Horse wobbling?

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Lucy1992

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So to cut a very long story short I've recently bought a racehorse who both myself and the previous trainer both agreed needed a bit of time off to "be a horse again" after a few poor runs. Previous to that he had been fairly successful with a fair few wins under his belt. Late last year:early this year his form went down hill and his owners (who weren't horsey) were not prepared to pay for a horse that's not performing to its best but they never looked into what was causing this to happen. It all came to a head when he raced a couple of months ago and came last and the vet on the course insisted he was scouped which found mucus and a very small amount of blood. The vet has said he isn't a bleeder but he had an infection which caused there to be inflammation and a little blood. He was recommended to go on antibiotics but by this time the previous owners had had enough and wanted to sell him on quickly as they couldn't afford the continuing training fees. So I ended up buying him I had the vet out the day after he arrived to do a full check on him and by this time he had fought off whatever infection he had and was given pretty much the all clear apart from having very bad teeth (I put my hand in his mouth and one of his teeth cut my finger open) So the plan was as soon as we have turnout at our yard to let him spend the summer out as much as possible to just enjoy life again after a few years of hard training (he is a flat horse and got raced pretty much year round). As we don't have turn out yet he has been going on the walker 15 mins morning and afternoon and this is where the trouble began. As soon as I get him off the walker his legs start to shake/wobble and he is reluctant to move. His shoulder also looks like it's twitching. Once he is back in his stable it will wear off within 5 mins or so but also when I hand graze him and he eats his feed he will also look unstable. The vet came out again and did some tests to see if it was something neurological and it's not. He isn't worried and thinks it's just exhustion from racing but I was wondering if anyone else had come across this? He has been shod and and the physio and neither can find anything that would be causing this to happen. It's always mostly his front legs. I'll try and attach a photo of his blood test results on here to. Thanks in advance.
 
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Not sure if I've done the link right! But hopefully it will work so you can see the blood results!
 
Hi Lucy, your horse's symptoms would concern me but I was waiting for someone else to answer as I have not come across these symptoms myself. Looking at her bloods, she is within normal range but on the low side for her red blood cell and haemoglobin as well as overall white blood cell count so she may be feeling a bit below par. However, that does not explain the shaking and wobbling. What tests did your vet do to rule out neurological causes? If it definitely isn't neurological then I would suspect something metabolic or even pain related. I had a horse here that would shake and wobble as he got up. He was found to have numerous problems (arthritis in his back and neck, kissing spine, SI dysfunction, hock arthritis and PSD). So I think a trip to the hospital for a full investigation would be warranted. Is your horse insured for vet bills?
 
Thanks for your reply wagtail! Yes I'm very concerned about this it's not nice to watch even though he doesn't seem to bother him but when your 5ft1 and a 16.2 is wobbling next to you it's also quite scary. The vet did basic tests for nurological disorders like turning in a tight cirlcle, pulling his tail and walking backwards and he passed that all with flying colours. He said that in neurological cases it would be the back legs wobbling and with my boy it's 99% his front legs. I've never had a horse with neurological issues before so I'm just going off what my vet said. He isn't concerned at all about him tbh and thought it was a bit pointless getting the bloods seeing as he will be having the summer off but he hasn't seen him at his worst so I pushed to get the bloods. I'm concerned but both vet and physio said they can't see anything obviously wrong with him. They both think it's exhaustion and his 8 hour trip moving to me but I would have thought after having so much rest now he would be showing signs of getting better? He wasn't sore on his back at all. He isn't insured no, it's pointless to insure a race horse that's isn't valued very highly as the insurance will only cover vets bills up to his value and they won't cover any investigative work. I'm happy to pay whatever as long as we can get to the bottom of it though. Diet wise he is fed on lay off cubes, Alfa a and topsec comprehensive and linseed oil/blood salts/apple cider vinigar/gut balancer and garlic. So he has a good diet.
 
The only other thing I can think of is that he's dizzy. Maybe an inner ear problem? I must admit I would not be happy with my vet not being worried about him. It's not normal! There are other things such as a muscular disorder to consider. I think they need a biopsy doing to diagnose. I hope you get to the bottom of it.
 
Are you in the U.K.? Insurance will cover how much you take your policy out for e.g. I have my ponies covered for £5000 vets fees. None of them are worth anywhere near this! Obviously they wouldn't cover this existing problem now though. Hope you get to the bottom of this soon!
 
If he has gone from full work to just 2 short sessions on the walker I would suspect some form of muscle issue, tying up in an unusual way? he is on a lot of grub for a horse stood in 24/7 I know he probably requires condition but my instinct would be to cut it right back to hay and a token to get the supplements in and see if that helps, I would also cut out the garlic as that can be very toxic to some horses and may be enough to cause a problem.

I would want to get him out ASAP or if possible exercise in a less restrictive way for now, free schooling, easy lunging or just turnout in a tiny area so he can stretch his legs more naturally before I started panicking too much, if he is physically worn out he needs time to relax and recover which he really is not getting at the moment.
 
Lucy1992 said:
Thanks for your reply wagtail! Yes I'm very concerned about this it's not nice to watch even though he doesn't seem to bother him but when your 5ft1 and a 16.2 is wobbling next to you it's also quite scary. The vet did basic tests for nurological disorders like turning in a tight cirlcle, pulling his tail and walking backwards and he passed that all with flying colours. He said that in neurological cases it would be the back legs wobbling and with my boy it's 99% his front legs. I've never had a horse with neurological issues before so I'm just going off what my vet said. He isn't concerned at all about him tbh and thought it was a bit pointless getting the bloods seeing as he will be having the summer off but he hasn't seen him at his worst so I pushed to get the bloods. I'm concerned but both vet and physio said they can't see anything obviously wrong with him. They both think it's exhaustion and his 8 hour trip moving to me but I would have thought after having so much rest now he would be showing signs of getting better? He wasn't sore on his back at all. He isn't insured no, it's pointless to insure a race horse that's isn't valued very highly as the insurance will only cover vets bills up to his value and they won't cover any investigative work. I'm happy to pay whatever as long as we can get to the bottom of it though. Diet wise he is fed on lay off cubes, Alfa a and topsec comprehensive and linseed oil/blood salts/apple cider vinigar/gut balancer and garlic. So he has a good diet.
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Your vet sounds like he needs to be your ex vet - so much of what you say he has said is rubbish. Bin him, and get a decent equine vet on board. Most would be very interested in getting to the bottom of what is going on here - not dismissing it. Suggesting he may be suffering from exhaustion 6 weeks after he came out of racing is rubbish - you'd be unlikely to find an exhausted racehorse still in training! Racing may not be everyones' cup of tea, but they know how to get a horse fit enough to do it's job without getting exhausted!

Re insurance btw - you might think about having another look at that. The horses value has nothing to do with a level of vets fee cover you get. My horse's insured value is £250, but he is covered for vets fees up to £5000 per claim. The insured value of the horse is the sum that would be paid out on a mortality claim.
 
be positive said:
If he has gone from full work to just 2 short sessions on the walker I would suspect some form of muscle issue, tying up in an unusual way? he is on a lot of grub for a horse stood in 24/7 I know he probably requires condition but my instinct would be to cut it right back to hay and a token to get the supplements in and see if that helps, I would also cut out the garlic as that can be very toxic to some horses and may be enough to cause a problem.

I would want to get him out ASAP or if possible exercise in a less restrictive way for now, free schooling, easy lunging or just turnout in a tiny area so he can stretch his legs more naturally before I started panicking too much, if he is physically worn out he needs time to relax and recover which he really is not getting at the moment.
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I agree with this, stop the food and just give him time. Dr Green is the best thing, if that is possible.
 
be positive said:
If he has gone from full work to just 2 short sessions on the walker I would suspect some form of muscle issue, tying up in an unusual way? he is on a lot of grub for a horse stood in 24/7 I know he probably requires condition but my instinct would be to cut it right back to hay and a token to get the supplements in and see if that helps, I would also cut out the garlic as that can be very toxic to some horses and may be enough to cause a problem.

I would want to get him out ASAP or if possible exercise in a less restrictive way for now, free schooling, easy lunging or just turnout in a tiny area so he can stretch his legs more naturally before I started panicking too much, if he is physically worn out he needs time to relax and recover which he really is not getting at the moment.
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I thought at first it could be tying up in an unusual way to! He was going on the walker twice a day at the race yard for a month and not being ridden so his work has stayed the same for around 7 weeks. As soon as we have turnout he will be out but unfortunately we just don't have it at our yard yet as it's so wet where we are. Thankfully we are having all weather paddocks made up for next winter so the won't end up stuck in again.
 
Lucy1992 said:
We bought him to race! So he isn't an ex race horse as of yet!
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So insure him as a riding horse until he races again. Too late now though, this will be a pre existing condition.

Your vet sounds a bit useless, tbh. I've had a lot of ex racers and never had one that was exhausted. In fact their energy was bottomless.

Also, does your vet not realise that at some point, the nerves for the front end of the horse have to leave the spinal cord bundle and are no longer protected by the surrounding nerves for the back end? Of course a horse can have front leg neuro issues, it's just not as common.

I've never seen issues like this in a horse OP, so I'm sorry I can't help with what it actually might be.
 
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Lucy1992 said:
Yes hindsight is a wonderful thing! I should have done that really!
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Yrs, it's bad luck you didn't realise. I hope he comes right with rest. I didn't mean to be hard, sorry, I posted that for anyone else in the same situation.


I added some more to the post, btw.
 
amymay said:
How is he if you simply walk him out in hand? How does he look generally and how is his overall demeanour?
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I have been doing this recently as I don't like putting him on the walker that much any more so I walk him in the school or around our yard and he seems fine. He seems very well in himself he is alert and looks happy.
 
Lucy1992 said:
I have been doing this recently as I don't like putting him on the walker that much any more so I walk him in the school or around our yard and he seems fine. He seems very well in himself he is alert and looks happy.
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If that's the case can you not simply ride him quietly out daily?
 
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