Shivers?

Jinx94 said:
Just wondering who has a horse with shivers and how it has affected them - has it limited what you are able to do?
Click to expand...

I think it very much depends on how bad the shivers are. My horse has stronghold and shows a tendency to shiver but either don't affect him at all under saddle.
 
I have. Had Fabio since a 4 year old and he's always had mild shivers. Hasn't stopped us doing anything, he's a good allrounder. I do keep him turned out 24/7 though as the symptoms are worse if he's been stood for a long time. I also feed him low starch/sugar diet and supplement with high dose vitamin E.
 
annunziata said:
I think it very much depends on how bad the shivers are. My horse has stronghold and shows a tendency to shiver but either don't affect him at all under saddle.
Click to expand...

I think you mean stringhalt?

A previous horse of mine was a shiverer - it was picked up by the farrier and was progressive. He didn't cope well long term without shoes on and in the end was PTS as it was clearly affecting his nervous system and control of his bladder.

I don't thing it necessarily has to be progressive, it can be managed depending on the horse and the severity of the disease. I think generally we collectively have a poor understanding of it - my farrier was a wealth of knowledge when Herc was diagnosed.
 
I've seen a horse that ticks all of my boxes and is well within my price range. They haven't said how severe it is, but apparently he's fine under saddle. The thing that really concerns me is they say he "wobbles about" because of it :confused: I need a bit more information from them really. I loaned a horse with shivers for a short time, but I don't think that his was too bad.

FabioandFreddy, how has it affected your insurance?
 
How old is the horse Jinx? If young I would be wary, if older its perhaps worth a try. If they are telling you he is wobbling about already I would have alarm bells on. Especially if they are saying this before you haven't seen him. His price should be way lower than average too.

I had a friend when I was young whose horse had mild shivers that didn't get any worse, but I would still be wary nowadays, its very sad. Personally I would be inclined to walk away.
 
I have a cob x tb with it, he's 29 and had it since I've had him from 6 year old. His has not been progressive. It has never, or very rarely, presented itself when ridden and I certainly wouldn't say he 'wobbles about' unless with the farrier or similar. That sounds like a worrying description. My boy quite happily did everything, event, sj, whp, hunt, was shod and sometimes studded without issue. It still appears to be something not really known about. Get more info on him, but there are many horses out there without predetermined issues....
 
He's 13, is jumping 1.20m and very nicely schooled, very bold. Priced at £600. They've said he isn't able to cope with big competitions - stress of the environment makes his shivers worse, but is fine for things with a friendlier atmosphere and is good out hunting.
 
mil1212 said:
I have a cob x tb with it, he's 29 and had it since I've had him from 6 year old. His has not been progressive. It has never, or very rarely, presented itself when ridden and I certainly wouldn't say he 'wobbles about' unless with the farrier or similar. That sounds like a worrying description. My boy quite happily did everything, event, sj, whp, hunt, was shod and sometimes studded without issue. It still appears to be something not really known about. Get more info on him, but there are many horses out there without predetermined issues....
Click to expand...

Yeah, it definitely concerns me. Good to hear about your boy though :) How do you manage him? If you don't mind me asking
 
Jinx94 said:
He's 13, is jumping 1.20m and very nicely schooled, very bold. Priced at £600. They've said he isn't able to cope with big competitions - stress of the environment makes his shivers worse, but is fine for things with a friendlier atmosphere and is good out hunting.
Click to expand...

I would go with your eyes open, a decent horse capable of 1.20m tracks at 13 advertised for that kind of money would definitely suggest it is more severe than a mild shiver. I could never ever feel mine shiver out hunting - his blood was up and he was level as anything, however hacking out he would shiver 5-6 times in an average 1.5hour hack.
 
Forgot to add - he also has a "dent" in his face and a non-ligament lump which they've said has never affected him, I assume this would also affect the price? I want to have a decent conversation with them over the phone first as he's relatively far from me, and I don't want to spend the money on petrol only to discover that I'd have said no if I had known more beforehand.
 
Interesting to see that stress bring it out. My boy is a complete stress head (very welsh cob like!) and was a live wire, hunting brought on colic, but stress never made the shivering worse. To be honest, we never really managed him any different, not much was known about shivering when we had him. He was a live wire so lived on a few handfuls of chaff and that was it, out in the day in at night with hay. I retired him when he wound himself up so much he gave himself nosebleeds in his 20's (but not shivering!)
Now he is pretty stiff so lives out, he hates having the farrier as it's quite stressful for both of them!
 
Yes sorry stringhalt. I would very much worry about a horse that good bring sold so cheap. I would want to see the stress shiver before I bought it also no idea how quite an even would need to be to keep him comfortable
 
to be fair, he's 13 as well, that is not young and think £600 is a fair price for a horse with shivers with capability regardless. Have you got a chance to trial him for a month to see how bad he is or spend a good amount of time with him and his current owner to see how they manage him?
 
I'll have to see - haven't contacted owner yet as I want to discuss it with my instructor and my parents first, but will ask about a trial period. He's 90 odd miles away, which I know is a big distance, but if they've over exaggerated the shivers I'm very unlikely to find anything else that is as close to what I want.
 
One of my show horses shivers in a hind leg. Only presents itself when you pick out the foot or the farrier picks it up. It doesn't affect him under saddle and so far hasn't been progressive. He's 14 now. I would absolutely buy him again with this issue, it's never prevented me doing anything with him, he's been very successful in his career. No horse is perfect after all :)
 
We need one that showed a shiver at 1 and a half. We still have him 16 yrs later and it's never got worse. Stress does make it more pronounced when he's being shod but he's never done it under saddle or when moving.
It's never stopped him doing anything and we don't do anything different management wise.
I'd never sell him because people are so wary of it. He's an adorable boy.
 
Is it just me, or is the diagnosis of shivers a bit of a tricky one? Our Harry used to shake his hind legs around when having them picked up which it was suggested could be shivers or stringhalt. Vet finally diagnosed bilateral arthritis and he had an operation.

Just wonder OP if its worth validating the description as shivers - has a vet diagnosed it for example?
 
Have those with shiveres had any problem with travelling? Am taking afriends 17hh ID on a journey of about150 miles on Friday and she is thought to have mild shivers.
 
My daughters horse Bill has shivers in one leg. His is intermittent and is always worse if a stranger picks out his hoof or when farrier comes. It wasn't picked up in the pre-purchase vetting (aged 5). I have noticed he sometimes does it when he is rolling or getting up/down. We have been having problems with him not stepping through and getting tight through lumbar area. Not sure if it is connected to the shivers or not or if perhaps his shivers are getting worse (he is now 7). I personally wouldn't go for a horse with shivers unless I knew it and owners well, for example buying a loan horse etc. There are plenty of good ones out there without buying an uncertainty.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top