shiverers??

[moodymare1987]

has anyone had any experience of a shiverer? like what is it and any effecrs it mey have on the horse? i was just browsing throught some horses for sale and came across a nice horse but it said it was a shiverer so am curious to know a bit more about it. i did a search on google but it wasnt very clear what it was. any suggestions?? xxx

 

[vicijp]

Not a lot is understood about shiverers, but it is generally accepted as a degeneration of the nervous system.
As for buying a shiverer, if it is a young horse I wouldnt be too put off. I have known plenty of shiverers in racing(up to about 13yo) who have stood training and racing with no problems. The farrier may have difficulty, and he/she wont be able to walk backwards (so no rein backs).
However I have never been associated with an older horse with shivers, I understand they get worse as they grow older. I know of a local horse with shivers who has gone to look very poor (about 16 and was always very hard to keep weight off when younger), but this may be purely down to the fact that the girl is a muppet and keeps 4 horses on 2 acres all winter, minimal hay and no hard feed.

 

[MDJO]

I have a shiverer .. have had him for four years. No problems what so ever with him under saddle. A few difficulties on the ground in respect of picking his hind feet up. It took me a good few months to re-train him a slightly different way but can now easily pick up his hind feet, albeit for only for a few seconds. He needs to be midly sedated for the farrier to trim his back feet but apart from that he's OK. I have done a lot of research myself on this subject and the general prognosis with shiverers is that they do deterioate, however there are exceptions (luckily my boy being one of those as he has got progressively better since I've had him) There is a popular school of thought that shivers is diet related (seach EPSM, PPSM and Dr Beth Valentine on google). From personal experience, this change of diet does help but didn't 'cure' the condition. Most conventional vets will advise that it is a neurological condition but unfortunately no one is clear on the exact cause of this neurological problem. Again, from personal experience I have found a high fat diet plus keeping in regular work (they benefit from this) keeps the condition manageable. However, they do need special management in some instantances (particularly hind feet shoeing) and do be prepared that unfortunately some cases do deterioate to an unsafe point. On the positive side there are some famous horses that are shiverers and this hasn't affected their performance

 

[Happy Horse]

I used to look after a shiverer when I was training. He was absolutely fine apart from he had to have a lateral heel extension on one of his hind shoes. He was working at advanced level.

Move on a few years when I was working at the equine hospital the same horse turned up for investigations, he looked miserable and had no muscle etc. The new owner had no idea he had been diagnosed as a shiverer in the past. I spoke to the vet and was even able to show him a picture of the shoe he used to wear as it had been pictured in a horsecare book!

Who knows what had happened in the meantime but I felt so sorry for the current owner and the horse as they were the biggest losers in the situation.

 

[mostfunintown]

used to have a shiverer. lovely little mare but awfull trouble getting her shod on the hind legs. otherwise no problems at all. She still did well ridden and was a great little showjumper.

 

[moodymare1987]

thanks for all your replies. it sounds like there could be problems later on in life for them and im not sure i want to invest in a horse that could have problems later on in life. i know you could buy any horse and things go wrong but id rather not have that underlying problem xxx

 

[Alex_kate]

my horse has shivers, never had any problems with him, doesnt seem to affect him accept when picking out his back feet. he is fantastic under saddle- i wouldnt let it put you off!