Has anyone's horse recovered from neurological issues?

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poiuytrewq

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Obviously I know under such a wide umbrella results and recovery rates are seriously going to vary but I'd like to hear other owners stories and end outcomes please.
 
You can have slight neuro issues that come from arthritis in the neck which may show as a 'tail sway fail' and means the horse has a particular way of moving which can be eradicated partly or completely when its neck is medicated (steroid).Or you can have a neuro issue which manifests itself into wobblers which causes the horse lack of co-ordination planting one foot on top of another and being dangerous to lead or handle due to the incapacity of the horse to understand where to place its limbs, an operation seen as a pointless exercise due to damage already sustained to the spinal column (huge calcification deposits).Seen both on other liveries horses and the latter horse in question was pts.It is, as you say a very wide umbrella.
 
My horse had Wobblers, slight tail pull reaction but no other symptoms. In full ridden work but was not a sturdy horse (in the sense that you could tell he was choosy about where to put his feet, rather than other horses who stamp down and charge on) but I only really noticed this when I hacked my friends eventer, otherwise I wouldn't have realised. Xrya of neck as a 2yo so definite compression.

He was PTS due to navicular in the end so unrelated.
 
Mine had a serious restriction of C3, a step between C3 and C4, and C4 had broken into several pieces at the joining edge. He was a very capable dressage horse until ten, when he suddenly became seriously ataxic, had the x rays, and was put down.

I was told that the condition gives them a huge trot, and there are many dressage horses with it.
 
ycbm said:
Mine had a serious restriction of C3, a step between C3 and C4, and C4 had broken into several pieces at the joining edge. He was a very capable dressage horse until ten, when he suddenly became seriously ataxic, had the x rays, and was put down.

I was told that the condition gives them a huge trot, and there are many dressage horses with it.
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Yes my friends horse was pts with wobblers at ten or eleven and you could describe him as having an extravagant front end movement, lifted quite high at the knee and one day was confused with a hackney when her and a friend explained to a stranger that the horse in the field was a hackney and my friends horse came trotting over and the stranger said 'yes I can see its a hackney all right'.Also this kind of horse can be very, very strong through the neck whilst leading and have a very strange canter.her horse was jumping discovery until a few months before pts.
 
Have a look on shoestring eventing blog, there is a pony there that has recovered from a neurological issue
 
hopscotch bandit said:
Yes my friends horse was pts with wobblers at ten or eleven and you could describe him as having an extravagant front end movement, lifted quite high at the knee and one day was confused with a hackney when her and a friend explained to a stranger that the horse in the field was a hackney and my friends horse came trotting over and the stranger said 'yes I can see its a hackney all right'.Also this kind of horse can be very, very strong through the neck whilst leading and have a very strange canter.her horse was jumping discovery until a few months before pts.
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Mine was impossible to lead anywhere away from other horses without a chifney or a curb bit, but his canter was beautiful and he was doing three time tempis shortly before his neck went. His power was all from behind, he didn't have extravagant front end knee lift, but his suspension and cadence were superb. I figured he needed to stay in the air a long time to work out where to put his feet when he came down to earth again :) He would not jump.
 
Mine had extravagant paces, not high knee, just lovely movement. He started to be ataxic last spring, but his X rays were not catastrophic. Our vet recommended a course of steroids orally to try to calm down whatever was causing the spinal column to be compressed, as the actual channel was not as bad as you would expect.

The treatment did improve him a lot, to the point where we had last summer hacking round the lanes. In October he came down with me three times, so I stopped riding him (the first time was a stony track, so I thought it was just one of those things. The second we had gone out for an hour and a half, which was longer than normal, so I thought that was just too far, the third time was as we set off so I stopped riding). It seemed to progress over winter to the point he fell as I led him in from the field. He generally looked fine if trotting along, but was not good when turning in his own space such as in the stable.

He was PTS in March.
 
dixie said:
https://shoestringeventing.co.uk/Blog/Default/0/0/

It's Ellie and you'll need to scroll through for the full story. It's quite interesting.
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I think this is probably a very unusual case. Most neurological problems seem to be caused either by physical impingement that can't be removed or EHV. From the blog:


Ellie was examined outside and undertook a variety of neurological tests as well as being x rayed. To quote vet Richard Hepburn 'you can't get more positive than this'. She showed no evidence of any neurological problems and the x rays were textbook. It is most likely she had a cyst that caused the problem which is gone now thanks to the injections. This is unlikely to come back and the very worst case scenario is she will need a jab every few years. However we can be confident now that her competition career will be unaffected moving forward which is the main thing.
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My cob became very ill in 2010 and was diagnosed with Polyneuritis Equi. The prognosis was grave and he became very ill very quickly - the vet thought he had a couple of weeks or so to live. He continued to decline in health for a couple of weeks; in the meantime I read into his illness and did my best for him with nursing. He stabilised for a while and then after 6 months made a good recovery but was left with a paralysed tail. He was in remission for 4 years before the illness returned with a vengeance in 2014.
 
Mine became ill literally within hours. Unable to walk, see eat drink wee or poo (vets did it all for him)
He's ok now after intensive care for a week he recovered.
He's been back in work 3 weeks but I notice he seems to tire very easily and isn't quite himself but wondered if that's a usual thing and he may still come right.
I'm not complaining by any means, at one point he was given an hour to show some kind of sign of recovery so I'm incredibly grateful to be where we are. I know tiredness is a long lasting sign of human brain injury so wondered if it was to be expected
 
There will be some old posts of Kerillis if you fancied looking them up about her foal/youngster that had a field accident and made some recovery
 
Sadly, I have rather too much experience with neurological issues, and have been very unlucky.

My first experience was a mare with polyneuritis equi - we lost her within 6 weeks of first symptoms. Deterioration was fast. Symptoms were inability to fully control back end, including peeing.

Next experience took us a couple of incidences to work it out. We now know we have mycotoxins on one of our fields (no longer used). The first pony we lost to it went blind and lost full control of her back end, but was initially thought to have had a stroke type event. She survived the initial hit of it, regained some of her vision, and became steadier. But she went downhill a year later and was PTS. A couple of years later, I had two ponies get the same symptoms, so we then realised we had a problem on this field. One pony went into heart failure and was PTS when she went down with no prospect of recovery. The other stabilised, but was left completely blind, and weak behind. He found being blind terrifying and was a danger to himself and others. He was PTS on vets advice. A year later, we were told we would be safe to use this field in dry weather, so we did. Sadly, we had another pony hit by this illness. Same symptoms. She is still with us a couple of years later. She did regain some of her sight, and some of her hind end. But she is left with some permanent damage. She does not have full control behind - her movement is a bit odd. She can get up & down, walk, trot, canter, buck, etc. But she's just not right behind. She will never work, nor have foals, which was the original plan. She also is a bit neurological in terms of she has 'tics'. Day to day, they don't show much. But if she is stressed, they do. Along with the others, she also chews/swallows slightly differently. She has had one episode of choke. For now, I am confident she is happy in the field, and we just take it day by day. But any further problems, and I would PTS - any more choke, for example.

Finally, four weeks ago, one of my ponies had a field accident. We don't know for sure what happened, but it would appear that he took a blow to the head - presumably from the hooves of one of his field mates. It has been a very tough four weeks. Initially, he was completely recumbent. I was having to roll him daily to be able to keep him from laying in urine & faeces and stop his skin being damaged. After a few days we were able to walk him a short distance using a sling to support him. He has now recovered to the point where he can walk & trot, get up & down unaided. He can't yet canter or have a hoolie, without almost falling over. He has a pronounced head tilt. Vets prognosis is that he will recover to a point where he can be field sound, but we don't think he will ever return to work. I am hoping to goodness that he will prove us all wrong.

Neurological issues are so varied. And the causes too - so you need to look at the specific type you're interested in, not the whole lot. Polyneuritis equi, our mare was affected in the nerves in her spine. Mycotoxins turn the brain to jelly. Traumatic brain injury occurs when the brain itself is injured. So all very different causes, and as such, different outcomes.
 
poiuytrewq said:
Mine became ill literally within hours. Unable to walk, see eat drink wee or poo (vets did it all for him)
He's ok now after intensive care for a week he recovered.
He's been back in work 3 weeks but I notice he seems to tire very easily and isn't quite himself but wondered if that's a usual thing and he may still come right.
I'm not complaining by any means, at one point he was given an hour to show some kind of sign of recovery so I'm incredibly grateful to be where we are. I know tiredness is a long lasting sign of human brain injury so wondered if it was to be expected
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I went against my vet's advice and retired Jasper. I used to hack alone a lot and my family were concerned that Jasper might have a 'turn' whilst I was riding and I'd end up in a cob sandwich. So little was/is known about the illness. He appeared normal but the paralysed tail was a reminder that it hadn't really gone away.

Yes, been there with the nursing - I got to know Jasper's rear end intimately every 3 hours... for 6 months until he regained sensation and muscle control. I was at my wits end with it all when a friend recommended a very good equine physiotherapist and with the vet's approval he had a treatment which proved to be a turning point - within 3 days he'd regained bladder control.

Wishing you and your horse well - it's not easy and it's a worry but the extra 4 years I got are very precious to me - he owed me nothing and was a wonderful horse and seeing him happy and well was worth it.
 
poiuytrewq said:
Mine became ill literally within hours. Unable to walk, see eat drink wee or poo (vets did it all for him)
He's ok now after intensive care for a week he recovered.
He's been back in work 3 weeks but I notice he seems to tire very easily and isn't quite himself but wondered if that's a usual thing and he may still come right.
I'm not complaining by any means, at one point he was given an hour to show some kind of sign of recovery so I'm incredibly grateful to be where we are. I know tiredness is a long lasting sign of human brain injury so wondered if it was to be expected
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My gelding nearly had to be PTS this time last year, from what we now believe to be a brain cyst (at the time he was scoped to rule that out- so was either a tumour or cyst- luckily cyst)
one day he had a slightly bloody nostril. but was fine in himself. vet came and felt it must be a reaction to something, so gave steroids. As there was clearly no impact injury from something like a kick.
then a week later he was lying in the field on his side and would not get up for breakfast. I ran over, thought he was dead. He slowly lifted his head- blood from both nostrils. i managed to coax him up and into the barn. Vet scoped and there was nothing in this nostrils/airway. so concluded it was a tumour or cyst (not wanting to go to admitting for CT scan stress for horse and cost). He could not see out of one eye- massive lump just above it. It was horrible to see.
he got given strong painkillers and anti-biotics, and by that afternoon he had perked up considerably. So decided to turn him back out with his mates- as although he was slow and only had one eye to see out of, he was eating and we figured if he had to be PTS soon he needs to enjoy his time.
gave him daily but and strong anti-biotics, kept him out in the field. He was certainly going slow, but eating, only dropped a little weight. the first week he still looked so low and pained that I nearly got him PTS, but he was still grazing with his mates, so I figured give him one more week unless anything suddenly went rapidly down hill.
well gave him that week- swelling started to reduce and eye open up. not bleeding much. perking up. so gave him another 2 weeks of painkillers and anti-biotics, then another 2 weeks. then stops anti-biotics. gradually the lump went down over many months, and now a year later he is still here- retired in the field.

but he got lucky- it must of been a cyst caused by some sort of infection.

he was not well at all for a few weeks- I chose to keep him alive as felt he still had some strength left, but it was so hard to decide. obviously it worked out for the best, but I worried I was dragging out his suffering if he didn't improve.

he is 19 now anyway and was ready to retire, but I'm also not sure I would want to ride him- I can't help but worry that there may be some underlying damage to his brain that could cause a collapse. I did briefly ride him about 4 months after he was first ill and he was so slow and plodding even then. And although he is old, this was particularly slow.
 
ycbm said:
but his canter was beautiful and he was doing three time tempis shortly before his neck went. He would not jump.
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Surprising as they normally have a funny transition, if you watch https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBEUScbWXRI this you see a 3 yr old wobblers with the distinctive bunny hop canter.Friends only jumped as it was undiagnosed at the time and they had no idea it had this condition.Suppose it depends on the degree of impairment.
 
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