Info on shivers / string hault please???

[moomoo3]

Hello,

I have been told my horse has shivers / string hault and im not really sure what this is.

What causes it and how do i treat it?

Is there a difference between the too.

People have also said i might have to put my horse to sleep due to this.

The horse is a 8 year old, TB, chestnut gelding. Was trained to race but was not ever going to make the grade. He is a fab little riding horse and i only potter about hacking and schooling. He lives out during day and in at night on lovely pasture with 3 other horses. He is a walking dustbin who loves his food i feed hay ab lib when stabled. And his hard feed is spillers conditioning fibre and conditoining nuts twice a day.

He is shod all round and is very good he does loose his balance sometimes but my farrier is very good with him. He allows plently of time to shoe him.

Any help would be greatful.

 

[huntley]

As long as your blacksmith can continue to shoe him there is no reason why you cannot continue enjoying him. I do think it is worth having a good physio to treat him regularly. Shivering is when a horse snatches his hind leg up either when asked to pick up the leg or sometimes they do it involuntarily. It does not show when a horse is being ridden. It can be caused by a previous injury, but rarely causes the horse any distress. Stringhalt gives them an exaggerated hind leg movement when walking. I am sure other people on here will be able to give a better description.

 

[Birker2020]

There is loads of information if you google 'equine shivers' or 'stringhalt in horses'.

If you want more in depth knowledge from people who have had this try the search facility on H&H forum its really good.

I remember seeing a horse in a field. And it was turned out with its friends with a rug on and it was trotting along and it had really bad stringhalt, but it was still able to keep up with its friends. Not sure if you could have ridden it with that degree of stringhalt though.

 

[Sandylou]

My friends horse has had shivers for years and she's absolutely fine! The only problem she has is when she's shod and she just can't hold her feet up for the farrier.
I don't know much about stringhalt though I'm afraid.

 

[RolyPolyPony]

Shivers and Stringhalt are both different and can often be mistaken for each other. Shivers is to do with the central nerve (afraid i dont have any experience or info on stringhalt thought) My horse has shivers. It affects him in no way apart from having his feet trimmed. He cant lift one of his hind legs (manages with no probs at all when working etc just when stood still) He hasnt had this trimmed now in a year but luckily he trims it very well on his own! The most important things to remember is that if your horse has a spasm in its legs when holding it up (for shoeing or picking out) dont force it to hold the leg up! let it put it down and restart. The horse doesnt know why it's leg has gone into a spasm so is probably pretty scary for it! I find my lad is better when he is kept in work (although some places on the net suggest different!) unfortunately there is no treatment for it. You certainly wont need to have him pts unless it deteriorates so much it starts to cause problems with mobility etc

 

[classicalfan]

To follow on from previous replies. Shivers and string halt are thought to be related - both being caused by a problem with the central nervous system. These conditions are more often found in heavy draft types but can afffect any horse.

However, new evidence suggests that some horses symptoms are due to a sugar intolerance (quarter-horse and TB types appear to be more susceptible) so try cutting out cereals. Just because he is a TB doesn't mean that he won't manage on just grass, hay or haylage - we have several here that prove that they can get fat on nothing but! It may take a little time to see an improvement but it has to be worth trying.

If there is CN damage then the condition tends to deteriorate over time and at some point in the future he may start to fall. They can't always tell exactly where they have placed their feet. We have an 8 year old here who has improve since being on a grass only diet but he still has the occasional day when it is clear he has little control over where his feet go, most noticeable when he is trying to back up.

Hope this helps.