Shiverer/Shivering??

[shadowboy]

My friends trainer has a lovely horse for sale (im not interested in buying as i have recently bought one and am getting my other who is on loan back) but she mentioned he shivered. Now i understand what this is, but does it get worse with time, how badly can it affect the horse. This horse is being competed (fairly low level 90cm tracks -low for the type of breeding/ability he has) and hacked out. Im really interested in it. I know the medical mechanics of the problem but not its day to day management and care/level of degeneration if any .

Anyone know?

 

[Rambo]

Shiverer's do tend to deteriorate over time. It's a degenerative disease after all. There are many degrees of shiverer though and it can also be confused with other things. One of mine is a suspected shiverer....he still goes out and competes and it causes him very few problems...just can be a bit of a pain to pick one his legs up occasionally

 

[RunToEarth]

I have a big 17.2hh hunter that shivers. IMHO dont buy one unless you know as lot about them, as Rambo says, it is a disease and things only get worse. It didnt used to bother him competing or anything but if he isnt in regular work he becomes very stiff.

 

[Tierra]

I used to own a shiverer and we currently have one on the yard im at who competes at PSG level with a well known rider. But im not a vet, so I can only talk from experience.

The horse I had was bought as a 5 year old and the vetting picked this problem up. It was mild.. the horse had no problems walking backwards (which many do) and the only time it was actually evident was when you were picking out his hind legs (one used to get "snatched" away every few seconds.. almost like some kind of muscle spasm).

I discussed the issue at length with my vet and she was quite blunt about the condition stating that I could expect it to be degenerative and that, at that there was always the risk that I would have to have him PTS for his and everyone else's own safety. We took the decision to buy the horse anyway and I kept him for 2 years before selling him to a close friend who knew 100% about his condition.

His condition never caused me any problems whatsoever and 4 years down the line it hasnt degenerated in the slightest. Im not saying that it wont ever get worse but he's a superb horse and neither myself nor my friend have ever had any regrets over buying him (i only sold him as i was going abroad.) He's now showjumping competitively at foxhunter level and seems perfectly happy with life.

The other horse i know of with the condition is a 10 year old danish warmblood competing at PSG. This is another horse who shows very little sign of being a shiverer at all, but again, its evident when you pick up his hind legs (no sign again when walking the horse backwards, otherwise his reinbacks would be poor!)

Vets certainly tell you that the condition is degenerative but it would appear that theres no real pattern to this and that they can go for years without the condition getting worse (i seem to remember being told though that once it does start to get worse, its rather a fast process).

Anyway... it seems to depend on the individual case and the price of any horse should surely reflect the problem but I wouldnt be inclined to write a horse off completly because of this issue. But, as I said, this is just my opinion and I openly admit that the vet I spoke to told me not to buy the horse I did.

 

[4whitesocks]

Diet is supposed to really help.....all suppsoed to be related to epsm - have a look at this
http://www.ruralheritage.com/vet_clinic/epsm.htm

 

[Lottie7]

Yes I also thought it was an EPSM related problem which can be greatly improved/managed with correct diet. These findings are "fairly" recent and vets in this country are still slow to grasp them. I certainly did not think it was degenerative as I thought it was muscle related rather than neurological. The work of Dr Beth Valentine on the Rural Heritage website is very comprehensive though as she is one of only two vets in the world who has researched this condition.

 

[shadowboy]

Thanks guys thats really interesting, as i said im not actually interested in buying another horse - two is enough! but i was keen to know how fast it degenterates. Thanks for your info.