[sweetsalute]

A further update, unfortunately there’s been no further improvement in the last two weeks She appears happy enough in the paddock, but is unable to remain balanced on three legs for any period of time. I can pick her feet out, trimming the fronts is doable but very difficult. Trimming the backs is impossible, and bordering on dangerous to attempt, she’s nearly stepped on me a couple of times. Will be getting the vet back out and requesting my preferred vet who knows her history to see where we go from here.