Very weak hind legs, bad stability at dynamic tail pull, minor ataxia noticeable to professionals at trot again in hind legs, no muscles at back, troubles placing hind legs when walking downhill with head raised (also part of neuro test). Recently I’ve also seen him staggering more often and once he mildly lost balance when he was going up from laying - but that happened once and is not good statistics. Vet opinion is based on neuro test basically. She thinks it’s Wobblers as other neuro diseases are really not common in our area.
I’ve contacted some Wobbler professional in US and he told he will connect me with more experienced vet in Munich… I’m waiting for this to happen as my wallet is silently crying.
Remember to supplement vitamin E. It’s very important for horses to have enough.
I agree that you shouldn’t give up yet. Good luck, and I wish you success. 
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He was receiving this mineral mix which also contains E since around 6-7 months ago, and before he had 1 or 2 months (do not remember now) of pure Selenium + E. Before that I was stupid enough to not give this supplementation, as well, pretty much no one else (and a lot of people in our stable bought even younger horses) was giving it & he was not receiving anything except for hay at breeder, so it took some time before I introduced additional feed, minerals etc.
Wobblers is a difficult diagnosis and on a whole different level than other neurological conditions that can be treated. I hope that isn’t the case. I can understand that is a hard one to swallow. Sorry to hear this.
Vitamin E doesn’t have a long shelf life when included in mineral mixes like yours. Does he get fresh grass? That is really the only source of Vitamin E for horses unless you supplement it.
I had my gelding on one of these (Cal Trace Plus) assuming the Vitamin E it contained was available to him. After reading multiple users having their horses test low for Vitamin E, I had bloodwork done and we were very low. He doesn’t get grass being a metabolic risk, so Im really thankful I went down that rabbit hole.
Try and get a separate source of water soluble Vitamin E. I use this, I’m not sure what is available to you https://customequinenutrition.com/products/emcelle?variant=31699086213206
d-ɑlphɑ-Tocopheryl is the form you want.
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From good side, I contacted one clinic in Belgium and they said it is extremely uncommon in this breed, and they are not sure the diagnosis is correct… Anyway, it’s all just guessing and trying to prepare mentally for the worst till I manage to get him to the imaging appointment.
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He had fresh grass throughout the season. I know grass in our area is extremely low in Selenium, not sure how it is with E but heard that also not too great. But throughout April-September he had normal grass intake.
Thank you for your advice! I did not know about this. I have already written my nutritionist specialist whether we can make better source of additional E for him but did not get reply yet.
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Thats good news! See what your nutritionist recommends dosage wise, but many neurological horses in the states are on 10,000IU/s day. I have my guy at 6500IU now.
He is 24/7 outside since April… So main concern is the poor level of vitamins in grass we have in the country. But he had unlimited access to it, so I hope at least something good.
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I don’t know the typical nutritional profile difference in the grasses, but I think it should be plenty…maybe @JB can chime in on that!
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What country are you in? Vitamin A is present in "green’, so green grass, green alfalfa, to a bit lesser extent green grass hay, and degrades as the green chlorophyll fades.
Vit E is in good amounts in most grass, very low to non-existent in hay of any kind, and some areas of the US are actually low in Vit E even in grass. I don’t know about other countries, but I imagine things are the same on this, even if the distribution is different
There are many more minerals present in forages and are just as much of a concern as the few vitamins.
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We are in Czechia.
From the bloodwork in biochemical things, only Selenium was raising concern to me (so I added it and the next bloodwork was ok also in Selenium). The leukocytes were off somehow. According to vet, it was also improving and she said it was due to parasites (not only his hooves were not done at breeder’s but apparently also no vaccination & anti-parasite program). We were keeping it pretty much under control though with a parasitologist. Now of course I am concerned if this is also not somehow related to the issues we are experiencing, and whether leukocytes did not show something else entirely… We are getting new bloodwork done on weekend, but it might take some time till the result arrives.
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Se can be an issue in the US as well, and it’s always good to check blood levels, rather than looking at what’s on hay/grass or worse, soil, to decide if you should supplement, let alone with how much.
I have a horse that my vet has recommended Vitamin E supplementation for during the winter months. She said to use 3000-4000 mgs per day, and to be sure that it is natural E (the d-alpha tocopheryl mentioned above) as gel caps or liquid for best absorption. Your vet may have different recommendations.
My vet is like “yeah whatever, probably will not pass and do not waste money on clinics”… So no, I think I don’t trust vets here.
mg or IU?
3000-4000 mg is 4470-5960 IU
General supplementation, assuming not much from feed, and no grass, is in the 1-2IU/lb (and I prefer 2IU)
powder, pellet, gel cap, it doesn’t matter, if it’s d-alpha, it’s all the same.
Even something that’s liquid might be regular natural E
The difference comes when the liquid is a water-soluble (Emcelle, Elevate WS) or nano-dispersed (Nano-D) product, which is more bioavailable than regular natural E (regardless of its form)
Yes thank you, IU. Just home from a procedure requiring anesthesia and not quite all there yet.
If it is wobblers then the kindest thing to do and safest for the horse and other horses and people around him is to put him to sleep, sadly. With other neuro diseases, there might be some variety in the ability to treat it, for the horse to improve with various types of support (nutrition, lifestyle, physiotherapy, medications or injections), but some do not respond.
Based on what you have posted, I think either you need to find a way to get the horse to a clinic with knowledgeable vets in this area to try to understand exactly what’s going on. Otherwise he might be unrideable but also potentially unsafe to himself and others.
What breed is the horse? They are finding congenital neck problems these days in so many breeds now…thoroughbreds, all kinds of warmbloods, Iberian horses, quarter horses…
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It’s PRE, but sports type, not very Iberian-looking.
Another horse of this breeder had a bit weird movement of the hinds leg to be honest. But I chose mine because he’s totally unrelated to that one 
Now I don’t know if it’s possible they have some low E issue directly there, or maybe that other guy had a completely other unrelated issue…
I’ve also added myself to Wobblers info group on fb, and there is more than one story that the horse outgrew mild Wobbler between 3 and 5 y.o. Some other also got it under control with basket surgery. Honestly, knowing this, I am not sure I could just put him to sleep, especially now when he doesn’t have any issues lying down & getting up, doesn’t fall and is easy to handle and playful…
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I’m sorry that’s the news you received…what diagnostics were done ? I would recommend getting a second opinion from an actual neurologist/specialist if at all possible who can perform a thorough neuro exam and include X-rays & myelogram if needed …are they thinking your horse is a wobbler ? ECVM? EDM? Lyme ? EPM ? There are so many things that can cause neuro deficits. Was blood tested for those diseases ? Vitamin E levels checked ?
