I never knew did you ?

I think it would depend on what triggered it as others have said. There was a story in a magazine about a horse with narcolepsy fairly recently and it only seemed to affect him when his mind wasn't active, so when he was ridden and at competitions he was absolutely fine.
 
I've only ever heard of it happening whilst a horse is dozing on the end of a lead rope :confused: Tbh, this horse may just have it at rest, and unless you actually ask the owner, you'll never really know. The LOU could be the insurance company has suggested writing the horse off? I know a horse with a LOU branding due to a injury that had by time of purchased had long healed, just meant that leg was un-insurable (horse is now able to compete again)..
 
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My old mare had narcolepsy. It was easily manageable and I continued to ride her until she was pts due to colic :(

Usually with narcolepsy, there are triggers for it. My mare's trigger was being tacked up and left tied up - if I did this, she'd doze off, then would sink to the floor. She could be left tied up and untacked without a problem or I could tack her up and leave her untied in her stable and she'd be fine but as soon as the tack went on, if she was tied up, she'd start feeling sleepy. Once moving/ridden there were never any signs of it.
 
That's interesting wiglet, did you travel her much as I was wondering if they might go down in a trailer etc? Or I suppose they might be concentrating on balancing. Did she fall down suddenly or was it more gradually sinking to the floor? Just also wondering whether they would injure themselves regularly when it occurred.
 
Wigwam_bam said:
I can't imagine him being very safe to ride with narcolepsy (sp?) :confused:
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My last horse had narcolepsy and he was fine to ride, would ony fall asleep if he wasn't doing anything like standing in his stable or in a lesson if the instructor would talk for longer than 20mins he would doze off but if you keep nudging him.

He rode lovely, jumped and XC very well.
 
A friend of mines horse had it too, she would just nod off when tied on the yard, was so weird to watch she would just nod her head and go a bit wobbly, then wake up again! Like a kid dipping their head in their dinner :D not sure how she got it as she never used to have it, strange!
 
mandwhy said:
That's interesting wiglet, did you travel her much as I was wondering if they might go down in a trailer etc? Or I suppose they might be concentrating on balancing. Did she fall down suddenly or was it more gradually sinking to the floor? Just also wondering whether they would injure themselves regularly when it occurred.
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She travelled fine as long as she wasn't tacked up for travel - she had to be tacked up at the destination.

She never fell suddenly, she would just close her eyes and sink to the floor with her front legs splayed out in front of her. She only went down completely, once (the first time it ever happened) and there was a total look of confusion on her face for a few moments till she realised where she was/what had happened then quickly scrambled up. She had a few cuts and scrapes from that episode but after that, she was always monitored carefully and closely by me or OH when tied up. Usually a gently poke in her side was enough to keep her awake.
 
Narcolepsy is one of the most common neurological problems in horses. Its like most things in life - once you hear of one case, they pop up all over the place.
 
I know the same horse that rachaelstar and superkat mentioned. She's an old lady now, grumpy to groom but she is really sweet to ride and the most genuine horse ever. She just has to be kept moving when ridden.
 
There are 2 with it at my old work place. They weren't that bad, mainly falling asleep if stood in the stable or tied on the yard but neither fell over with it. One of them we used to fall asleep with her head over the door but would wake up when she started so choke herself.
Never had a problem when being ridden and both could stand and wait for the others.
 
A friend had a driving horse who would doze off and go down in harness when standing still. You had to watch her like a hawk if you were stationary as it would have been incredibly dangerous for everyone if she collapsed while attached to the carriage.

She travelled beautifully and was fine while untacked, it was just a quirk that we had to work around.
 
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