Hi guys 
Sadly not only neuro issues I was writing here a while ago got worse, but they were confirmed to be Wobblers, approaching grade 3. Multiple compressions, two critical C3-C4 and C4-C5 and two mild. Questionable surgery potential because of miltiple compressions. Very skinny horse, lost 50kg in last two motnhs. All time I own him he had normal portions, then had unlimited pasture (this was probably not enough tbh, though enough for other horses, but it was only for a month), then unlimited pasture and some hay and additional food - very reach diet from nutrition specialist, then unlimited hay in winter and again very rich additional diet and vitamins. Still never got weight and now just lost more. Thatās another reason why heās questionable surgery candidate.
Surgeon said she can do surgery but cannot really recommend it to me personally, as I would need to borrow money for it, and results are so unsure.
I originally wanted to try without surgery, agreed multiple physio, chiro, everythingā¦ But after seeing the myelo results I canceled it. And now I donāt know what to do.
I heard about many horses who could got better despite very bad prognosis, with physio and without surgery. Also heard about some that only improved with surgery. And about ones that became even worse with surgery. Many were out to sleep without trying either physio or surgery.
It seems like all options are bad options. Iām sorry for very shitty post, but I need advice. My boy is very young, heās just 3, and heās such an intelligent nice horse. We are waiting for the second opinion from the American surgeon. I even thought to try to collect some money through donation but who would want to donate for that. I really donāt know what to do, I feel like Iād let him down so much if I just put him to sleep without trying more. Help :ā(
Iām so sorry. Itās never easy, but I understand the added devastation when your horse is so young. The 2 questions I asked myself with my youngster were: 1) would my horseās condition cause her to hurt or kill someone when she had a seizure even when on anti-seizure meds as at some point the meds would stop working? 2) was keeping her alive for my benefit or for her living a relatively normal companion horse life? Both my answers to myself told me that euthanizing was in her best interest.
For a 3yo with multiple compression sites and the symptoms you are seeing, I would euthanize this horse if I were in your position. Do not borrow money to treat this horse. Spend some time saving up and maybe try to start again with another horse. Iām very sorry for the diagnosis.
You would not be letting him downāhorses cannot perceive death the way we do. You would be saving him from a lifetime of uncertainty, confusion, and future injury. I would also recommend euthanasia if the diagnosis is this severe at age 3.
Iām so sorry. Big hugs and jingles for you and your boy.
Itās never easy, but especially when theyāre so young.
With everything he has going on - including the worrisome weight loss - Iām inclined to agree that heās a candidate for euthanasia. Iām sorry. I know itās not what you want to hear. But you have to think about his quality of life as well as your well-being.
Without knowing his physical symptoms, Iām guessing he has at least moments where heās stumbling and unsteady. And while you could turn him out for a few months to see if he improves at all, that doesnāt negate the reality that a.) at some point, someone will need to handle him, which might put them at risk, and b.) he could injure himself if the symptoms become worse, or c.) he could continue to lose weight, until it becomes debilitating.
Even if you did the physio and turnout, or borrowed money to do the surgery, would he ever fully recover? What would the prognosis be? Would he be rideable, or just a pasture pet?
If you go with euthanasia, you wouldnāt be letting him down. Youād be releasing him from an uncertain future. It sounds like youāve spent a lot of time and resources in getting him diagnosed. Youāve done everything you can do. Many owners wouldnāt have.
I donāt think there is any chance of him improving without treatment. So sorry you are dealing with such a horrible situation
I would euthanize. The horse doesnāt think about death or the future, or the āwhat ifsā like we do. They do think about the now though, when they may be suffering. I imagine it could also be stressful for a prey animal to know that theyāre compromised in some way. So all of that considered, I wouldnāt feel terrible about euthanasia.
When I was catastrophizing (as one does) over my horse having swollen hind legs out of nowhere, I did come to terms with euthanasia in young horses. If a horse is already compromised at a young age, or canāt hold up to very basic work ( mine was 3 at the time and we were doing light ground work) then for me, theyāre done (mine had a virus and heās fine). I know it sounds cold, and Iād make an exception in some cases, but neuro/neck issues wouldnāt be one of them for me. IME, they only worsen over time.
Iām so sorry that youāre going through this. If you choose not to do any more, please, do not feel bad about it. Being euthanized is far from the worst thing that could happen to a horse.
What a devastating diagnosis. Iām so sorry. Horses can uplift our souls and then, the next day, break our hearts.
I have to ask myself, what would I do if I was facing the same decision. My answer is I would euthanize.
Even horses that have the surgery often donāt respond or recover fully. I personally know of two examples out here. One a TWH, the other a young TB. Both horses got through the surgery fine but were ultimately euthanized anyway because they continued to have stumbling and coordination problems just living in pasture.
I am so sorry. Big giant hugs.
You will save him from a lifetime of excruciating pain.
I euthanized my Wobbler in October 2023.
Young horses are at their most adaptable - if he canāt compensate for neuro issues now, it doesnāt look good long term. The ones that do learn to compensate generally start to lose that ability around 10-13 years old.
Young horses arenāt finish growing- the vertebrae are among the last to finish. Surgery now may be successful, but what effect are the next four years of growth going to have on that surgical site?
My Wobbler was diagnosed as neurological at 14 in 2022, but only because I didnāt know what I was looking at, and he was able to compensate for a lot of his deficits for a long time. He had been doing the things the vet pointed out as neurological symptoms for his entire life. Iād had a terribly difficult time getting everything sorted out to keep him happy in his training, and it took very little to upset the apple cart. Just as everything seemed to have come together, the wheels came off for the last time, and I saw a webinar on neurological horses, which primed me to watch my horse and get a neuro assessment done when he went down in the trailer without external cause.
I would euthanize. You have done everything for this horse. You got the vet work up, you found the reason. You donāt have to go any further down that rabbit hole. It sucks. Itās incredibly difficult. It is a kindness.
Iām sorry for this news - heās young but he doesnāt really understand tomorrow. You do, so you know how hard it will be. Itās devastating for you - just hugs. And again, really sorry that this is what youāre facing.
You arenāt letting him down. You have already gone miles for him.
I believe that a short good life is a good life. He does not know about lifespan or the future.
Rather than thinking āheās only 3ā (so understandable), consider this. He could live another 20 to 30 years. What is the gaurantee of quality of life for that long?
From someone who might not be you? Things happen. Our own futures are not gauranteed.
Decades ago it was not hard to find a long-term pasture home for horses who needed to just exist without demands. That is just not true in most parts of the country any longer. More likely, the horse ends up in the hands of people who are not responsible like you, shuffled from one bad situation to another, or in an auction house ā¦ sooner or later.
I hate saying this, but I believe it is truth ā For a young horse in this situation (or any age), letting them down might be not to let him go peacefully over the bridge, now. With such a long, unknown future in front of him.
My heart goes out to you. Obviously you care very much and want to do whatās right for him. This is always hard, but of course it can be even harder with a young horse. But it might be the best gift you could give him. A short life, but a quality life.
Turn him out and let him be a horseā¦ whether that is another week or a month, or a few monthsā¦ give him love and the best foods and say goodbye on a good day.
Go ahead and get an opinion from the American surgeon. It may only confirm your decision or it may give you more information on your options. Another opinion is always a good idea if you are in doubt.
Add canola oil to this horseās feed. High calories and it helps for pssm. Avoid handling him directly if this is a neurological issue as you donāt want anyone to get hurt. Keep yourself safe. Other horses are probably okay around him as long as they donāt bully him.
Iām so sorry. I was hoping for better news. Donāt rush into the decision unless there is a need to intervene sooner. Take the time you need to process this and think about things as you donāt want to live with regret.
First of all, thanks all for the replies.
To add some info:
- He is not stumbling or falling in pasture.
- I know of a pasture there for 200$/month he can stay pretty much for as long as needed. I was also offered alternative way of getting my own pasture there close to my friend and allow usage for the stable and then have him there for free. This would repay in 3 years and then boarding would be free (except for hay in winter months).
- My physio sent his results to multiple more exports, so I decided to let him wait in clinics till next week. The clinics is very nice and he doesnāt look stressed there, I also brought enough feed for 10 days.
- He has critical dynamic compressions C3-C4 and C4-C5. This is the one for surgery. There are multiple abnormalities elsewhere but it doesnāt seem they are the ones causing damage. Another one looks suspicious but mild. But I donāt want to discuss this on forum, I decided totally trust in this Dr Grant who is consulting us. If he says itās bad for surgery, we will let him go.
- I have qualified people able and willing to do rehab if we manage to do surgery. One in Germany and one at home. The German one has already successive rehab of double basket which is even rideable (considering our findings, I definitely do not count with having rideable horse, but maybe sound pasture pet who can join in hand on beautiful walks outside).
You have had excellent input here already. You are free to make your own decisions about whether to take this advice, or not.
I would put this horse down, before he falls down and canāt get up, injured and struggling. Because as they fall, they can break bones. Then both he, and you, have an even bigger problem. Or before he injures you, or another person, as he falls. Because those are two of the common situations that happen when people try to keep a horse like this alive.
You will find that there are people who will make you āpromisesā of ācuringā or āhelpingā your horse, for a fee, with āspecialā care that no one else can provide. Donāt believe them. They will take your money, and your horse will not benefit. JMHO.
Owning horses, or any awesome animal that we include in our lives, involves the acceptance of heartbreak and loss. You do the best you can for them, make the best decisions for them, and do your crying later. Sorry.
I appreciate your advice.
But please also consider the fact that surgery is pretty scientific-based and is legit way with which many horses with dynamic cord compression did indeed recover and went to live many many more years.
My only issue is that our case is unfortunately very f***** up and is low chance even with surgeryā¦ So if you are referring to our case specifically then unfortunately you might be right. But in many other cases, the surgery was very successful.
OP sounds like you are on a good path. Have a good professional to trust for opinions.
What I write about below probably does not apply to you. But it might resonate with someone else reading this thread.
I have seen this play out with a KS horse, and any neuro horse that is not healing.
One of the issues is that the owner is always in a guilt situation thinking they must give this next method a try. There is always another expert. Always a new opinion that this case is right for whatever it is the expert is offering. And usually with no certifications, of course.
The owner stops counting how many things they have tried. How much they have spent, how long it has been since they knew how bad is the diagnosis, how many sad incidents the horse has had.
There can be no end to it, as it drains the ownerās wallet.
This probably does not apply to the OPās situation. But others may need to be aware of how these āexpertsā can play out.
I am so very sorry, it is so heart wrenching being faced with these kinds of decisions. We recently had to make this same decision for a six month old colt that I had bred and was raising for a client. He was fine one day and very ataxic the next. He must have had some type of fall or trauma and because we found that he had multiple sites of compression in his neck there was no forgiveness there regarding swelling. The super tough part is that with most ataxic horses they arenāt really āsufferingā but simply donāt know where their legs are. Our colt still had normal mentality, wanted and enjoyed grooming and scratches etc etc. We got some improvement on anti inflammatories and I was just desperately hoping we could get him to a grade one so he could be a pasture pet. We consulted surgeons etc but my understanding was that prognosis was not very good with multiple sites of compression and the prolonged rest / rehab required post surgery really wouldnāt be fair to a young horse without a seriously positive prognosis . I was also very worried about the reality that even if we could get him improved with rest and drugs ( a big if) that the underlying problem still remains and that it is only a matter of time before I find him down and maybe not able to get up etc.
I will exhaust efforts to save the life of any of my animals IF doing so means they can have a good quality of life even in the field as a result. But what I wonāt do is put them in a position where they have to exist in a compromised state ā¦horses are prey animals and I just donāt think they feel ok being unable to run/ flee. I can see taking the chance with mild neuro symptoms. Those horses do fine in the field and I wouldnāt euth a horse with low grade ataxia, Iād just let them be a pet and make sure they were kept with appropriate herd mates. But a grade 3 is really severeā¦they canāt trot without falling over. They canāt spook and stay upright. They are very ataxic. Even a grade two would be pretty risky out in a field as a young horse being a young horse.
My heart goes out to you , I hope you understand that euthanizing a horse with severe ataxia that has a low chance of recovery ( along with a lot of suffering along the way) is doing the kindest thing.
Hugs to you.
I thought also that grade 3 is very ataxic. But actually my horse is absolutely OK trotting and galloping without falling, both alone and during ground work. Iāve only seen him trip twice in a year I own him. Heās running around very actively and plays with my other horse. And this is already after he declined in his state.
Grade 3 IS very ataxic. Young horses tend to cope very wellā¦ until they donāt.
I have one, described unthread, but I wanted to emphasize that we thought he was just young and clumsy. Heās fallen twice with riders for no reason on groomed, flat footing. We blamed it on long toes, laziness, being 3/4/5 and out of shape. What we didnāt realize he was falling when we werenāt looking - the hair loss in suspicious areas tipped us off to that. He still plays and romps and gallops around, and he didnāt start to look weird until around age 12. (The first fall under saddle was at age 4).
Trust your vet team. Get second and third opinions from GOOD, qualified DVMs (not Internet gurus), who have put hands on the horse. Keep a journal that you write down everything in and refer back to - these things tend to creep up on you. Even if you go the surgical route, youāll want to track the day to day - a lot of surgical cases seem to regress around the five year mark, but rarely do we have good data on what the horse was doing/responding to in that period.
