A shiverer - anyone got any useful tips?

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tantallon

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Just as the post title please - I have taken on a mare with the shivers and wonder if any of you have any helpful tips to pass on - I would love any info on things you have found that genuinely help/hinder the condition etc
thanks
 
We have had some success in easing the symptoms by cutting out all cereals, and introducing a very light and regular work programme. However there is no cure. Some of the more severe cases can't be relieved in any way and the cndition is progressive and deteriorates. Please be very careful if you are considering riding this mare. The horse with shivers is sometimes unaware of where its hind feet have been placed, especially on eneven ground.
 
classicalfan said:
We have had some success in easing the symptoms by cutting out all cereals, and introducing a very light and regular work programme. However there is no cure. Some of the more severe cases can't be relieved in any way and the cndition is progressive and deteriorates. Please be very careful if you are considering riding this mare. The horse with shivers is sometimes unaware of where its hind feet have been placed, especially on eneven ground.
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Thanks classicalfan - I am aware condition is progressive etc and all the possible pitfalls - like you I have her on a gentle riding programme and she is pretty much on a fibre diet. At the moment she shows no signs of this while being ridden but I will not ride her again if she does ever show signs under saddle. The mare is under no pressure with me so just playing it by ear with her - have you ever gone down the route of the high oil diet? Interested to hear if this has ever really made a difference to a shiverer or not
 
If the horse is a poor doer then we add oil to lucern granules. However, we have found the problem of feeding high oil content is that many horses won't eat it - 250cl seems to be the max per feed but I guess all horses are different and some won't touch it with just a drop in their feed. The other problem is the fact that the higher the oil content the less gets digested and has a somewhat laxative effect, so it continues to be a balancing act.

Good luck with your mare and fingers crossed that she avoids any progression of the condition.
 
I share a mare that is a shiverer due to an accident when she was younger, she is now 16yrs old. She has hunted with the Bloodhounds for a number of years, competed in RC championships hunter trials, had a lovely foal and still loves life even though we are now a happy hacker. She loves to jump although more comfortable doing so if it is cross country rather than showjumping due to being in straight lines rather than the confines and sharp turns of an arena.

I tried her on oil earlier this year as she was also getting similar symptoms to stringhalt but to be honest it had no effect and if anything she dropped condition. Her evening feed is a bit of supplement heaven as she has three scoops of biotin (terrible feet along with her wonkiness), garlic, and now a feed balancer which does seem to be helping her pick up condition again. Her main problem is when being shod or anything where you have to pick up the hind feet. We keep her on one Danilone a day and up it to two sachets the day before the visit to the farrier, lunging her for 20 mins before the farrier starts work on her also helps. she doesn't seem to have a shivering problem when being ridden other than when first led out, although occasionally she gets a hind leg slightly locked for one or two strides in walk. We were also given some exercises to do with her to strengthen her core which involves pulling her tail! Sounds weird but you can see the muscles working as she resist the pull. As long as she is enjoying life and nothing dangerous is happening she will continue to be ridden after that decisions would have to be made as she isn't a horse that would enjoy being a field ornament.

Sorry I've just seen how long I've rambled for!
 
My horse shivers, it was diagnosed when he was 5 I think and he's now 16. It doesn't really affect his day to day life much though he struggles to pick up his RH (for picking out and farrier). It's a fairly mild shiver in the grand scheme of things though this year it has started slightly in his LH too, but that was to be expected eventually. The only thing it affects is having him shod - new farrier told me the first time he shod him that there will come a point when he can't shoe him, though will be able to trim his feet. To pick the RH up he needs to be able to lean against a wall for support (leans the whole left side of his body against a wall to support himself). He also has to have a couple of bute before being shod as it stops him from being so uncomfortable, and ideally needs to have been turned out (ie not standing in all day as this makes him stiff and he's always difficult to shoe if he's been in).

I do have to be careful what I feed him - anything with a lot of sugar/starch makes him seize up. He can't have any prepared mixes, particularly high energy ones like competition mix etc. Something in it, presumably the sugars and starch, makes his shivers much worse. I've been feeding plain feeds for years and this year moved him onto just Simple System alfalfa with crushed oats when I need extra energy. I tried the high oil diet but couldn't get him to eat the right amount of oil. But... I am feeding whole ground linseed now (for arthritis) and he will happily eat that.

The shivers don't affect his ridden work, or certainly not at the level we're at. He also has arthritis (spavins and ringbone) which have far more effect on his soundness and the work he's capable of. I've done everything with him - DR, SJ, XC, hacking, hunting - and the shivers haven't affected any of it. The ringbone is his limiting factor! He just needs a good warm up, proper cool down and seems to benefit from never being fully clipped out. The last couple of years I've just given him a blanket clip, rather than hunter/full, and he seems much better with his back and HQs kept warm.
 
I have a 26yr old shiverer. I was told that the less work he does the better the symptoms will be. I have actually found the complete opposite to this, he gets quite stiff when not in regular work and this affects his shivers more. I was once told a high protein diets helps, however I cant say for certain whether or not it does. One thing though, if you pick up the affected leg and it goes into a spasm, dont force the horse to hold it there, let it go and restart. My lad has a 'fear' of having his affected leg touched (took 4 months before i could touch it properly) because he has been forced to hold it up in past. He still wont lift it up for me but he is getting there :)
 
Thanks for all the answers there are some really interesting bits in there. My mare is definitely improving as she does more ridden work. Interestingly there are a couple of odd tight ligaments in the hindquarters which take the tension when she shivers. One side has completely smoothed out and they are easing on the worse side. I am a bit loath to put her on a high oil diet as she was fat when I got her, she is slimming off now though. Her feeding is a plain, high fibre low energy feed and she is doing great on that. Great to hear of shiverers leading useful ridden lives - my mare shows no signs when you are riding her so I am just going to keep my fingers crossed that her progression is very slow, although I am realistic about it all but we will see :)
 
I found the same as RolyPolyPony - the more work my horse does, the better his shivers are. Same goes for turnout...the more turnout, the better he is.

He also gets tight hamstrings because of it so he has regular (every 4-5 months) physio to help with this.

I wouldn't have thought a high protein diet would be much good - surely this risks a horse tying up?
 
Fabio has mild stringhalt and is much better when worked more. He's also turned out 24/7 with a shelter which i think helps. Its not apparent when ridden and he happily jumps, hacks, schools. Only noticable when he's in the field and he'll occasionally lift his back leg up for a moment! He's not on a high oil diet but he's a fairly good doer and has some beet with showshine chaff and a glug of oil along with BOSS - add oats to this for some zing! Seems to do well on that.
 
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