I picked the mare up Saturday morning. She had improved since I saw her Friday morning. She is VERY glad to be home! She seems to be getting a little better each day. Tomorrow is her last dose of dex so will see how she does without it.
Today she is walking almost completely normally in a straight line at a normal pace. But, she is not completely normal yet. It has been 4 days and she has shown tremendous improvement. So, I am hoping with time she will recover completely.
HJi Inca,
Hi Inca, I brought my horse in today and he was exhibiting the exact same symptoms you described in your mare. He is a 4 year old Dutch/Irish that we imported 2 months ago. I am quite alarmed. Vet came immediately and said neurological problem and we pulled blood and she is giving Marquis EPM Medecine tonight and I am to give him banamine tomorrow. What happened with your mare? Did she make a complete recovery? Did you ever find out what caused the symptoms? Would love any advice. Thank you!
Never figured out a cause. She did recover. Acupuncture and chiropractic helped a lot after she came home.
It was a scary couple months though!
Hope your horse gets better soon.
Hi all, I am looking for some help/insight. We believe my horse fell in the pasture. Three weeks ago this Thursday he was found down and at first couldnât get up. Once up, he was extremely ataxic and would fall repeatedly. He improved gradually to where he wasnât falling, but was still extremely wobbly. We gave him banamine at first and he continued to improve. Lyme, EEE, EPM and Erlichea were all rolled out. X-rays of his neck were done and there was no break or fracture. It is believed he has a spinal cord compression injury. He was put on dex and continued to improve. He has had several set backs after falling in his stall, but he then improved. Last Saturday the vet said we could try to turn him out alone for a little while. Unfortunately, he tried to run around and kick up his heels and he fell twice before we could catch him. He regressed after that somewhat and yesterday he fell while just standing in his stall. We have spoken to 3 vets (all feel it is an injury) and I have a vet/chiropractor coming out on Monday. He is not steady enough to be trailered. It is heartbreaking to watch him and living confined to a stall is no way for a horse to live. Any insight or advice would be greatly appreciated. I am not sure where to go from here.
My horse has a similar injury. In pasture, overreached and fell hard. Yours sounds similar, Vet thought it was nerve paralysis. His one hind leg was better than the other but both were effected. He got better to where he was trotting then regressed again. I donât think he actually got any better, just more used to moving his legs without any feeling in them. We tried Dex. Checked for fractures and nothing. He would also fall in his stall, I watched him fall in the field a few time. He was big and 10 years old, muscled as he was Eventing. Vet said if he wasnât so fit he wouldnât have been able to cope so well.
Unfortunately with winter approaching I made the decision to euthanize. It was a horrible thing to happen and he was an incredible horse who was the last horse to deserve this outcome. I am sorry itâs not a better story but that is my experience. Good luck with your guy.
Have you ultrasounded the neck? So much more informative in many cases than x-ray.
Thank you. I unfortunately feel I will have the same outcome. I have a vet/chiropractor coming out as a last hope. Thank you and I am very sorry. It is a horrible situation.
Thank you. I will look into that. They wanted him taken to the equine center for a mylegram, but he can not be transported. An ultrasound might be a good alternative.
Sending you jingles and support. Itâs not easy. I hope you have a good vet visit.
I just wanted to follow up in case my experience is useful to someone else. I ultimately put my horse down. It was the most heartbreaking thing I have ever done. I loved him so much and he had such a huge personality. I watched him in person or via camera for one month straight hoping for improvement and making sure he did get cast. He did not improving any further after the 4th day and was having occasional set backs after lying down and getting back up. He couldnât be turned out for fear he would break his leg etc. He was not in pain and vitals and eating etc were fine. That said he would only deteriorate in his stall however and eventually hurt himself. He still could not be trailered, so the vet hospital vets came out. After consulting with five vets it was theorized that he had a neurological issue, likely from birth, that just now presented after he turned 14. It was tough to tell if he fell first in the pasture and it exacerbated or the more likely option, he fell because of it. In hindsight it is a little more clear. I had him vetted out (as did 2 other owners) due to issues he had with his back end especially at the canter and going downhill even at the walk. He also had fallen before on flat ground with me on him. Nothing showed when he was vetted out, but the vets agree a neurological problem wouldnât have. If anyone ever needs to know more, please donât hesitate to contact me. It was a horrible experience, and I can only hope that some good comes out of it by sharing my experience.
I am so sorry for your loss. That must have been hard. Hugs
I realize the original thread is nearly 5 years old, but I am wonderingâfor those of you that have been through these types of experiences, did the horse in question have vax just prior to the onset of symptoms? Like within a few weeks beforehand? If so, what vax and who was the manufacturer?
This just occurred with my horse in November 2019. He had is last vaccinations in May.
Thank you. It was soul crushing. He was a wonderful horse and friend.
If this were to happen in my area, I would test the horse for Lymes disease. Not sure if that disease occurs in your area. Itâs not one that vets tend to consider but I know a couple people who insisted on this test for their horses and that turned out to be the problem.
Iâm really sorry for your horse and I hope that she makes a full recovery.
Thanks for responding. So if 6 months elapsed between vax and the onset of the symptoms, then obviously vax did not play a role in triggering the onset in your horse.
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