* shetland pony, muscles quivering??? *

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shiresrus123

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hi, got a rising 10yr old shetland pony, suddenly seems to be having spasms when stood. His front muscles on the side quiver, and his back legs do at the top. he doesn't work, is not overweight, and seems ok generally. the spasms come and go, sometimes really quivering then barely there. he is 7hh and purely a companion.

any ideas? vet being arranged
 
also, which might be more likely? could it be shiverer/wobbler/trapped nerve?

massaging him along the neck and spine seems to relax it, and picking his back legs up seemed to be less comfortable than normal
 
My heart sank when I saw your post title hun. My YO has a rescued Section A, about 20yrs now I think. She was close to death when rescued 5 yrs ago so - understandably - she is wary with strangers. About a year ago, she needed the dentist, just for her annual check up but the YO got called away for 10 mins and left the little mare being rasped by the very experienced and kind EDT. When she returned all hell had broken loose. The mare had panicked to the point of rearing and falling heavily against the wall in her stable. The following day, she started a terrible episode where almost every muscle in her body seemed to be twitching like mad worms under her skin. It was worse, or perhaps just more visible, along the large muscles in her back and hindquarters. She was almost in a trance, sort of "not there" as she struggled to bear what was happening. Vets were called as an emergency and they admitted they had never seen anything like it. At one point they thought she was actually temporarily blind. It was clearly some sort of neurologocal problem and whether the mare had damaged something when she fell or whether she was having some kind of seizure or epilepsy, they didn't know. There was precious little they could so so after much discussion, they administered a steroid by injection in the hopes that if it was swelling in the brain, it would help. After a few days, it just disappeared but sometimes even now, the little mare will appear once again to be "out of it" and you can see the wriggling muscle tremors just under her skin, though never as bad as that first time. She also appears to forget which foot should be where - which seems to confirm some sort of neurological incident. Could your pony have had a fall or blow to his head? If the above symptoms seem to fit your pony, then it may be that he needs steroids to control intercranial inflammation but of course steroid injections bring their own risks. I'd keep a close eye on him til the vets see him as he may not be safe to turn out. If your vets have any ideas I'd be enormously grateful if you could post here again as anything that could help my YOs little ned would be brilliant. Fingers crossed for your boy x
 
thanku very much for the reply, thankfully he seems very with it, neighing to his friends, hassling for grub, enjoying a scratch and knowing where all his legs are, im sorry to hear your tale but i dont think it is that bad thank god

he seems to react when i massage a certain point on his mane so i think he has hurt that, it seems to relax the shakes however, so ill keep on and he is better today, vet is sorted and coming tho incase

thanks again, really appreciate u answering
 
Sounds like tying up to me! Cut down high sugars or protein feeds. Less rich grass. and keep him warm and rest the muscles. This can alos be lack of elecrolytes. Put a tea spoon of salt in his feed or get a minerL salt lick not the sugary ones.
 
interesting, he had been on box rest for a few days to get a bit of chubs off, i turned him out last night in a big paddock, he ran about and came in sound, still is this morning

confused! but ecstatic, lets hope it lasts!
 
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