Help...my horse appeared to have a fit in the field today

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rebmw

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I'm quite bemused by what I saw today and thought I'd call on anyone's experience with regards to what I witnessed this afternoon.

My two horses had been out in their usual field for 7 hours today and when I went to get them in I could see from a distance that my 20 year old retired boy was lying down which isn't unusual. By the time I was getting closer he was laid out flat and the nearer I got I could see his back legs appeared to be paddling non stop like they were in spasm or something. My stomach dropped and I immediately thought the worst, broken back, pelvis or leg or definitely something which would be the end of him. This probably went on for a minute and then suddenly his front legs started thrashing around a bit and then quick as a flash he jumped up and trotted across the field completely sound. They both then trotted around with their tails up and acted completely normally. I was in shock as I was expecting to see him on three legs or something.

I walked them into the yard and he has acted completely normally since. He's bright, happy, eating and no sign of anything untoward regarding his limbs etc.

I can't believe he was dreaming as he had seen me walk through the gate to field and then laid out for the 2 minutes it took me to walk across the field so I'm now wondering could he have had a fit of some description?

It has been very unnerving as I really thought I'd be calling the vet out to have him put down and now he seems perfectly normal.

Any advice would be gratefully received
 
The best advice I can give is to ring your vet tomorrow and ask for a check-up. It isn't an emergency but it needs to be done soon.
It must have been very worrying but if you can find out what caused this, you will know what to do about it.
 
At 20 i would be more inclined to think he has had trouble getting up and has had to oomph himself. A fit would be more stiff, four legs sticking out in the air then a bit of a groggy abnormal behavior.

Keep an eye on him for soreness and do call your vet, but don't bury him yet :)
 
thank you for your replies.
Equi, about 3 years ago he had a little spell of struggling to get up after lying down and he would sit on his bottom before hauling himself up and ever since I have watched him like a hawk whenever he is laid down to make sure there isn't an issue there. He is kept at home so I can keep an eye on him generally. I don't think today had anything to do with getting up. To me it seemed like an uncontrolled movement in his legs, a rapid twitch
 
To be honest it does sound to me like he was having a dream. We have a horse who dreams like that in her stable and my 5-year-old is prone to similar things happening whilst flat-out in the field. It does look quite serious when they wave their legs around like that but I have got used to it now!

Normally when a human or animal has had a seizure there's a degree of grogginess / confusion as Equi said - like a sort of "waking up" period - and they don't return to completely normal behaviour / physical function straight away. If your horse he got up and bombed around the field immediately afterwards I'd think it unlikely to have been a seizure. But by all means talk to your vet if you're concerned - better safe than sorry.

Did you check his breathing / heart rate / temperature when you got him in?
 
I didn't check his tpr to be honest Joosie as I think I was just so relieved he seemed ok. I will chat to my vet and also turn him out in a field that I can see from the house so I can monitor him throughout the day
 
joosie said:
To be honest it does sound to me like he was having a dream. We have a horse who dreams like that in her stable and my 5-year-old is prone to similar things happening whilst flat-out in the field. It does look quite serious when they wave their legs around like that but I have got used to it now!

Normally when a human or animal has had a seizure there's a degree of grogginess / confusion as Equi said - like a sort of "waking up" period - and they don't return to completely normal behaviour / physical function straight away. If your horse he got up and bombed around the field immediately afterwards I'd think it unlikely to have been a seizure. But by all means talk to your vet if you're concerned - better safe than sorry.

Did you check his breathing / heart rate / temperature when you got him in?
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As the owner of an epileptic horse who had a seizure every 10 days if she didn't have medication I can assure you that every horse is different where seizures are concerned, and even the seizures themselves can be different from one time to another. I could watch mine have one, stop leaning on the wall and look around in a surprised manner then go back to eating her food quite normally as though nothing had happened. On many occasions I was riding her within the hour. I can also assure you that even if the vet came out today he will almost certainly not find a single thing wrong - there isn't anything to look for. OP - have you seen anything at all which now you think about it could have been a bit unusual? Him being a bit vacant, unusually excitable or aggressive, grazes on him. I see he is 20. What breed is he?
 
Thank you for your insight on seizures fatpiggy. I'm glad they haven't stopped your horse from having a normal life. My boy is a tb x. If I hadn't seen him do that yesterday I would have no concerns about him today as he is acting completely normal. I have a friend who is a vet so I'll chat to her about it later and just keep an eye on him for the time being
 
I've got an old TB type with cushings who last year went through a phase of switching off/ falling asleep - most noted when he had his head down in a bucket. It was as if he was taking a nap and would then just wake up and be like 'yummy, who put food in front of me!'
We didn't investigate, but I did speak to the vet who suggested it might be narcolepsy or some form of neuro symptoms from the cushings. It's been noticeable in the last 12 months that the cushings is obviously progressing.
 
rebmw said:
Thank you for your insight on seizures fatpiggy. I'm glad they haven't stopped your horse from having a normal life. My boy is a tb x. If I hadn't seen him do that yesterday I would have no concerns about him today as he is acting completely normal. I have a friend who is a vet so I'll chat to her about it later and just keep an eye on him for the time being
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Well she is gone now, but she made it to rising 30 and it was arthritis that saw her off. She did lead a completely normal life though, including competing at local RC shows. I was exceptionally fortunate as I was able to obtain the drugs to control her seizures (99.5% of vets today would refuse on the grounds of cost and many don't even know that control may be possible) - without them there would have been no hope for her. Bear in mind that if you did witness a seizure, it may never happen again so please don't worry unduly. It could be that he simply caught a nerve and it triggered seizure-like behaviour, a bit like having an electric shock. PM me if you want to chat about it.
 
Have a word with the vet if you're worried.

We've caught all of ours dreaming from time to time. The ponies tend to have eating dreams, but one of the ex racers used to have racing dreams - his legs would gallop and jump but he was sparko.
 
A horse I knew did something similar - went down in the stable, legs thrashed, we though he was dying but a couple of minutes later he sat up and then got up and appeared fine. Vets found nothing but said it could be a number of things including a brain tumour. He was fine with no symptoms for around 6 months, then he had another fit and this time when he went down he injured himself badly and had to be put down. I saw the initial fit and it was very obviously much more than just dreaming/struggling to get up - so if it looked like a fit to you then it probably was. Hope your boy is ok.
 
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