Talk to me about Wobblers?

[ginatina]

I’m interested in hearing anyone’s experiences with a horse with Wobblers syndrome please?

Especially grateful to hear about the journey to diagnosis, in terms of what tests were taken and so on?

I have a young horse that we are contemplated getting seen, as he is very clumsy and drags his back feet in walk, and although he will rein back he drags his feet very badly and won’t lift them as he reverses, even if you chase him back

Hoping it might be an injury or even just young horse weakness (he’s 3) but we’d like to rule out wobblers if we can.
thank you all x

 

[milliepops]

I have 2.
First one was a bit suspicious as she failed to progress in her training. Physio friend came to look to her and we did some of the foot placement tests which pointed towards a neuro problem. I took her to the vets for a proper examination and we saw her issue on x Ray, she has an old neck injury which gives her some issues behind.
I was given the option to medicate and try to keep her in work but I chose not to. She is retired and lives out and is currently still doing very well.
I had planned to breed from her when we bought her and because it was clearly an injury rather than congenital vet was supportive. We've had one foal and I'm hoping for another as she's been doing so well.

My other is an ex racer and tbh I was uneasy about him from the start, mainly in the way he stood when at rest, with one hindleg out miles behind. I did the foot placement tests myself and got vet out to confirm what I was seeing. We didn't bother to investigate further but the assumption is that he also sustained an injury as his past notes support this. He is also retired and pretty happy but he has another mild lameness which is currently managed, he will be pts at some stage.

 

[ihatework]

Wobblers is a generic term for a neurological issue stemming from spinal chord compression in the neck.

It encompasses a range of symptoms, severity etc that can be as minimal as barely noticeable, easily medically managed and of little impact to the horse - to severe enough to PTS, and everywhere in between.

You want an experienced neuro vet to examine the horse as there are very subtle signs that can differentiate between neuro and orthopaedic issues. They will look at how the horse moves at slow speed, on a turn, with head/neck raised and lowered, up& down slopes, backwards, tail pulls etc.

If they suspect neuro first step is neck xrays, to identify which vertebrae and what type of compression. Is it a congenital kissing spine? Is it arthritis/chip/spur. Is it soft tissue compression. What area of the chord is it (this impacts long term implications and treatment options).

Then from there you are generally offered steroid injections and/or a myelogram to further image

 

[Sossigpoker]

The only way to diagnose it is via a neck x-ray. Please don't put any weight on the other "tests" like the tail pull, especially if there point towards negative.

My 4.5 year old became increasingly aggressive and unpredictable (he had lameness too). Vet had a hunch and x-rayed his neck which showed a large compression. He was PTS a few weeks later. At that point he was dangerous to handle and clearly increasingly distressed by the condition. For example, if you tried to back him up, he would really go for you , ears back , mouth open ,.the full works.

 

[Sossigpoker]

Wobblers is a generic term for a neurological issue stemming from spinal chord compression in the neck.

It encompasses a range of symptoms, severity etc that can be as minimal as barely noticeable, easily medically managed and of little impact to the horse - to severe enough to PTS, and everywhere in between.

You want an experienced neuro vet to examine the horse as there are very subtle signs that can differentiate between neuro and orthopaedic issues. They will look at how the horse moves at slow speed, on a turn, with head/neck raised and lowered, up& down slopes, backwards, tail pulls etc.

If they suspect neuro first step is neck xrays, to identify which vertebrae and what type of compression. Is it a congenital kissing spine? Is it arthritis/chip/spur. Is it soft tissue compression. What area of the chord is it (this impacts long term implications and treatment options).

Then from there you are generally offered steroid injections and/or a myelogram to further image

The steroid injections only work if the compression is more of an arthritic type. If the vertebrae is malformed and therefore compresses the spinal chord , then the only cure as such is a fairly hard core spinal surgery where the outcome isn't really know. Therefore PTS is usually recommended.
Once the vet saw the compression in my horse's neck, he said that his aggressive behavior makes sense as he will be very distressed by essentially not having full control of his back end.

 

[This_riveriswild]

While having lovely movement on the flat my horse had always struggled with jumping, stumbled A LOT (broke my hand falling off him on a flat field when he stumbled for no apparent reason), and lost shoes all the time. He was also big at 17.1hh and and predominantly thoroughbred in breeding. Struggled with ulcers too.

Aged 6 he started dragging his back toes and riding him was a horrible feeling. Vet called out did the standard neuro tests, stepping in a tight circle, tail pull etc. sufficiently bad that he was referred to local specialist hospital for further testing. In the course of the wait to go he became much more challenging to deal with and really struggled to walk down hills, was lying down a lot in the field.

At the hospital he was assessed by a specialist neuro vet and had his neck x-rayed. As other members have identified this is a key step to determine whether there is the malformation of the vertebrae consistent with wobblers. X-ray showed a issue so we then went on to have a Myelography (under general anaesthetic) to determine the actual malformation and whether could be treated surgically, conservatively with steroids or not at all. The vet rang me while my horse still under GA and recommended that given what they had found my horse should be put to sleep, he never came round from the general anaesthetic. A brutal condition that I’m afraid can have quite terminal results.

 

[ihatework]

The steroid injections only work if the compression is more of an arthritic type. If the vertebrae is malformed and therefore compresses the spinal chord , then the only cure as such is a fairly hard core spinal surgery where the outcome isn't really know. Therefore PTS is usually recommended.
Once the vet saw the compression in my horse's neck, he said that his aggressive behavior makes sense as he will be very distressed by essentially not having full control of his back end.

Urm yes.
Wobblers ranges from mild and barely symptomatic easily medically managed. To severe and PTS. Just what I said in my post.
Sorry yours was on the extreme end.

 

[pistolpete]

Mine was diagnosed with neck issue C6 and C7 compression when he was 12. It’s more common than you’d think. He lived and hacked another ten years after diagnosis but I was super careful with him. He was never able to school but actually he seemed really happy. Things improved to the point I took him on a riding holiday weekend once. Lost him to colic last year. Aged 22.

 

[milliepops]

it's a horrible condition but for the milder case it does seem to be more of an inconvenience than a problem for the *horse*, it can be a big big problem for the owner
I feel completely happy that my mare is not suffering at all, the vet said it would be obvious if/when she started to deteriorate as she would lose the correctness of her paces etc. at leisure she does not put herself into a position that causes her any discomfort. she is a happy go lucky sort of horse. When she was still in work i had problems with her digestive system etc and i think it was just that she was so genuine but struggling to do what she was asked and the stress was causing other issues.
Having seen her in retirement I feel i did the right thing. But i have space to keep a retired horse in the field at minimal cost.

My friend had a 4yo diagnosed and unfortunately he was a congenital wobbler. the prognosis was that he would eventually get worse. The cruelest thing is that insurance generally won't pay out for pts unless the horse has got to the point of losing its balance and becoming dangerous. she pts at diagnosis because that's an awful thing to have to wait for especially if you are at livery. with him again the signs were a general failure to progress and pretty exaggerated jumping technique. hers and my experience has made me highly suspicious of any horse that doesn't train up the way you'd expect.

 

[dixie]

I bought a 6yr old who had been sj successfully.
He always dipped behind the saddle when hacking in walk downhill and after about a year his jumping deteriorated. He regularly had 4 or 5 fences down. He would cross his back feet over after I had picked them out and didn’t move to a normal stance very quickly. He also constantly rested a back leg and quite often out to one side.
after he start stopping at fences I had a vet work up and he quickly diagnosed his neck problem which was confirmed by X-ray.
He was injected and I hacked him for about a year, just gently but then retired him as he clearly wasn’t comfortable and pts about 2yrs later. He was such a lovely horse, it was very sad.

 

[Xmasha]

We had our lad PTS when he was 9. He had an accident which led to neck arthritis in the C6/7. His neck would lock and he just couldn’t lift it up for a while . He wasn’t dangerous to handle , he looked fabulous. I’d just noticed that when bringing in front the field he would trot over to me with his head low . I mentioned it to my vet and she wanted him in for X-rays straight away . That’s when they found the issue .. a bone spur growing into his spinal column. It came on so fast , the vets warned that if I didn’t make the decision to PTS straight away it would be a matter of weeks before he developed wobblers . No way could I let such a beautiful horse go that way . So we let him go.

 

[Sossigpoker]

it's a horrible condition but for the milder case it does seem to be more of an inconvenience than a problem for the *horse*, it can be a big big problem for the owner
I feel completely happy that my mare is not suffering at all, the vet said it would be obvious if/when she started to deteriorate as she would lose the correctness of her paces etc. at leisure she does not put herself into a position that causes her any discomfort. she is a happy go lucky sort of horse. When she was still in work i had problems with her digestive system etc and i think it was just that she was so genuine but struggling to do what she was asked and the stress was causing other issues.
Having seen her in retirement I feel i did the right thing. But i have space to keep a retired horse in the field at minimal cost.

My friend had a 4yo diagnosed and unfortunately he was a congenital wobbler. the prognosis was that he would eventually get worse. The cruelest thing is that insurance generally won't pay out for pts unless the horse has got to the point of losing its balance and becoming dangerous. she pts at diagnosis because that's an awful thing to have to wait for especially if you are at livery. with him again the signs were a general failure to progress and pretty exaggerated jumping technique. hers and my experience has made me highly suspicious of any horse that doesn't train up the way you'd expect.

NFU covered the PTS and paid out on loss of horse for mine, tbh I was surprised they didn't quibble at all but obviously was relieved they didn't. He wasn't unsteady on his feet , he was aggressive and increasingly distressed but didn't obviously look like "a wobbler". Before we had to stop riding due to stifle issues,
he did find it hard going downhill and would trip over nothing on flat ground. I assume the NFU vets would have agreed that the compression was so severe there was no hope of improvement so covered it without an issue.

 

[Nudibranch]

Vet workup. Don't bother with the various home tests as they're too ambiguous and can vary in results day to day.

Some symptoms can be similar to hock and SI issues so you need a full workup. Even then it can be difficult to pin down. I had one with neck changes on x ray but even an Edinburgh specialist couldn't say if they were actually having any impact. We were unlucky enough to also have hock and SI changes. Mine was pts at 7 because of the multiple issues, none of which would ever improve and would only worsen with time. I didn't want him going down and struggling in his last hours. It's also potentially very dangerous for a ridden horse (even one retired to the field if it progresses enough).

I lost a farrier because of it - he point blank refused to deal with a suspected wobbler. I sacked another very well known and respected trimmer because he decided the above diagnosis was no good reason to struggle with lifting your hind legs, and he was just a young horse trying it on. When he spun him in tight circles and then walloped him with a rasp I had enough.

There's a lot of rubbish talked about wobblers. Get a very experienced equine specialist vet and take it from there.

 

[ycbm]

Mine was a warmblood with one of those huge floating trots. But he was bred to jump and I just could not get him reliable show jumping and cross country was completely out.

So I did dressage with him for 6 years, got him up to 3 time tempi changes and some decent advanced work at home. Then suddenly one day, right in the middle of a schooling session, his back end "went". I jumped off and he was completely unsteady on his feet.

I got his neck x rayed and he had the absolutely typical congenital malformation of C3, with a very narrow channel for the spinal cord, plus C4 was out of step, and had crumbled into several pieces at the edge with C3. He was PTS soon after.

In retrospect, it was the cause of him refusing to jump at 4 and 5 years old, and knuckling over on the hinds increasingly often as he got older (diagnosed as hock spavin, which he did have), and might well have been the cause of how impossibly spooky and nappy he was to hack out.

I think that wobblers can be scared horses (they know they can't outrun that lion) and if so it is fairier to have them put to sleep. I had no option, mine could barely stay standing on his hind feet.
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