I’m so sorry. He was lovely.
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Thank you! He was. I hope hearing the story helps others.
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Thank you so much for sharing! I am showing this to my vet to get her option as well as few similarities really jumped out at me and I want to catch anything early.
FYI - I had a horse diagnosed with EPM by spinal tap that had 0 improvement on Marquis. In fact, he got markedly worse while on Marquis but responded well to a different EPM drug. So using response to Marquis as a diagnostic may not work.
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Frankly I find this horse’s “backstory” a little questionable and I wonder whether the PPE was truly as “clean” as suggested to you, OP. But regardless. You have him now and you’re trying to do right by him and that’s admirable. If it was my horse, I’d be trying to drill down a bit more first before doing the “let’s try Marquis and if he improves we’ll say it was EPM” empirical test. People have given you plenty of other things to think about/consider.
I don’t know how far you are from a major clinic but in your shoes I’d be going to one for a full workup now, especially if the horse is insured and/or you can afford to treat more complicated issues that might be diagnosed. I would not personally take a “try and see” approach with anything neurological/degenerative. I am fully on board with the “try and see” approach for some lameness issues that are of soft tissue origin (i.e. I would stall rest an injury before doing an MRI etc.)… I just don’t mess around with neuro issues. They can get really bad shockingly fast and they put the humans who have to interact with the horse in danger. I actually can’t think of a time a horse had problems on a neuro test and it DIDN’T end up being either career ending or life ending. That probably colors my reaction to your situation.
It sounds like you were sold a horse who wasn’t 100% right even when you tried him, that lots came up on the PPE that was concerning and yet you were convinced to believe that vetting was “clean” (whether you’d buy it or not, no vet I know would call a bone chip in the neck a “clean” vetting. Perhaps acceptable for some uses or worth the risk-- but not “clean”), that the horse had been out of work when you tried him with a fishy backstory, and then he hasn’t been right with you since. YES his time with you was compounded by bad care (which you left), but also, he just hasn’t been right this whole time even now that you have him in good care.
It sounds like at some point he was a show horse… and then he got bought to be a foxhunting horse. That’s not how it usually works. If he had been doing well and comfortable as a show horse he would have been worth more sold as a show horse than as a green foxhunting horse. And then purportedly he just didn’t like foxhunting and then they were too busy to ride him. That could also be the story you tell when the reality is that he was never right or sound and rather than figure it out you’d rather let the horse sit and then sell him to someone who will excuse his not rightness as lack of fitness. Curious whether your old program (that you have since left) was involved in your purchase of this horse? The whole thing seems shady all around.
Anyway, I wish you luck with him. Reasonable minds can certainly differ and there’s no magic answer. I just view this whole scenario as WAY more concerning that you do, OP. Though I can see you’re a diligent owner and care very much. I just see this as a red sirens kind of situation and you seem to be approaching it as “just another vet issue to deal with” kind of situation. For your sake, I hope you’re right and I am wrong!
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A history of problems dating several owners back makes me pretty suspicious that more is going on here than EPM…
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The longevity of the bucking that I have uncovered makes more suspicious of the bone chip. His lack of muscle from being out of work and low in vitamin E could easily explain back pain from having to work but not being in the shape to do it well. Being so weak could also point to lack of balance and coordination. He has zero genetic connections to EDM so that was a plus but I do believe that lack of balance from weakness could also cause some of the issues with balance similar to what you might see in a recently backed horse that has not developed the muscle yet. That along with possible pain that is exacerbated at the canter from the bone chip or something else may be what we are dealing with. Something that is more long term, I think treating for EPM will be good but by no means do I think it will be the end of the diagnosis. At the end of the EPM he will have been in more of a re-strengthening program so I think things will look much better in 30 days. I will continue to keep this going on here for input as it goes on and any updates that pop up.
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I don’t know; I have horses who haven’t worked in years and they are still evenly muscled. My 27 year old TB hasn’t really “worked” since she was a 3 year old at the track and she definitely is still evenly muscled. Sure, she could be more muscled if she were younger and in work, but no one would look at her and think anything was amiss.
She has a reasonable diet and 24/7 turnout, but I think your description of him being “so weak” and “lacking muscle” sounds far more significant than a horse who has been out of work.
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For your own personal safety, the safety of the horse, and everyone who works around him, you should really consider taking him to a neurologist
Everything you described screams that he has some kind if neurological condition
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OP can you post some pictures of your horse? Might help people understand what you’re describing better.
Nothing wrong with pursuing one diagnosis at a time if your vet feels it is best to do EPM treatment first, but just don’t assume the bone chip has nothing to do with it because he’s had it his whole life. Things change. What may NOT have bothered him at a younger age, COULD be bothering him now.
Like I said with my horse, he had crooked vertebrae in his neck his whole life. We didn’t know it. And it didn’t start to catch up with him until he was about 9. Then it became a problem.
And my horse’s crooked vertebrae didn’t move either. They didn’t “grow” either. But things changed, inflammation appeared, and problems surfaced.
My horse too had decreased flexibility in his neck all his life. I knew it to be “just him” and that’s how he was. He was just a stiffer type horse. But that was why.
I know the bone chip is on your radar and you’re exploring EPM first, which is fine, but I do feel like you are kinda brushing the bone chip off. If the EPM treatment doesn’t help, then I think the bone chip needs to be thoroughly evaluated.
Is your vet truly experienced with NECK issues? Most vets are not. Even my own vet, who is amazing, knows her limitations (and I love that about her) and she sought out someone experienced with necks to help us figure out my horse. It took her several months to find the right person who could supply us with answers, but she found her. And my vet does have many connections at some of the big equine facilities in Texas, and many of them admitted they don’t like neck issues either.
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Shane (1999 OTTB) has never worked a day in his life and still looks (and moves) a 12. He’s lucky he’s handsome because it’s ALL HE’S GOOD FOR 
He’s the bay. The chestnut is his wife. Also an OTTB. She managed to be useful, though at the moment her job is just to be married to my knucklehead and keep him happy.
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I was just comparing the bone chip to EPM.The EPM is a progressive disease and much more serious so we going that route first, then we will check out the bone chip in more detail. further up in responses I have updated the situation as I find stuff from his past.
I think the problem that many of us who have experience with neurological horses is that you appear to believe that the neuro portion is potentially NBD. Neuro conditions are often progressive and can get very dangerous for the horse and handlers incredibly quickly.
The bone chip may or may not be affecting Middleton’s behavior. The issue with bone chips is they are stable where they are until they aren’t. My PSG horse was off for a bit after a pasture incident, then was sound for two years. As it turns out it was a bone chip in the knee joitn that was fine and stable until it wasn’t. Just because the bone chip in your horses’ neck was considered not a concern at the time of a PPE (and I would NEVER consider a bone chip in the neck not a concern, but that’s neither here nor there). Surgery to remove it and he was never really right again - now retired to a field in Ocala on my dime.
And with a questionable neuro exam - maybe there is something else going on causing the neuro symptoms other than the bone chip.
I admire that you are aggressively treating one of the potential causes, but I fear that you are burying your head in the sand rather than continuing to seek out explanations for his behavior. I realize it is difficult to have to face this so early on in your ownership of your first horse that you love so much, but I wish you would be a bit more proactive, not so “let’s see what happens after a month of Marquis”.
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I guess I am just not coming across correctly. I do have experience with horses with neuro issues. One sent me to the ER when I had it on trial. Another’s whole front end collapsed when we were trying him at the barn he was for sale at. I know certain signs and I know it is not no big deal. We are taking it step by step, he is not stumbling or erratic or dangerous so continuing with what we’re doing is the plan. He has normal balance lunging or out in the paddock but under saddle he struggles to balance around corners and in the canter. It’s a process. I don’t want it to sound like it isn’t but it is hard to lay out a complete situation when it is impossible for people online to know all the details and know the horse.
I am not going to share everything I do and discuss with my vet on this, I am just hoping that this could help someone in the future and that other people can provide good insight to help me. I am a proactive person and I am trying my best with what I know and I am working with my vet and my trainer.
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If he DOES have EPM, I would not put him in “bootcamp” during the month he’s being treated with the Marquis. Assuming that’s all he’s got going on, period, he still needs the full treatment of Marquis (and possibly more than that) to recover from the EPM. Symptoms of EPM can include ataxia, which your horse appears to have. That doesn’t go away the minute you get the first dose on board. If the treatment works, the symptoms will go away when the infection has cleared (or thereafter). That could take the full month or more. So I really question the wisdom of continuing to work/ride the horse if you’re fairly convinced it is EPM. Even TREATED EPM can be career ending. And even during treatment, EPM can really effect the horse. So if your vet is fairly convinced EPM is the answer here, and you’re treating that, it makes sense that you’d give the horse the month off while you’re treating him and then re-assess and see what you have. I don’t really understand the thought process of both acknowledging he has a condition that could cause neurological symptoms and also saying he needs to spend the next month getting fit again when you wouldn’t have yet cleared the cause of the neurological symptoms. It just doesn’t make sense to me.
A 10 year old horse that struggles to balance around corners is pretty neurological. I knew someone who rescued an OTTB from starvation. Literally. This poor creature did not look like he could possibly be alive. I have never seen a horse THAT bad that wasn’t dead. When she started riding him he had NO MUSCLE whatsoever. He got winded pretty easily but he could jog in a tight circle, lunge in a tight circle, and canter the corners no problem. Being unbalanced in the corners is pretty concerning to me on a horse with neuro issues and I worry he’s going to fall and hurt you or someone else. If he’s having that issue and you’re convinced enough that it could be EPM to treat it, what is the upside to continuing to ride him? Treat him and see if he seems better. And then you’ll have whatever time you need to get him fit again when he’s no longer neurological. He’s not going to build proper muscle if he’s got even slight ataxia anyway. It doesn’t really make sense to me that he’s both being treated for EPM and going on a fitness journey at the same time. I say this as someone who just saw a horse go from “gee we wish he’d stop pulling his shoes off so often” to a rotational fall under saddle on the flat in a perfectly groomed indoor to getting a necropsy showing major narrowing of his neck… in a matter of 3-4 months.
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OP - you’ve taken most of this advice with a great attitude. You are working with a qualified vet, who has actually seen the horse in person, unlike the rest of us. I think following your vet’s advice, while discussing with her the points that people have brought up in this thread, is a good plan.
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Couldn’t agree more that OP has had an awesome attitude and clearly wants what’s best for her horse. I think we all do. I hope he makes a 100% turnaround, whatever the issue is. I think a lot of us just want her to be SAFE in the meantime.
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Ya, ironically that was the first question I asked the vet was what his work load should look like while being treated because I figured it would greatly impact his schedule. She said that light riding 1-2 times a week and then lunging the other days with an Equiband or a Pessoa and incorporate some poles on the lunge as well, to keep it varied day to day would be what she recommends. He really thrives on work, so keeping him in a program and strengthening him out of the tack she said will be beneficial as it takes a step back but keeps things going at the same time. So as far as that goes it was her advise for him. It also allows me to be able to see him move and go from the ground so I will be able to see if things gets worse or better or if there is no change.
Thank you, it gets overwhelming sometimes with all the input and the “horror stories” that pop up and I am great at overthinking it but I am happy with what we are working with now and I will keep options and possibilities open.
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