Shiverers - competition horses?

T

Thistle

Well-Known Member
Joined
14 September 2005
Messages
17,496
Location
North East Suffolk
Visit site
A friend has been looking at a lovely horse, he has evented at a high level and is a slightly older horse (not geriatric!)

He has a reasonable record XC and dressage but is a poor SJ'er.

His job would be as a schoolmaster JRN/OI horse for a girl who has already been reasonably successful at Novice level on another older horse who is now finding certain ground conditions difficult.

When they tried him they noticed that whilst jumping he would occasionally disunite between fences but put it down to rider being unprepared and not pressing the 'flying change button'. His pro rider didn't have the same problem as she could easily get flying change.

He was vetted today and was OK on everything apart from the above.

the vet feels that he is a slight shiverer and now they are undecided on what to do.

Questions include would this have always been present?

Will it get worse?

Would this be the reason for his poor SJ record at higher levels?

Should they buy him if the price reflected his condition?

Implications for insurance.




My feeling was that if he was right in every other way and the price was right I would buy him and just insure him for a lower price, just enough for vets fees, or get his present insurance company to continue the cover - his safety XC as a schoolmaster is worth every penny. However you have to survive the SJ to go XC.


Also has anyone any experiece in managing shivers? I know a high oil diet can help.


Any ideas?

Thanks.
 
I was at a show the weekend and a friend of ours won the open class, and this horse has won a fair bit jumping locally. I notice one of his back legs was a bit weird when cantering, and she said he was a shiverer (sp) i haven't heard of it till then but her horse seems fine showjumping, but not sure if it gets worse or for the long term.
 
I have an 8yr old showjumper who when I got him was quite a bad shiverer/ stringhalt but after a year of having him it has got progressivly better. It has never hindered him in his career. He has won £1200 to date and regularly jumps 1.30/1.40 classes.
Im not saying this is the same in every case just that is the case with my horse. Other than him I haven't had alot of experience with shiverers.
 
Unless he was dirt cheap I personally wouldn't touch with a barge pole. Sihvering is a degenerative condition and I know a fair few horses who have been written off due to this.
 
My 15hh boy is 24 now and I've had him since he was 6. He is a reasonably bad shiverer, but his condition has never deteriorated. He competed successfully as a working hunter, show jumper and eventer, and it has never affected his performance (well, not that I've noted). They say it deteriorates and that the worst affected will not be able to rein back, which would obviously affect performance.
Over the years it has been documented in H&H that some top eventers have been shiverers (can't remember who's though now!). The other issue with shiverers and competing would be getting shoes on it and the use of studs, I managed to teach my chap to rest his leg to put the studs in, avoiding the shiver.
I can't imagine that it would be this that is causesing the disunite, that would sound something more like a back problem, and this in turn would affect the show jumping record.
This is, unless we are confusing Shivering with Stringhalt - both of which are similarly little known about (I have had horses with both - how unlucky am I!). Stinghalt is more likely to look a bit odd, for want of a better description, when the horse is moving!
 
The horse is fine to shoe and rein back, it has been competed by a few pros and has been owned for 7 years by same person.

Everyone is totally shocked at vet's diagnosis as he has never given a reason to suspect it.
 
Shivering is so controversial, and there is so many different severities and types of shiverer. However one thing is true, it is neurological, it will never go away and 80% of cases it will get worse. I know one who is petrefied of everything, yet can jump the moon, you cant shoe him without sedation and hes an awful traveler. Then theres another whos fine to do, just has a shiver reaction when you pick up his back leg. One I know used to jump the moon but can no longer cope with the competition atmosphere and just freaks out at everything, and another one I know has got better over the last year, and pretty much will do everything but not so keen on travelling and having his face touched.
People think shivering is only the shaking of the back leg, its not it effects the horse in a lot more ways than that!!!
 
Trike has a shiver in one of his back legs. He has bad days and he has better days but it can be managed to a certain degree by diet and exercise regime. As a SJ'er he's had 1 fence down in the last 15 months of BSJA'ing with me...

I'd say if the price is right and everything else fits then go for it with your eyes open
smile.gif
 
I have an old boy with pretty bad shivers, ive tried the diet and it got him out of difficulties at the start but has been off it for 4 years now with no change.

He isnt as quick behind as he should be, but he can still do a mean dressage test. I would say that you do have to work slightly harder at his canter than other horses. I do have to balance him and almost collect to help him hold the pace.

I say go for it as it really doesnt like the shivers is bad at all. They do say its degenerative, but my boy has only ever got better with a little care.
 
I think I would advise my friend to keep looking.....
I havent had a horse with this condition myself, but two of my friends have. One story good, one very very bad.... horse was PTS.
There are so many horses out there,and as horse is going to be used for a young rider as a schoolmaster, I would personally rather my daughter had one that was all fit & well.
Just my opinion.
 
I would get a 2nd opinion on the shiver first and probably only consider him if he was very cheap.
I used to groom for an Argentinian SJer who had a shiverer who was very talented but pretty quirky, he got progressively worse but was so talented it was worth persevering with him.
I would also say that one of the reasons that this horse did well was that he was ridden and managed by an experienced professional, poss not so good for a inexperienced novice event rider.
 
For anyone considering buying one. I bred a horse some years ago that started showing slight signs of shivering. He went to Liverpool for tests and I was told categorically that he did not have a neurological problem. Within 2 years, despite careful management and trialling homeopathic suggestions, he became the worst case my vet had ever seen of a shiverer and I had to have him put down after finding out to my distress that he had been falling over in the field and struggled to get up again. It broke my heart, I would certainly not entertain buying one just in case the same scenario happened again, having seen how my boy deterioriated over those years despite no end of research and careful thought about what we did.
 
Buying a shiverer will always be a risk. I wouldn't say never but it would have to be at the right price. Given it has a compettion record I would be more inclined to take the risk than in a young unproven horse. From my limited experience the disunite behind is more likely to be from either poor riding or an alternative physical problem rather than the shivers.
 
4 years ago I bought a horse with shiver. Grade B showjumper. My reasons were very similar, condition didn't seem to affect him, he had the performance I wanted plus he was significantly cheaper than he would have been.

I did everything I could to manage the condition and for the first 12 months it was great. After around a year I noticed him starting to have fences down behind. 4 months later he started to stumble out hacking. 3 months after that he was retired as now too dangerous to ride. 6 months later he was PTS. He was only 10.

Not all horses will be severly affected but a lot will.

I will NEVER touch a horse with shiver again.
This is him 12 months before he was PTS
EDUPTON.jpg

horse1.jpg
 
Wow this is an old post brought back up.

They bought the horse but have gone in fully aware of the risks. So far so good, the good things out weigh the bad and he has restored the girls confidence.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top