Shivers?

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Skhosu

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Ok so a couple of questions, can anyone tell me much about it? How much it affects them? Anything makes it better/worse?
Will it affect value? Would you buy one you knew to be a shiverer? (mild or severe?)
 
i used to look after a horse with shivers. he was quite old so he didnt really do any jumping or competing. we didnt give him any medication for it. he was absolutely fine to hack out and i did do the very occasional jump and he still managed that ok. so im not really sure how it effects horses that are competing.
the only way shivers affected the horse we had was that he would not pick up one of his feet and so he was unshod, but he never got any worse.
 
i no a horse.. a friend of mines that has shivers.

he is the same in everything as any othe horse, except that u have to give him a coule of seconds more when picking feet out.

he competes in jumping too.
lou x
 
I had a 10yo mare on trial that turned out to have it - I didn't buy her on my vets advice - his comment was that she coudl continue on the way she was for years and be fine - or as it is degenerative you could go out one morning & she might not be able to get up....

Having said that her owner didn't sell her, I know him & she's totally fine!
 
What exactly is shivers?

My farrier suspected my horse had shivers when I first bought her because whenever anyone picked up her back feet her leg would shake and you struggled to hold it still. My vet however, immediately ruled it out.
 
Ed has a shiver in his near hind. It doesn't affect anything he does and certainly doesn't limit his jumping.
Recent research has shown that a high oil diet is beneficial in preventing further deterioation.
It is a degenerative disease which can either stay as it is or get worse quite rapidly.
There are a number of top horses that have shiver and have not been affected performance wise by it, Supreme Rock for one.
 
RosiiePosiieHunter has a horse with a shiver (Herc) and is having him PTS as she doesn't have time to ride him so it's getting worse
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my horse has mild shivers, we still get back shoes on him but it is a bit of a struggle. If i lunge him first it is a lot easier for the farrier. It doesn't affect him in any other way, he is on a high oil diet and if anything the vet reckons there is improvement.
I always make sure he is warmed up more than a normal horse and finish off with a small hack after he has been worked to completely cool him down.
Would i buy another horse with Shivers? No, because i think i have been lucky that it's so mild and i didn't know he had it when i got him.
He has eventing potential but i think i would still struggle to sell him if i put him up for sale.
Jo
 
Shivering is a neuromuscular issue that's basically degenerative.

Symptoms vary enormously precisely because its degenerative. Mild signs can be a snatching of one or both of the hind legs, particularly when the foot is being picked out or handled by the farrier. The horse will pull the leg away, often raising it rather high and then release again... this will be repeated usually. While the leg is pulled away it will shake (much like some kind of spasm)

Another symptom often reported is a reluctance to walk backwards but neither of the horses Ive known with this condition have displayed this symptom.

It's one of those conditions that is a bit unpredictable in that it IS degenerative but some horses seem to go years where they are fine. Others can go downhill very very rapidly. Once the real symptoms kick in, its advised the horse is retired because the spasms can occur more frequently and when they are ridden. Also, because the horse can't control it at all, both back legs can go which then causes the horse to fall (hence it just becomes too dangerous to ride).

As to whether its better if they're in work or not - Ive never heard of this. This disease is very poorly understood and once they get to a point of being dangerous it doesn't tend to swing back to them suddenly not being dangerous.

Ive had one horse diagnosed with this and we have a second currently on our yard. The one on our yard won an Inter 1 on Wednesday so his ridden work is generally unaffected. You do notice it when he's being shod of having his feet picked out though and there have been occasional days where its crept through into the ridden side. His value (monetary terms) is of course affected severely though because theres no prediction of when it could really start to affect him (once they do start to slip downhill, it tends to occur rather fast).

Would I buy one known to be a shiverer? I did before... but again? Not sure.... Once the condition kicks in the first thing that tends to be "unrecommended" is jumping and vets will say they're ok to hack and do flatwork until they go more downhill... but in flatwork it does tend to show in tighter circles and more intricate movements.

As a hack? Perhaps if you really really liked the horse. As a competition horse? I'd be warey if it was me
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If you go ahead you need to make your farrier aware as it can be a pain for them to shoe a horse like this - depending upon the severity of the shiver of course.

The value should reflect the condition. Also be aware that there is some slightly feeling that it can be hereditary (it was always believed to be damage to the spinal column but it seems to keep appearing in the same breeding lines over and over again). If its a mare and you ever want to breed from her, this is just something to keep in mind for the future.
 
My mare has shivers (mild) I ahve had her for 11 years never a problem and she has shown very successfully!!
By the sounds of it though I have been lucky
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Nat
x
 
My big lad has shivers, and as CB says, I am having to have him PTS.
The horse wasnt put together right anyhow, his legs arnt long enough and his feet not big enough to carry the weight he is, since a foal he has had weak joints and stiffness of a mild nature. We bought him to hunt with my father, the shiver has been a problem for a long time now but when he was in full work as a younger horse it didnt bother him to a great extent. It is a nervomuscular problem I am lead to believe, he was never sound, not 100% anyway, but in many cases it will only ever get worse. His shiver caused him stiffness, as everytime he snatched his foot from the flor in these "nervous spazems" his back legs would be stressed. Standing out in the field the other day I watched him do it at least once a minute, I suspect he has it in both back legs now, although his left is far,far worse. It is heartbreaking, but him being PTS is all through shivers.
 
Ok...lots of negative sutff there.
Couple more questions sorry, and thanks for all the thoughts.
The vet I was talking to said it wasn't progressive?
So, how is it diagnosed? If there is no shaking of the back legs, or difficulty in picking up the feet? Say the horse is heavy footed with his back legs when turning tight circles?
And a bit odd in his way of standing?
Is that enough to diagnose it?
 
Two of the bigger horses at my RS have got shivers. Doesn't stop them jumping bigger heights, and they're in full time work. One of them is 18yrs old.

Both are schooled to a high level on the flat. One is a stage 4 level BHS exam horse and the other used to event to PN level with his old owner.

Think it's luck of the draw as I've jumped both of them over big grids and have had worse jumps & rides off of horses who don't have the condition.

Oh and I've got pics of them jumping if you wanted to see
 
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