Anyone have experience with a diagnosis of shivers in a horse? It’s a little overwhelming and I would really like to hear something positive.
PM me - who diagnosed it?
I had a horse that had it for about a year. It wasn’t a bad case and showed up only when I backed him up. One day it wasn’t there anymore. Very weird. There are a couple of upper level event horses with it.
Really? The long term prognosis is so non-specific. All the internet search did was depress me 
One of our eventers had it (Pilgrim died last summer). His former owner claimed not to know about it (he was a COTH freebie, in bad shape and we took him for my youngest to hopefully learn to event on, which he ultimately did teach her!). The day we brought him home, he had a shivers moment after I backed him off the trailer. Initially I thought maybe it was due to the long trailer ride and his lack of condition, but soon came to know it was shivers! Never affected him though and he evented Prelim.
[QUOTE=ACMEeventing;4174439]
Really? The long term prognosis is so non-specific. All the internet search did was depress me :([/QUOTE]
I don’t know where you’re located but PM me and I’ll give you the 411 on all the info my vet gave me about it. I’ve seen many sport horses with it.
I had a horse with a fairly bad case of shivers, evented him to Intermediate and did dressage through Prix St Georg. And while we had MAJOR issues with the farrier doing his back feet, and was quite bad around the barn, it was never a problem under saddle. I also know of several other horses with it and when watching them perform under saddle you would never even know they had it. In fact, every horse I’ve ever known that had it was a great performer!
ACME - most internet searches are depressing:lol: - I read about my son’s heart defect and get ill - and yet. . . you know him - would you guess, unless you had your hand on his chest? (You can feel the murmur.) It sounds like you are on the right track though, and your information is coming from a good source.
Not the end of the world
I know several top (advanced and 4*) horses that shiver. They aren’t the easiest to stud-up or to show behind, but it’s not a life-sentence either. Acupuncture and massage have proven to help both of them, but don’t get too discouraged!! Talk to your vet, work with your farrier and avoid scary internet sites!! lol
Just don’t ever get him high enough that he’ll have to back up in his dressage test, get a trailer he can walk out frontwards, a wise and patient farrier and you’ll be all set 
We always said when our shiverer got to Badminton, we’d tell the dressage judge we were going to do the halt but skip the rein back!
Ours is retired, having never done anything, but his problems are mental, the physical was the least of his worries…
I have a fabulous iSH that has shivers and I’ve done all the reading, too. It does not show up under saddle, although after a hard workout he will kind of walk like a cowboy. He is on the EPSM diet of soaked alfalfa pellets and oil and high doses of Vitamin E. I do take my time doing his studs, although that has been going fine this year. They tend to flare when he is uncertain about a setting or a person dealing with him. We have tried tranquing him to do his hind shoes but it made no difference. My farrier just knows it will take longer.
We have been going Novice level successfully and are moving back up to Training at Groton House next weekend.
And, Gina Miles MacKinlaugh has shivers. I spoke with her at Equine Affaire this year and she said that he is on a low-carb diet too and that his flare when someone he doesn’t know is dealing with him. Either Gina or her husband usually do his studs.
I figure one day he may have to compete barefoot if it gets too hard to get shoes on but until then, I’m shooting for the 1/2 star - and maybe more.
I rode an eventer that had mild shivers. You could not tell when ridden. Sometimes on the ground he had a bit of locking up behind but really in all ways he was a normal horse and it was no big deal. I think shivers comes in degrees.
My horse has some weird “jigg” (as I call it). It doesn’t fall neatly under shivers or stringhalt–almost like he has some symptoms of both. Honestly, it just looks like he tries to stretch his hip out every once in awhile.
The only time we ever have any problems is when the farrier does his back left (though weirdly, it has gotten better), or when he gets an abscess in that foot.
KNOCK ON WOOD: It never shows up under saddle.
We don’t let our horses read anything about their conditions/injuries on the internet. If they did, they would all just give up and die.
One survived radial nerve damage and made it back to 4 star level, one had his pelvis broken when we got rear ended by a semi. He now has shivers and has learned to rein back and do turn on the haunches. He is thinking about moving up to advanced soon.
Just do your best to care for him and condition him for the sport you want him to do.
Some really great info here, thanks to all. I guess any horse can take a bad step and end their career tomorrow, we all just hope it doesn’t ever happen. He’s a good guy with a big heart. I’ll just keep him healthy and happy and enjoy him for whatever career fate has in store for us.
I had a horse that had what I now believe was a mild case of shivers. Shoeing him was a large pain, as was putting in studs, but he was perfectly fine undersaddle and gott good scores in dressage. The only time his leg would shake really badly was when I hosed him off after a ride. It was the wierdest thing.
Good news
Of course it depends on the horse, but it may not affect his performance at all. My dressage horse is showing 4th level and has lovely extensions and usually gets great scores on the rein-backs. It is not possible to pick up his hind feet for more than a second or put hind shoes on him, but otherwise you would never know it. A high fat, low carb diet makes a huge difference. When I researched it, I found many success stories. You’ll be fine.
My eventer has shivers. Never have a problem under saddle, and he’s gone through Prelim and foxhunted. I do have to make some concessions on the ground though. Don’t pick his hind feet up too high to clean or put studs in. My farrier usually uses a stall jack so Mister can rest the leg that is up. I did find they get better when he is in good shape and when I switched his feed to a low starch/high fat diet.
My TB had severe Shivers. So little is really known about it. The best of luck to you and your horse.
McKinlaigh has a very typical case of shivers and it hasn’t stopped him much. 
I must admit, though, it gets a little hairy when one’s trying to pick his back feet since he very nearly falls over!
