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  Discussion on Wobbler synDrOme?
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New Member:
cookie

Posted on Friday, Oct 19, 2007 - 11:13 am:

Hello; I'm a new member with a now retired 9 year old TB mare. She has fallen with me twice while riding. Once at the trot, and again two years later after working in a 15 meter circle on a training exercise. The first time almost broke my neck. It took a lot of courage to ride her again but I convinced myself that she had just stumbled because she was out of shape at the time. The second fall two years later, resulted in a broken rib for me. My horse was halted after the circle work and I was speaking to my trainer. When I asked her to walk off, she just collapsed and fell right on her face. She was evaluated at a top clinic as a suspected wobbler after basic exams but I could not afford the myelopathy and instead, just retired her. She was always somewhat stiff in the the neck and a rather stumbly horse but for some reason, she is extremely playful and is capable of rearing and walking around on her hind legs which always makes me wonder when speaking of hind limb malcoordination and weakness. Since she's been retired, she has been observed falling to her knees at various times when she goes to bring her head up from grazing too suddenly or recently, while dozing. I was advised to never ride her again, but sometimes, she seems just fine and I can't believe there is anything wrong with her. The vet recommends putting her to sleep before she falls on somebody or puts her eye out on something when she falls. She has also taken to kicking when her feet are picked up because she has too much energy and is not being handled regularly. The idea of this is heartbreaking to me as she was my first horse and I'm still not convinced that she really is a wobbler. Any thoughts on this anyone? Thanks.
Member:
jojo15

Posted on Friday, Oct 19, 2007 - 11:57 am:

Only you can decide really what's best. Is she living otherwise a perfect little life? I guess my thought would be to have her at home (do you?) so the cost was minimal. baby proof the area, so that you can minimize the injuries as best you can. See if their is a possibility that a university might do the test for you for other research on your horse? and play it by ear for awhile.

Taking care of an animal that is disabled in some way is tiring. you might find out in a few more months you can't handle it?

regarding the feet, i would be especially concerned with a farrier and her falling. And that you and he discuss all the factors. She needs to be trimmed regularily. Nothing says you can't train her on the ground. You just have to constantly be on your toes. seconding guessing every move. If you don't have the energy then that is part of your answer. You can never sell her. And she really can't be with other horses. or smaller animals. And please don't ever try to ride her again. is your life worth that risk?

Sooner or later the answer will come to you. And you'll feel ok about it. Just get as much information from here and others, and vets. and just take it all in. Till you decide what is best for your horse. not others.

How much does the definitive testing cost? maybe start saving up for it. If this is one of the reasons that will help you figure out what to do i'd try and get it done.
Member:
ekaufman

Posted on Friday, Oct 19, 2007 - 5:05 pm:

Hi Shelly,

I rescued an old lease horse of mine (TB, 25 at the time) who had the pattern of falling unexpectedly. Like yours, he was full of it and happy except when he would fall down suddenly. It's a very hard situation. You would not be wrong to put her down, and you would not be wrong to let her go along until she forces your hand some day (which she will).

Horses that fall down are not safe to ride, but I think you know that. A horse that age should stand for the farrier exercised or not. Imagine if all under-worked adult horses kicked at the shoer-- it would be an epidemic!

My old man lived with a few buddies (I trusted them not to get fallen on, and they never did) and also with bumps and bruises for as long as I thought he had good days left (2 years). He went crazy one day and began attacking the other horses. I had to drag him out of the pasture-- he had utterly lost his mind-- and I put him down on the spot. I never knew whether his crackup was related to the falling.

Good luck. It's difficult, but you should follow your gut, and do not give her another opportunity to hurt you or anyone else.

Welcome to HA!
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Saturday, Oct 20, 2007 - 10:40 am:

Welcome Shelly,
From your description it does sound like a dangerous horse to ride but I don't know if she is that more dangerous to be around than normal horses after all you are forewarned to be extra careful. Certainly if she is dangerous to handle euthanasia should be strongly contemplated. Even if not overtly dangerous, maintaining such a horse involves many expenses of time and money and it may still be your best choice but only you can decide this.
DrO
New Member:
cookie

Posted on Saturday, Oct 20, 2007 - 11:03 am:

Thanks for everyone's input. She has been living at a friend's farm for the past year but I still have to pay board of course, vet and farrier and groom her. She goes out with a pony and they don't seem to have any problems. She does seem to get a lot of cuts though so we suspect she may fall more often than we are seeing. Having read some of the articles on this site, her problem seems to be more in the front end and her right knee always seemed to me to unlock easily. I was advised not to waste the money on the myelopathy as the fact is, the horse is dangerous to ride whatever the problem is, having ruled out lameness etc. Some of my friends describe similar incidents with their horses after a stumble which always makes me wonder why mine is a wobbler but theirs isn't. However, a very experienced trainer told me it is NOT normal for a horse to ever fall like that at the walk and just to retire her. So far, the farrier hasn't had any problems with her kicking, just me and apparently the other day, my friend. She goes out in a small paddock there for half the day and is otherwise fat and happy but there is no room to lunge her if she gets too much energy and starts to misbehave. I'm reluctant to put her anywhere else as I have heard so many horror stories about people not taking care of horses that I did not want to subject her to that. I am horrified to hear about what happened to your horse Elizabeth. Will that eventually happen to poor Amber? Does it somehow progress to the brain? In that case, I am doing her no favor (or anyone else) by waiting until she 'forces my hand' to euthanasia. In the meantime, I bought another horse, which then went lame and still is over a year later after extensive rehabilitation and I'm on my third right now, a QH gelding.
Member:
ekaufman

Posted on Saturday, Oct 20, 2007 - 4:11 pm:

Hi Shelly,

I certainly didn't mean to imply that your horse falls down for the same reason mine did (apart from the old common cause of too much gravity!). My point was only that I had one that fell, and I chose to retire him, which was fine until one day suddenly it was not. I don't know what that means-- even sound horses rarely pass quietly in their sleep.

Good luck, and let us know what happens.
Member:
qh4me

Posted on Wednesday, Oct 24, 2007 - 4:30 pm:

Hi Shelly,

I can relate to your circumstance and went through the same decision as you are facing just over a year ago.
My 4 year old was diagnosed with wobblers. The only signs he had was he fell once in his stall and had a very stiff neck.
I took him to a clinic and they confirmed the condition by spinal xrays. From the xrays, they could see the impingement and didn't have to do the the myelopathy.

They warmed me that if I didn't euthanize then he had to be retired immediately, and would have to be handled with extreme caution due to his condition.
From what i was told, depending on the condition, it may or may not get worse. Each time they fall or roll, or run or play, they are always at risk of damaging it more. They told me I could have 2 days, 2 months, 2 years or a lifetime with him.

I too second guessed the diagnosis, as 99% of the time, he is 100% normal. But I continue to keep my guard up. My farrier and vets are aware of the condition and when working on him, we just use extreme caution. But I still enjoy grooming and all the time I get to spend with him and he will stay on our farm until the day he no longer is enjoying life.

As others have said, you are the only one that can make the decision of what is best for you and this horse. But there are people who are successfully living with wobblers.

I had started a wobblers discussion last year and I had some extremely great advice from other HA members. You may want to read it. It sure helped me.

HorseAdvice.com » Diseases of Horses » Nervous System » Incoordination, Weakness, Spasticity, Tremors » Wobblers or Cervical Stenotic Myelopathy » Wobblers confirmed in 3 1/2 year old gelding
Member:
teddyj1

Posted on Thursday, Oct 25, 2007 - 9:49 am:

Hi Shelly, we had a yearling filly at our farm that (long story short) was diagnosed with a Selenium/Vit E deficiency. The Vet also suspected Wobbler's , but the owners didn't want to do any further testing, so the Vet injected her with Selenium/Vit E, then put her on an oral SE/Vit E supplement. Amazingly she did improve; she was always a little week behind, but she definitely improved and got stronger. I think she's still doing well at this time. Just a thought, if you haven't tried the SE/Vit E supplement already.

Best,
TOD
New Member:
cookie

Posted on Thursday, Oct 25, 2007 - 11:35 am:

Hi everyone and thank you for your posts. I had the vet in yesterday to rasp her teeth and we did a basic trot up and tail pull to see if she was in pain or had become dangerously unbalanced. His conclusion was she seems to be no worse and is not suffering. His main worry is that she may go down and injure an eye on something or gash herself so we try to take precautions that there aren't any sharp objects in her paddock (but she always seems to find something). As long as we use caution when handling her he doesn't see why she can't continue her life as she is relatively happy. Thank you for the suggestion regarding the selenium/vitamin E. I did at one point read about the vitamin E thing, not selenium though, and I had her on a Vitamin E supplement for a few years while I was riding her. This may have helped her overall stiffness but did not prevent her from falling with me in the long run. A friend saw me at the barn yesterday with the vet and came running over asking me if I had "made any decisions" regarding Amber. My reply was, "Yes, I made the decision to have her teeth rasped!" and left it at that. This friend had been pressuring me to put my mare to sleep because of the unpredictable progression of the disease. I truly hope that no one is ever injured around Amber but I don't have the heart to put down such a spirited soul filled with joy and life. She is really fun to watch when she is playing and always brings a smile to my face with her silliness. I just cannot do it.
Member:
frances

Posted on Friday, Oct 26, 2007 - 8:28 am:

Hi Shelly. I wouldn't be able to either. And your vet is in agreement, so that's great support for you to have.

All the best to you and Amber (what a nice name!)
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