[QUOTE=alterhorse;9017468]
To me it looks like Remi is moving similar to a horse with Lyme or PSSM. Not a for sure conclusion though.
I’m not seeing any consistent asymmetry in any of the gates, just stiffness. Iv’e seen lazy horses move like this too, but you’ll see a lazy horse “light up” occasionally when turned out, or when motivated properly. You say this is new behavior, so I’m thinking more some physical cause just as you are.
I think I’d be ruling out neurological disorders, metabolic disorders, Vit E deficiency as others mentioned, toxicology, parasitic infection, anything that can cause general muscle stiffness or general systemic weakness.
Can you provide a “day in the life” of Remington?
In other words…What’s his average daily routine like?
Hay, feed-type-quantity, supplement-type-quantity, turnout kind and size, water sources, turnout companions, behavioral patterns, exercise, etc…
Format like this…
7AM (List feed(s), supplement(s), and type of hay w/quantities given)
9AM (Turnout with x number of other horses.)
12PM (Comes in for brushing, ride, etc.)
Etc.
Etc.
I’l keep thinking about Remi, hope other cother’s will chime in with their thoughts too.[/QUOTE]
Thank you for your kind words. This type of movement combined with the muscle cramping I’ve seen is why I considered PSSM as well. A typical day for him looks like this:
8 AM: Barn owner comes, brings him in from pasture and puts him in a stall for feeding. He gets one 3 qt scoop of beet pulp (I made sure she is only feeding the kind without molasses ever since I started suspecting PSSM) as well as 2 cups of Purina Equilizer. Along with this he gets one scoop of Herbs for Horses Serenity and is additionally still on 20 mL of omeprazole. When he’s finished eating he is put back outside with his buddies.
10 / 11 AM: Usually I will show up around this time, lately I have been coming in the evenings around 5 PM however try to get out in the morning. I bring him inside, brush him up and lately have just been lunging him since the muscle cramping started. We really don’t do much, will lunge over ground poles, lunge w/t/c, depending on how his movement is.
And that’s basically it. He is outside 24/7 so he gets hay all the time (timothy) and is with four other geldings. They all get along well and behave normally. Most of the time they munch on hay but sometimes will goof around like geldings do. He has access to water which the barn owner changes twice a day from a large trough. It is also heated for the winter. Paddock size, if I had to hazard a guess, 5 acres or so? Has access to a run in. No access to grass, however (not that there’s any this time of year though) so his diet simply consists of hay and the grain that he gets. The yard is fairly busy and a landscaping company is run out of it, so there are trucks and cars coming and going quite frequently. There are quite a few other boarders and probably about 20 more horses on the property in other paddocks.
I had a conversation with one of my professors today about hay analysis, and she said that selenium is basically non existent in hay here, so will be testing the hay and considering his grain and making adjustments as need be when his blood results are back. Fingers crossed that this can be fixed with a simple diet change but I have learned not to get my hopes up!
