I had an Impressive bred horse that had HYPP. He did not present with the normal seizures and tremors. He would stand in his stall and paw. The first time the barn owner thought he was colicing. The second time was similar but she realized that it almost seemed like his shoulder that he wasn’t pawing with was locked up and he was pawing because he was stressed.
I would test him for HYPP. You may want to move him to a low potassium diet until you can figure out for sure.
Since the HYPP test is done with hairs I would think you could easily mail it to UC Davis in California. That is where I had Sonny’s testing done.
[QUOTE=Nootka;8694842]
WOAPE if this is the case you do need to test for HYPP. Best to rule it out along with everything else[/QUOTE]
We are awaiting the results from three of the five panel tests (first two PSSM1 and GBED were both negative) remaining three includes HYPP, so hoping to hear back from them asap.
Thanks SonnysMom,
We are waiting to hear from the tests in Germany (includes HYPP)
Thanks again to all for your kind words.
Today, woape spent about five hours in a small enclosure that has very little in the way of grass. When we arrived, he was visbly excited and bouncing about without any sign of discomfort…I was quite shocked…even more so when the girl who runs the place said he was even jumping and kicking a bit today, calling out to the herd.
Shortly after we arrived, we went for his daily short walk - again, dragged back leg and appeared to lose awareness of his feet a little on the turn. We’ve requested the vet’s contact, somebody who supposedly knows more about some of the conditions mentioned / suggested…but the blood results could take another week I believe…
Can you get some X-rays of his neck while you are waiting?
[QUOTE=Laurierace;8697325]
Can you get some X-rays of his neck while you are waiting?[/QUOTE]
My wife just had a call from the contact I mentioned in the previous post…
He watched the short video and said “it is spinal ataxia” then when asked what do we do, he said "put him to sleep or pay major money for surgery"
I’m arranging scans / X-rays asap and already have a contact for one of the few horse clinics that specialise in ataxia / wobblers surgery - it is over 400 miles away…will also look into bringing a surgeon here, or somewhere much closer at least…one contact we know has done that for her horses in the past.
That may indeed be the outcome but I wouldn’t have blurted it out like that without at least examining him. X-rays and possibly a mylegram will give you an idea of the prognosis. You may be able to get away with injections into the facets. Sometimes they simply have to grow a little more. Many prayers for you all.
Thank you Laurierace…
He has the perfect name, woape is a Lakota Indian word…it means Hope
I have a memory jog of something about some foals growing fast in very unbalanced ways and develop Wobblers but grow out of it. I will see if I can find that.
Still jingling like mad that Woape will come through the other side of this. He’s had to deal with too much already, and you guys too!
Thank you JB…
I also read that somewhere but cannot remember where…there is no way we will give up on him…if he needs months of rest and care before he is right he will get it…
I say this in all honesty…and understand that most here will not relate to the view I have, but…woape was never going to be seriously ridden…I have limited skills as a rider…although I do plan on improving over time…and my wife is better than I but we agreed, if we ride him fine…if not, fine…from day one, he has been and still is my best buddy…I just need him to be OK…because simply being around him is the best thing in the world.
[QUOTE=JB;8697571]
I have a memory jog of something about some foals growing fast in very unbalanced ways and develop Wobblers but grow out of it. I will see if I can find that.
Still jingling like mad that Woape will come through the other side of this. He’s had to deal with too much already, and you guys too![/QUOTE]
Also, he has had what seems like a pretty significant growth spurt that we all noticed…then, around this time…the castration…which I have been told can fuel another growth spurt…he also has a much improved diet since moving to the new place…the owner of his pony buddy is an animal nutritionist and helps in that regard.
[QUOTE=WOAPE;8697586]
from day one, he has been and still is my best buddy…I just need him to be OK…because simply being around him is the best thing in the world.[/QUOTE]
This seriously made me tear up! If only everyone viewed their animals that way 
**note - I don’t mean people who raise animals for meat are heartless, that’s just an entirely different story.
More jingles for the best outcome possible for all of you…
Sending lots of jingles for woape. I am hopeful you can find a vet that will do right by him. He is very lovely.
[QUOTE=JB;8697571]
I have a memory jog of something about some foals growing fast in very unbalanced ways and develop Wobblers but grow out of it. I will see if I can find that.
Still jingling like mad that Woape will come through the other side of this. He’s had to deal with too much already, and you guys too![/QUOTE]
I seem to have a vague recollection of wobblers treatment that was dietary? Limiting calories for a year? Or something?
I googled earlier today and couldn’t turn up anything, though 
While I am not sure what the circumstances were of his castration, this wee snippet of an article was somewhat informative. Was he anesthetized and laid out?
https://www.vetstream.com/equis/Content/Freeform/fre01332
It mentions that quarter horses or HYPP horses are at higher risk for post-surgical ataxia.
That’s really interesting about the anesthesia relationship but I can totally understand it - just either poor positioning (as mentioned) or just bad luck and getting nerve impingement.
Woape, were you present at the gelding? I’d be interested in exactly how he was positioned, where ropes were placed and secured, etc.
http://www.thehorse.com/articles/28435/whats-up-with-wobblers
“Another important contributor to wobbler syndrome could be rapid growth. This might be one reason why more young males experience the disease than females–they tend to grow faster, according to Reed. “The gender differences could be due to the rate of growth, how fast they grow, how big they grow, or growth hormones,” he explains. “If you have an animal with the ability to grow rapidly to a large size, and you feed the animal so it can grow at a rapidly excessive rate, and you don’t have impeccable balance among major nutrients like calcium, phosphorus, and the trace nutrients copper, zinc, and manganese, the animal might not be able to lay down and calcify bone in a normal way.””
https://www.triplecrownfeed.com/articles/nutrition-growing-horse-foal-nutrition-foalnutrition/
This one does imply that really lowering calories (but not nutrition!!) might help
"
- A slow growth rate borders on malnutrition and is referred to as "stunting" growth. Unless a severe medical condition exists, such as wobbler's syndrome, that demands the horse's body weight be minimized, a slow growth rate is not recommended."
Thanks to all for your comments again.
Regarding the recent castration, two boys were done within several weeks at the site by the same vet. He said woape’s was very easy compared to the previous colt, who is a bigger (although slightly younger) horse that had much more swelling post-op. woape was anesthetised and laid out flat on his side - he was under for around thirty mins if I remember correctly. Vet used closed method, woape did not have much swelling at all and it came maybe five days after the procedure and only lasted for two days. Vet administered painkillers and a few days of anti-biotics following the castration. Everybody was pleased by how well he seemed to be recovering post-op.
I also keep thinking back…and whilst it could be totally unrelated…back in March/April, I posted this thread:
www.chronofhorse.com/forum/showthread.php?489797-Tired-or-Something-Worse
I did this after a walk we went on with woape when he behaved very differently, almost stumbling several times and carried his bottom lip very low…he was reluctant to move and appeared very tired. We immediately returned to the pasture and he seemed to move OK afterwards…but I can’t stop thinking “was this a sign or indication…?” and I can also recollect a few times when near him or watching him out on the pasture when I thought to my self “did he just drag his feet a little…?” but I guess I just thought he was tired as young ones often can be…
[QUOTE=Simkie;8697648]
I seem to have a vague recollection of wobblers treatment that was dietary? Limiting calories for a year? Or something?
I googled earlier today and couldn’t turn up anything, though [/QUOTE]
Here are a couple of articles that mention diet as a factor.
http://www.thehorse.com/articles/14579/whats-wobbler-syndrome
http://www2.ca.uky.edu/agcomm/pubs/id/id182/id182.pdf
Thanks Highflyer, I will print those out.
