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  Discussion on Endurance mare tyed up
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New Member:
barefoot

Posted on Wednesday, Jun 18, 2008 - 12:07 pm:

I have a 12 year old Arab mare that I do some endurance riding with. She has tying up a few years ago due to being out of shape and a trainer getting her mentally worked up and making her gallop in a small circle in deep footing.
2 weeks ago she whacked her knee on a post and I didn't ride her for 2 weeks just to be safe as we were going to a 50 mile race on June 14th. She was never lame on the knee but it was swollen. After 3 days the swelling was gone but still gave her the extra time off. So after the 2 weeks off for the knee I took her out for a light trail ride to make sure she was moving well and would be OK to go to the endurance ride. Before hitting her knee I was riding her 4 days a week, the longest conditioning ride being 20 miles. She was in excellent shape! So I got 1.5 miles down the trail when she DrOpped her head to the ground, I got off and her left hind quarter was shaking and she had a very hard time stepping forward with the left hind. Got her home gave her 2mg bute. She ate well but very sore to the touch on the left hind. She never had any sweating. In the past tye up she was soaked with sweat all night. In the morning she was walking normally and trotting, her pea was very clear never did get dark that I saw. My vet came out to look at her Thursday and said it must have been mild because she was moving nicely. I decided not to risk taking her to the ride on Saturday. My vet said to go ahead and ride her lightly on Sunday and see how she does. I did ride her and she was good until about 1,000 yards from the trailer she felt stiff again on the left hind, I got off and she was a bit stiff but walked to the trailer fine and got on. When I unloaded her she was a bit ginger getting off. Again gave her bute 1mg and she looked fine in the morning moving and trotting on her own.
So I'm now trying to figure out what caused the tye up. Yes she was very fit before the 2 weeks off which I think the time off could have caused it. After a 50 mile race we always give our horses 2 weeks off and haven't had a tye up issue for that. I did make some feed changes a month before the tying up.
She was on 4 pounds per day Nutrene XTN grain its low sugar low starch. 12% protein 10% fat, I give horse guard vitamins(has 3mg selenium in it) 1/4 cup flax She was on 24/7 turnout.
I switched her Purina Ultium, its also low starch and sugar 11% protein 10% fat, supplements the same.
After she whacked her knee and I wasn't riding her I started giving her soaked alfalfa pellets as a treat about 3 or 4 cups per day. I have a friend that switched to the Purina Ultium and her mare tyed up as well? Could the added alfalfa pellets caused a Cal/Phos imbalance because I wasn't working her? I'm trying to figure out where I went wrong and how to get her back on track.
thank you
diane
washington state
Member:
ekaufman

Posted on Wednesday, Jun 18, 2008 - 12:50 pm:

Hi Diane,

Welcome to HA. I'm no vet, but I don't see enough information here yet to guess at what might be happening.

Did your vet perform an exam and/or draw blood? Bloodwork followed possibly by a lameness exam would be helpful in figuring out what is troubling your mare. As the article associated with this topic describes, there are specific enzymes associated with tying up that can persist in the blood for quite a while after the incident.

But I can think of several different things that could cause this problem (again, not a vet!), so I'd be working on a diagnostic plan with my vet to find out what's wrong. Check out the article-- very very helpful. And good luck with her.
New Member:
barefoot

Posted on Wednesday, Jun 18, 2008 - 3:46 pm:

Hi
My vet did a lameness exam the next day and the mare look great he said he saw nothing in her movement that looked concerning. Her urine was a nice clear color as well. He did say taking blood so soon after a tye up wouldn't give answers as far as abnormal levels because the CK and other things would be out of whack.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Wednesday, Jun 18, 2008 - 11:11 pm:

Welcome Diane S,
Tying up following a period of rest for high performance horse is a common event though not always understood but first we need to establish the cause of the lameness. The description you provide is not clearly that of a tied up horse. I an uncertain what your vet is saying and as stated by you incorrect: muscle enzymes would have been helpful in the possible diagnosis of tying-up. For more on thie clinical appearance and diagnosis, including the significance of muscle enzyme levels in the serum see the article on rhabdomyolysis.
DrO
New Member:
barefoot

Posted on Wednesday, Jun 18, 2008 - 11:51 pm:

She was definatly tying up. She tyed up 3 years ago and this looked the same just not as severe no sweating like in the past but the hind quarters were spasming she would flinch when I would raise my hands to touch her hind end.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Thursday, Jun 19, 2008 - 7:57 am:

Assuming you are correct, I cannot rule out the "Recurrent group" but think she fits in the "Sporadic group" best as described in the article.
DrO
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