Competing a horse with wobblers

did you say anything to them SC?

I have never met a horse with wobblers but even if I just knew it was a neurological condition I think that would be enough for me not to ride it!
 
No never!

How did you know this horse had wobblers? Did they tell you? I ask because it is rarely blatantly obvious....
For example my horse was grade 2 but only became clear under ground tests and xrays.
 
Santa_Claus said:
Following on from stewarding at an event today and seeing a horse jumping with wobblers I know what my answer but would you ever jump a horse with wobblers?!
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Good grief no. I'm never getting on mine again unless all his neurological symptoms disappear. They must have a death wish to jump one. How did you know it was a wobbler?
 
1 it was obvious (it barely knew what to do with its back end) and 2 the owner admitted it outright but apparently 'it is fine to jump' lets just say the two rounds it jumped did not go well, and they are considering banning it from events but as she didn't admit it outright to a committee member its not a simple case!

Personally I wouldn't sit on a horse with that degree of lack of co-ordination never mind jump it!
 
Santa_Claus said:
1 it was obvious (it barely knew what to do with its back end) and 2 the owner admitted it outright but apparently 'it is fine to jump' lets just say the two rounds it jumped did not go well, and they are considering banning it from events but as she didn't admit it outright to a committee member its not a simple case!

Personally I wouldn't sit on a horse with that degree of lack of co-ordination never mind jump it!
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Well that is shocking. To put the horse in that situation is horrific. To be obviously ataxic and making the poor horse jump has made me feel sick. It could collapse at any point when walking - let alone jumping.

The rider must have no regard for the safety of the horse or indeed themselves!
 
Having had to put down my 5 year old last year due to him having wobblers I would never get on a horse with wobblers let alone jump one. He went from being a loving happy horse to being angry and unpredictable. He used to stand up on end and collapse without any given warning and started fitting towards the end, it was scary enough just leading him let alone getting on him! She must have a death wish :o
 
can I ask where you were stewarding? PM if better - I think I know the horse/rider but am fascinated to see if I'm right!!!

If its the horse Im thinking of, the girl was told to shoot it by vets but ignored advice....
 
Santa_Claus said:
1 it was obvious (it barely knew what to do with its back end) and 2 the owner admitted it outright but apparently 'it is fine to jump' lets just say the two rounds it jumped did not go well, and they are considering banning it from events but as she didn't admit it outright to a committee member its not a simple case!
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but if the horse looks 'wrong' it should not be that complicated a case, I'd be surprised if the club wasn't concerned from an insurance point of view either.
 
Santa_Claus said:
1 it was obvious (it barely knew what to do with its back end) and 2 the owner admitted it outright but apparently 'it is fine to jump' lets just say the two rounds it jumped did not go well, and they are considering banning it from events but as she didn't admit it outright to a committee member its not a simple case!

Personally I wouldn't sit on a horse with that degree of lack of co-ordination never mind jump it!
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I am stunned. I have a wobbler just diagnosed and I would no sooner think of getting on his back than I would of cutting my own throat. What disgusting owners to jump an ataxic horse :mad: The poor creature :o
 
I think people can be very quick to say a horse has wobblers though when I doesn't look right. Agree horse sounds like in no way should be ridden but may not be wobblers
 
In this case the owner admitted to several people it had been diagnosed so we were left with very little doubt especially in conjunction with how it moved.

It left next to no jumps up but that wasn't surprising and didn't get round the second course at all!
 
To be quite honest for everybodies safety and for the horses welfare I would have no problem reporting it to the RSPCA etc .I cannot think of one vet who would diagnose a wobbler and say it can still be ridden.
I would never advocate this action but would make an exception in this case.
 
ester said:
but if the horse looks 'wrong' it should not be that complicated a case, I'd be surprised if the club wasn't concerned from an insurance point of view either.
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The trouble is with wobblers, or at least in my horse's case it was not always the case that he was ataxic. Sometimes he would do a double clear in Discovery classes and the next day feel strange to ride. But he wasn't diagnosed until months later, he was still jumping fine in the April but was put to sleep in the June of the same year.

So it is not always clearly black and white. The OP has made me slightly uncomfortable as I had recently replied to a post by CPTRAYES about competing my horse as a wobbler and I would hate anyone to think I hadn't had his best interests at heart at the time and that I competed Rommy knowing that he had that. The girl riding the horse that the op refers to might have been told by her vet to carry on, no one really knows.

As we were clueless as to what it was, as was the vet and chiro we were not to know either.
 
applecart14 said:
The trouble is with wobblers, or at least in my horse's case it was not always the case that he was ataxic. Sometimes he would do a double clear in Discovery classes and the next day feel strange to ride. But he wasn't diagnosed until months later, he was still jumping fine in the April but was put to sleep in the June of the same year.

So it is not always clearly black and white. The OP has made me slightly uncomfortable as I had recently replied to a post by CPTRAYES about competing my horse as a wobbler and I would hate anyone to think I hadn't had his best interests at heart at the time and that I competed Rommy knowing that he had that. The girl riding the horse that the op refers to might have been told by her vet to carry on, no one really knows.

As we were clueless as to what it was, as was the vet and chiro we were not to know either.
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I think the key difference here is that they clearly do know (well at the very least the owner knows) :( That's what is more shocking. Your example is pre diagnosis whereas the horse in OP has been diagnosed as a wobbler. Poor horse.
 
Wobblers can be ridden, as Applecart says. It depends on how bad they are. I found out yesterday about one horse competing Grand Prix Dressage with wobblers under control and another at Medium. But riding an obviously ataxic horse, especially jumping it, is obnoxious, quite apart from desperately unsafe. With mine in intensive physio right now, I feel so desperately sorry for that horse that it does not have a better owner :(
 
When my horse was diagnosed with wobblers i was told that there are a fair amount of top dressage horses with wobblers that still compete.
 
I wouldnt compete not BUT as someone else said yes there are a lot of horses with mild ataxia that are being ridden and the riders have no idea.
I have a horse with mild ataxia, yes i ride him still just quiet walk trot trans to keep him aware of his legs in the sand school only. The vets at Bell Equine said fine to ride still, ive chosen not to hack out as he is a bit of a spanner sometimes.
 
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