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  Discussion on EPM or possibly something else?
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New Member:
shawnt

Posted on Saturday, Oct 18, 2008 - 2:32 pm:

Last year I bought a 5 yo QH gelding. When I got him home, I noticed his back end when walking seemed as if they were "searching" for a place to land and when they did, they kind of "slapped" the ground. In addition to this I also noticed when he eats he tilts his head to one side and sometimes looks dizzy when working. These issues have been going the past year, but, I had been having some other issues with him and took him to see a lameness vet who immediately picked up on his back end(did not even mention this to him) end probs when I turned him for some hindquarters. He then did a precursory neuro test with doing circles and even went so far as to cross his hind legs--my gelding seemed not to have a clue they were crossed.

I asked the vet to do an EPM blot test...it came back positive. The vet said chances are he does have it being that he is showing signs. We decided not to treat, being that the signs are so subtle at this point, and I want to make sure I can see a definite improvement before spending $$ on the treatment. But after reading here, it seems there are so many other things it could be....I guess I am just asking whether or not to go ahead and treat....I do want to sell him, I have come off him a couple of good times and quite frankly, even though it was pain oriented ejection of me on his part, it scared me enough not to want to ride him again. Thank you for any advice you might have.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Sunday, Oct 19, 2008 - 9:05 am:

Welcome SawanT,
I remain uncertain of what is going on with your horse. The tilting of his head while he is eating does not have much significance other than to check for teeth and mouth problems. Whey you say he looks dizzy, what exactly is he doing to make you think so? During the neuro exam were there any other abnormal findings beside the placement test? The placement test is not by itself a reliable indicator which you can hang your hat on as many passive horses with no health problems will try to accommodate whatever you try to do with them. Abnormals are suggestive however.

At the bottom, if you and your veterinarian are convinced there is incoordination, treatment for EPM is really one of your few hopes for improvement but after a year's time EPM lesions tend to become "fixed". As to selling this horse ShawnT if it turns out you have bought a horse that was incoordinated and remains so you should reconsider sending this problem along to someone at least without revealing the nature of the problem.
DrO
New Member:
shawnt

Posted on Monday, Oct 20, 2008 - 8:11 pm:

Thank you Dr. O. for your response. As for selling him, I would make sure the buyer knew of what is going on. I personally couldn't sell w/o disclosing, that is just my nature.

As for the test, we did the blot test, and in doing circles, continual circumduction (is this the correct term?) in both directions was noticed along with the crossing of hind legs. When I bought him, I just thought he was being lazy and didn't want to work, he isn't mean about anything and will most certainly try to do what you ask of him. What is considered abnormal and what would they do in a more in depth exam to determine if it is EPM?

In your experiences, are most horses that are diagnosed with this, pretty rideable? I have only heard about the cases where it progressed to where the horse was so far "gone" with it's coordination they had to be put down.

So far, his gaits are pretty good. I haven't noticed any incoordination other than what the vet has done. I am keeping a close eye on him and just want to do what is best for him.

As for the head tilt, I guess I am not as worried. The vet has said it is probably TMJ related and my chiro is helping me out with that and he seems pretty comfortable after his adjustments.

Thank you for your insight into this. It is most appreciated.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Tuesday, Oct 21, 2008 - 5:57 am:

For more on the diagnosis of EPM check out Diseases of Horses » Nervous System » Incoordination, Weakness, Spasticity, Tremors » EPM, Equine Protozoal Myeloencephalitis.

Concerning diagnosis and whether the horse can be ridden it depends on what you mean by diagnosis. The vast majority of the horses with a positive lab test for EPM do not have any symptoms. Those with long standing incoordination have a poor prognosis for improvement with treatment and I would not recommend you ride an incoordinated horse. There is more about all this in the EPM article.
DrO
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