Horse collapsing under saddle - any experiences...?

Don’t give up on him without getting him seen by a decent vet first, it could be something relatively easy to diagnose and then treat, like spavins, as GS says.

It’s OK to make it clear from the outset that he is not insured. Basic diagnostics shouldn’t be too spendy as long as your vet is clued up.

Have you got any of this on video, it could help the vet to see it.
 
I had a general genetic test done on mine with Etalon colours/inherited disease and other traits it cost me $99 3 years ago
I know some people don't like Etalon but I was happy with their service/results. A lot of new things have been added since I had this done
This is part of what I got back

Health Genetics 1
Immune System
Foal Immunodeficiency Syndrome -/- SLC5A3 No Foal Immunodeficiency Syndrome allelesdetected.More about fis
Severe Combined Immunodeficiency -/- DNAPK No Severe Combined Immunodeficiency allelesdetected.More about scid
West Nile* +/- OAS1 WNVR*/n - Increased susceptibility to West NileVirus.More about WNVR*
Muscle Disorders
Glycogen Branching EnzymeDeficiency-/- GBE1 No Glycogen Branching Enzyme Deficiency allelesdetected.More about gbed
Hyperkalemic Periodic Paralysis -/- SCN4A No Hyperkalemic Periodic Paralysis alleles detected.More about HYPP
Malignant Hyperthermia -/- RYR1 No Malignant Hyperthermia alleles detected. More about MH
Myotonia -/- CLCN4 No Myotonia alleles detected. More about myt
Polysaccharide Storage Myopathy(type 1)-/- GYS1 No Polysaccharide Storage Myopathy (type 1)alleles detected.More about PSSM1
Neurologic Disorders
Cerebellar Abiotrophy -/- MUTYH No Cerebellar Abiotrophy alleles detected. More about ca
Lavender Foal Syndrome -/- MYO5A No Lavender Foal Syndrome alleles detected. More about lfs
Reproductive Disorders
Androgen Insensitivity -/- AR No Androgen Insensitivity alleles detected. More about as
IAR - Subfertility* -/-,+/- FKBP6 One IAR Subfertility* allele detected; likely no effect. More about iar*
Skin Disorders
Hereditary Equine Regional DermalAsthenia-/- PPIB No Hereditary Equine Regional Dermal Astheniaalleles detected.More about herda
Junctional Epidermolysa Bullosis(type 1)-/- LAMC2 No Junctional Epidermolysa Bullosis (type 1) allelesdetected.More about jeb1
Junctional Epidermolysa Bullosis(type 2*)-/- LAMA3 No Junctional Epidermolysa Bullosis (type 2*)alleles detected.More about jeb2*
Warmblood Fragile Foal Syndrome -/- PLOD1 No Warmblood Fragile Foal Syndrome allelesdetected.More about WFFS
 
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The vet should at least be able to come and listen to his heart and that would not be too pricey.

Slightly out of the box here but I would get him tested for tape worm my pony collapsed a few years back and vet thought it might be his heart. Luckily he was insured so had an ECG and heart scan and his heart was perfect. To cut a long story short turned he really bad tape worm infestation despite being on a worming programme. He became really poorly because if I expect his stomach very uncomfortable. Once the tapeworm was treated he was better. So perhaps check out the cheap easy things first.

What the vet did tell me at the time was that serious heart problems in horses are rare.
 
If he is dragging a toe he is probably lame, he may well be lame and have ulcers- potentially fixable.
He may also have a heart problem.
Your first step is to get a decent equine vet out to exmaine him for lameness and scope him, if all normal then reassess how much money you want to spend, if problem found you can then have info as to how much it will be to fix
 
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Very worrying for you C :( I remember he failed the vet when you bought him, but I don't know what for. Could this be connected?

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My wobbler used to drag both hinds, he also collapsed a few times when doing girth up and also became disunited a lot. I’d have a look online at the basic neurological tests you can try at home such as walking them backward and pulling their tails to see if they are able to brace against or they lose balance. Hopefully he’s not but sounds like a wobbler to me ☹️
 
He failed the vet on being lame in front - however, he was and still is barefoot & was being lunged on concrete with loose stones on it. So a bit ouchy. And flexion on one hock. He has been 100% sound in front with a good trimmer, a good b/f diet & work on varied terrain.

Yeah, I have to say that I am thinking wobbler or similar. I have had an EPSM & it's nothing like that. He has also felt a few times that he weas going to go down on the recovery/canter away from a jump, but I just thought it was young, inexperienced slightly uncoordinated horse thing.... Maybe he landed in a deep bit of the school/whatever. But now with hindsight I'm thinking, h'mm.
 
catembi said:
He failed the vet on being lame in front - however, he was and still is barefoot & was being lunged on concrete with loose stones on it. So a bit ouchy. And flexion on one hock. He has been 100% sound in front with a good trimmer, a good b/f diet & work on varied terrain.

Yeah, I have to say that I am thinking wobbler or similar. I have had an EPSM & it's nothing like that. He has also felt a few times that he weas going to go down on the recovery/canter away from a jump, but I just thought it was young, inexperienced slightly uncoordinated horse thing.... Maybe he landed in a deep bit of the school/whatever. But now with hindsight I'm thinking, h'mm.
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Common things are common. He failed on a hock flexion, start with the hocks.

You can pretty much rule out wobblers by doing the neuro tests yourself. Do a search, Hopscotch Bandit pointed to a good article describing them on a thread a few months ago.

.
 
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'Hocks or stifles' is what sprung to my mind (disunited in canter, toe dragging, unable to put weight properly on hind legs etc). Relatively inexpensive to rule those out too. I do have to say I have a bone spavin horse and one with weak stifles and neither are field ornaments. But then again neither are able to jump, and one can only be described as a happy hacker.
 
Well, this morning he is resting a back foot and not wanting to weight bear when standing still. Nothing in the foot; no heat or swelling in the leg. I am thinking SI issue rather than wobblers. I am planning on phoning the vets in a bit. I have a SI injury myself and in horses they do not seem to be healable to the extent that they will stand up to hard work.
 
Sorry you're in this rubbish situation.
I'm another that would start with the hocks but see how you get on chatting with the vet.
 
Hi,
I looked up some of his breeding for you previously so you have that. As I said I'd spend the money with animal genetics and get him tested so you know what you are dealing with.
Its just pulling some mane or tail hair out to send for testing so nothing too awful and then once you'll have a better idea of your options.
As some of them do affect muscles it would be useful to know and may help with the possible SI treatment?
 
Sorry to hear this, especially as he sounds lovely plus you were put through the mill with the previous horse. I hope you get answers soon and that it is fixable
 
:( How worrying. Hopefully your vet can find some answers for you and quickly as that must have been quite scary for both of you.
 
Thank you everyone for your input. I rang the vets today & explained, & they were going to call back with their ideas iro diagnostic tests...and didn't. So not much further forward.
 
Pretty much everything has been covered already in this thread. I would get him to a decent horse vet and tell him you aren't insured. Hopefully if you get a diagnosis then you know what you are dealing with. I remember when you got this horse and how nice he was, I really feel for you. So unfair!
 
ester said:
I've only known a vagus issue happen on saddling really. Be interesting if not.
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With mine, it was when she was being groomed. I just wondered if the jumping action combined with the girth was causing a problem. I think the vet is probably the best person for OP to consult, really.
 
Thank you, Silv, he is a v nice horse & I am v upset about it all. Even so, I can't say I wish I hadn't bought him as he is the nicest, easiest person & before it all started to go wrong, we had the most brilliant fun. It was so lovely briefly having a go-anywhere, do-anything horse. I won a sj comp & got some placings sj & dr & went on a fun ride which was actually fun and not one long near death experience. I did lots of group lessons & clinics & so much stuff. We whizzed about all over the place in my little truck.

O/h will have 50 fits if I get another one as I have 4 already...plus Summer that I 'sold' a year ago & am still owed more than 50% for. Might have to try to rehome Florence the Shetland... I will keep Cody while he is happy to mooch about. He & Trev have a real bromance going on and Trev has never had a friend before. It is quite lovely to see.

I will hopefully finally be getting my arena within the next 2 months, so then I suppose I will be looking yet again for horses that are 1) gelding 2) safe, i.e. could hack alone in a howling gale & not be fussed and 3) big jump or potential for same... **sighs**
 
catembi said:
Thank you, Silv, he is a v nice horse & I am v upset about it all. Even so, I can't say I wish I hadn't bought him as he is the nicest, easiest person & before it all started to go wrong, we had the most brilliant fun. It was so lovely briefly having a go-anywhere, do-anything horse. I won a sj comp & got some placings sj & dr & went on a fun ride which was actually fun and not one long near death experience. I did lots of group lessons & clinics & so much stuff. We whizzed about all over the place in my little truck.

O/h will have 50 fits if I get another one as I have 4 already...plus Summer that I 'sold' a year ago & am still owed more than 50% for. Might have to try to rehome Florence the Shetland... I will keep Cody while he is happy to mooch about. He & Trev have a real bromance going on and Trev has never had a friend before. It is quite lovely to see.

I will hopefully finally be getting my arena within the next 2 months, so then I suppose I will be looking yet again for horses that are 1) gelding 2) safe, i.e. could hack alone in a howling gale & not be fussed and 3) big jump or potential for same... **sighs**
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Really sad to read this thread. I sort of feel like we have had similar utter shit luck with horses so I sympathise hugely.

Very much hope it's something treatable for you both.
 
Hope you can get to the bottom of it :\ FWIW I knew a mare last year who did this when saddled, awful collapsing with her eyes rolling back in her head...it eventually transpired that she had a broken leg that she was PTS for but I'm not sure if that was the cause of the collapsing or if there was something else going on, she was Appy and had had a hard life from what I could gather
 
I really hope it's something that can be easily treated. Horses are so fragile in ways. I wish they could tell us what's wrong when they're unwell
 
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