my 21yr old seems lethargic

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horseygirlexmuth

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for a couple day's my 21yr old tb seems lethargic in the field. this morning I had to drag him up the track and when he was in the field he stood at the gate shouting. his field companions were all out in tje field at this point. he is just standing with his head low while the others are off grazing. he isnt like that all day but id say he is definitely not grazing as much as normal. we are very lucky as our field has plenty of grass so its not that....in the stables he is fine, eating he breakfast and tea and ad lib haylege. he does windsuck and he is definitely doing that more than normal but he is not showing any signs of discomfort and his windsucking is just habit rather than gastrointestinal. iv got the vet cominh Wednesday but wondering if anyone has any idea what this could be about. his routine hasn't changed, he is rugged well, fed well, no weight loss etc. thank you in advance. xxc
 
Hi
sorry to hear that your old boy is out of sorts :-(

Could he be feeling a bit 'footy'? Is he shod? My old man had his shoes taken off last October as he has now retired & it has definitely slowed him down a bit. The ground has been very hard the last couple of days & the grass has also been frozen, could he be sensitive to the sugar?

I would be having a chat to the vet if my old boy was just standing by the gate for more than a few minutes when turned out as he is usually pleased to be off with his friends. However, one of our mares hates cold, wet weather & it not unusual for her to stand at the gate for hours until someone relents & brings her in. You know your horse best but the oldies can go downhill very quickly so keep a close eye on him.

Best wishes :-)
 
My 20 year old was very lethargic in herself a couple of months ago. Same as you - nothing had changed, she was wormed, no weight loss etc. I got the vet to run blood tests on her and they showed low white cell count and slight anaemia. Vet said she would have been fighting a virus. She has been on an iron tonic since and in the past couple of weeks is back to her usual rowdy self. Hopefully your situation is as simple as mine to fix but bloods will show any underlying problems. Good Luck with him.
 
one of the symptoms for cushings can be depression, and it was certainly true for my mare, she was lethargic(very unusual) a bit grumpy, didnt lose all of her coat and she was cribbing alot even in the field... she has always cribbed after a feed if she has no hay , but very rarely any other time so i knew something was wrong.....mine was 20 when she was diagnosed(will soon be 22) and is doing well on prascend....
 
I would certainly be calling my vet.
Lots of things can be wrong

Liver
laminitis
cushings
EMD
virus


A blood test would rule most of these out.
Don't pump him with protein, as if its laminitis its the worst thing as with the liver.


1st port of call book the vet then go from there, until then I would box rest him on the safe side.
In the mean time I would be asking myself

  • Does the horse appear sore when walking?
  • What is the horses temperature?
  • What is the horses body condition (under weight or over weight)?
  • When was the horse last de-wormed and with what product?
  • What is the horses current diet? What and how much? (On pasture, receiving hay, grain, etc).
  • Does the horse have any nasal discharge?
 
thanks for all the advice guys, had the vet out, the old boy passed a full MOT, all bloods back perfect. he has some slight arthritis in his back legs so iv put him on apple cider vinegar.......totally diffrent horse!
Happy horse = Happy owner! xxx
 
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