Horse having 'fits'

J

Jessie GG

New User
Joined
16 March 2011
Messages
4
Visit site
6 weeks ago, my 14 year old cob X had a 'seizure' just as i entered the field to get him in for the night. It lasted about 3-4 minutes and just seemed to effect the left side of his face, neck and front leg. His neck was bent right round to the ground and eye and nostril screwed up, almost as though it was cramp in the facial muscles. After he recovered he shook himself off and queued up for his hay!
I have taken him riding since, he's eating/drinking well, and behaviour perfectly normal. Then 3 weeks later it happened again!! This time as i was leaving the yard and about to mount, it was worse, and he was shaking all over. I thought for a moment he was going to collapse, he was scared and reversing into the road, but again he recovered after about 3-4 minutes (which felt much longer!)
This time i called the vet, who arrived within 3 hours and took his temperature etc which was fine, and did pacings with him around the field to see his movement etc which was sound. Finally she took blood samples to test his kidney/liver functions which also came back clear. They have no answers!
I'm really worried and the vet advised me not to take him riding, but this is so frustrating because he's completely sound the rest of the time. I have owned him for 9 years and nothing like this has ever happened before.
Any ideas???? Please help, i have no idea what to do!
 
Whilst it must be frustrating I think your vet is more concerned for your safety than the soundness of your horse. If he had a fit with you on board and collapsed it could be extremely dangerous for you. Also I would just be very aware when leading him that he may do this and fall over.

If it continues I would guess he has a neurological problem? Maybe a referal to an equine hospital might give you a diagnosis? I hope he recovers soon.
 
personally i wouldnt ride him just incase! if he has another fit any your ontop and everything comes crashing down in the moddle of a road or something. i would fear the worst.
i hope he gets better. X
 
I can't really help, but know how awful it is, as I have a dog who has epilepsy. Stress or excitement seems to set him off, as does being too hot and not drinking enough. He started off with minor fits that gradually became worse. Your vet is certainly right when she says you shouldn't ride him. It isn't safe for you or him.
I know that horses do get epilepsy, so it might be that. I've heard of dogs that develop it later in life and people who get it after a bang to the head.

Sorry that I can't be of more help.
 
Thank you everyone for your feedback.
I can't imagine never riding him again, he's the only horse I have ever and will ever have..!! But i realise it's not safe to do so. If these fits were happening more frequently then i wouldn't even be tempted to ride, but they were 3 weeks apart (at least the one's i witnessed were).
Would epilepsy show up in blood tests?
 
Nothing would show up in blood tests apart from raised enzymes in the liver due to the overstimulation of the muscles that the seizure causes.
 
Hi Jessie GG!

Sorry to hear what you and your gee gee are going through. I had a mare that did exactly the same, the first time it happened sounded like the first time it happened to your horse. She again got up as if nothing had happenened, it was almost like something in her brain kicked back into gear and she came back to me. I gave her some time off and treated her as normal even started riding her again.

She had a couple more 'fits' and the second time it happened we took her to the vets. The vets couldnt find anything wrong either and put it down to a mild inpaction colic that triggered something off. They told me to ride her as normal (she was in her 30's so was only ridden lightly to keep her ticking over) she still loved being ridden so I couldnt take that away from her. The fits didnt happen often at all but I could always tell when one was coming on, she would act differently and get very aggitated, she always seemed to come round quicker if I was with her talking to her the whole time.

Like I say it only happenened a few times and other than that she was absolutely fine, never did really get to the bottom of it. She has since been PTS but her fits had nothing to do with this.

Hopefully you'll get to the bottom of it, Good Luck!! x
 
If you get a chance try and video one of the fits - some of the neorology specialists can give an idea of what might be happening from a vid - your vet might be able to refer the video to a neuro specialist. (mobile phone vid would be OK - i knw it's not easy to have a camera to hand!)

Good luck
 
This sounds identical to my daughters dressage pony.
He was around 16 years and competition fit.
His first fit was when we put his head collar on to bring him in from the field. His back legs collapsed and he shook violently.
He fitted probably every 3/4 weeks. We stopped riding him on safety grounds, although he never fitted whilst being ridden.
He has since been diagnosed with cushings. I don't know if this is connected.
When we think he is about to have a fit, we talk to him softly and calm him down, this seems to prevent a full fit.
He hasn't had a full fit now for about 6mths.
When putting his head collar on we stand directly in front of him, not to the side, as he has fallen once on my daughter.
He is retired now and is a happy boy, his fits are few and far between. But unfortunatly will never be ridden again.
Good Luck
 
Is your horse by any chance grey, roan, palomino or any other 'diluted' colour? If so maybe a melanoma is growing and affecting part of the nervous system?
 
I have a 17 year old mare welsh cob x throughbred and in the last 12 months she's been having fits. First of all the vet just said it could be one of those things but at the weekend she was in the stable and had a bad one and cut the tod of her eye open. Theirs no warning, all of a sudden she'll just go stiff and topple over, thrashing around, eyes rolling. It's awful. She's had blood tests which showed it was more than likely to be her liver, we could medicate her but it would be very expensive and it might not even work. So the vet has said it's to dangerous to ride her so the only option is to have her put down.
 
Hi Foxy Lady. Oh look, what a surprise a Welsh cob having fits. Right age too. Can you guess that I've seen this before - lots of times??? My own mare was put down 4 weeks ago and she had epilepsy but it was old age not the fits that got her. She WAS successfully treated for 14 years but you are right, it costs a bomb. Quite a few bombs actually. Feel free to PM me, I have plenty of info on the subject.
 
Sorry to hear that. I knew a little old pony who was fine in the morning and in terrible state including neurological symptoms by the afternoon. It was his liver too. I hope it all goes smoothly for you both.
 
I know of a horse who had fits every 3 weeks to the point you could predict the day it would happen.

She was looked at by top neurology people as all bloods etc were clear & it turns out epilepsy is very common in horses.

She would always be a bit quiet before it happened & thankfully never occured when she was ridden although she did knock down quite a few stable walls!

Hope you get sorted
 
starryeyes said:
I know of a horse who had fits every 3 weeks to the point you could predict the day it would happen.

She was looked at by top neurology people as all bloods etc were clear & it turns out epilepsy is very common in horses.

She would always be a bit quiet before it happened & thankfully never occured when she was ridden although she did knock down quite a few stable walls!

Hope you get sorted
Click to expand...

Hi Starryeyes, that is exactly how my mare was - every 20 days, and yes, you could exactly predict which date is was going to be. Quite often she would look quiet and headachey on the morning of the seizure (almost always occurred at breakfast time) but most obviously, she would be really wild the day before, even more wild than a chestnut welsh mare was entitled to be! After 4 years I had a lightbulb moment and realised it was her hormones were behind it all.

I agree that fits are much much more common in horses than most people (including vets) would have us believe, but I suspect genuine epileptics are not so common.

Just out of interest, any idea what breed the mare you knew was?
 
I know this sounds wierd, but I read somewhere that if you can stop the fit before it takes a hold (within the first 5-10 secs) then it does less damage to the brain.
I was so scared every time my horse fitted (which had happened about 4 times) that I would try anything to stop it, so the next time I could see it happening I made him jump!!
I literally jumped up, threw my arms out and shouted loudly, and he naturally jumped out of his skin!! BUT the main point is that it stopped the fit in its tracks before it took hold.
I only had to do this once more, and he's never had a fit since. This was about a year ago and before then he had a fit about every 2-3 months.
Ever since he's been fine, no sign of any fits and he still loves a good gallop around the feilds :)
Definately worth a try. It worked for us.
 
My YO's homebred gelding started having fits a few years ago. From what I remember they were usually set off by something - usually an electrical noise like a drill or meta grinder. He had a fit once when my mare was being shod and the farrier was using a grinder. It was awful, he was completely panicking and trying to get over the grill on his door :(. He then had one whilst being ridden, after which he had to be more or less retired while tests were run. He had all sorts of tests done but nothing conclusive came up. It got to the stage where he was a danger to himself and everyone round him, so he had to be PTS.
I certainly wouldn't advise riding your horse until the vet has done some investigation. Perhaps ask for him to be referred to an equine hospital?
 
Jessie GG said:
I know this sounds wierd, but I read somewhere that if you can stop the fit before it takes a hold (within the first 5-10 secs) then it does less damage to the brain.
I was so scared every time my horse fitted (which had happened about 4 times) that I would try anything to stop it, so the next time I could see it happening I made him jump!!
I literally jumped up, threw my arms out and shouted loudly, and he naturally jumped out of his skin!! BUT the main point is that it stopped the fit in its tracks before it took hold.
I only had to do this once more, and he's never had a fit since. This was about a year ago and before then he had a fit about every 2-3 months.
Ever since he's been fine, no sign of any fits and he still loves a good gallop around the feilds :)
Definately worth a try. It worked for us.
Click to expand...

Hi Jessie,

You're right. I used the slap and shout method and managed to stop my epileptic mare's fits from progressing a few times - there is certainly nothing to lose by trying it. I would imagine it would only work if the trigger is something which makes the brain go quiet, rather than something stressful.
 
You might find this article interesting as it details lots of different reasons why a horse may have a seizure if indeed, it was a seizure. Your horse may even have an infection.

http://www.thehorse.com/articles/10386/seizures-in-horses

Is there any way you can carry a video camera/phone/camera with you? That way, you may hopefully video it and then show it to your vet, to give him some idea of what's going on.
 
fatpiggy said:
Hi Starryeyes, that is exactly how my mare was - every 20 days, and yes, you could exactly predict which date is was going to be. Quite often she would look quiet and headachey on the morning of the seizure (almost always occurred at breakfast time) but most obviously, she would be really wild the day before, even more wild than a chestnut welsh mare was entitled to be! After 4 years I had a lightbulb moment and realised it was her hormones were behind it all.

I agree that fits are much much more common in horses than most people (including vets) would have us believe, but I suspect genuine epileptics are not so common.

Just out of interest, any idea what breed the mare you knew was?
Click to expand...

I think she was an ID. Nice mare.
 
Jessie!! My horse has had similar fits, twice but shebhas actually gone down!! She arches her neck, eyes go wide and then she goes down straight onto her side with her legs straight out. Literally like someone just pushed her over!! Vet did blood tests which showed higher than usual liver proximity but personally ni believe its brain related as she shows no other signs at all. Once she had has her fit shes up within 15-20 seconds! However its not a fit! Its like fainting, ive got a lot of research done however am unable to find anything else that you can see the same as my horse. vet said not to ride her but other than 2 randon fits its all very weird, it could be a stress related issue - she was seperated from her companion, but now theyre back together its like depression has lifted.....

Fingers crossed for your horse and youxx
 
princestar said:
Jessie!! My horse has had similar fits, twice but shebhas actually gone down!! She arches her neck, eyes go wide and then she goes down straight onto her side with her legs straight out. Literally like someone just pushed her over!! Vet did blood tests which showed higher than usual liver proximity but personally ni believe its brain related as she shows no other signs at all. Once she had has her fit shes up within 15-20 seconds! However its not a fit! Its like fainting, ive got a lot of research done however am unable to find anything else that you can see the same as my horse. vet said not to ride her but other than 2 randon fits its all very weird, it could be a stress related issue - she was seperated from her companion, but now theyre back together its like depression has lifted.....

Fingers crossed for your horse and youxx
Click to expand...

Hi Princestar, any horse which has suffered a seizure will show higher than normal liver enzymes afterwards due to the muscular effort involved. Also, my old girl would go over and be up again in less than 30 seconds. She was so normal afterwards that I usually rode her the same morning, and even hacked to and competed in local shows a couple of times too. I collect details of cases from all over the world, so please feel free to PM me as I may be able to help you.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top