Twitching Skin Over My Horse's Shoulders - help needed!

[Skymagee]

I am hoping someone can help or advise me. I have a problem with my horse in that she has started to twitch over her shoulder blade, up to her wither and along to where your knee would be if you were on board. She twitches like she has flies on her. This gets hugely worse with work and as she gets hot. She also does it in the stable when you rug her. However, when she is left alone she doesn't do it.

I clipped her back at the beginning of November, I took off her blanket clip. My clippers got hot and blunt towards the end. I washed her off and rugged her up. The next day her bed was in a complete state - she clearly had been in distress. She was going mad with her skin. When you took off her rugs she pinned you to the wall! Riding was a nightmare, she got twitchy and irritaged smashing her tail to her sides. A week later there was no improvement despite me washign with hibiscrub. I had to retire from a dressage test as she was so bad adn the vet was called. She was given a steriod injection adn sweet itch lotion. The lotion made her skin go on fire so we had to wash that off immediately. She seemed to slightly improve but sadly not completly. I had the vet visit her again and this time we were given a course of steriods. No improvement and when I rode her and she got warm, it got worse. I rode her for the vet during another visit to show her the problem who spotted that her back didn't seem right.

We discovered after X-ray that she had some white areas and her processes were close, just behidn the saddle. We have since had Tildren, steriods into her back, shockwave and are now doing daily physio. Thanks to my great vet and physiotherapist, her back is nearly back to perfect and I am delighted.

Her twitching though has not gone away and it is so strong she pushes her roller back. It is as though she is trying to twitch off flies. As it gets worse, she smashes her tail again and gets quite irritated. She clearly isn't happy.

We took a biopsy but this came back clear. We have tried everything but nothing is working. I am at my wits end as THIS condition is preventing me from riding her, not her back problem!

I am wondering if there is a nerve issue? I can't believe it is related to her spine, it started just hours after clipping her and hasn't gone away.

Does anyone have any ideas, seen this before or have any suggestions of what I can do next? My vet is talking to a dermatologist this week but I am wondering if it isn't a skin thing at all.

I am just desperate, I feel like I will never have her right again.

Thank you!

 

[canteron]

I am probably about to lead you down a blind alley and this may be of absolutely no use, but could it be a diet thing?

When I had my forage analysed recently (www.forageplus.com) I was shocked at how lacking my horses diet was. I now feed a whole lot of things, many of which are meant to be good for the skin. From my very limited knowledge things like Linseed and MagOx (and was it zinc?) I think are meant to help. IMO vets are rarely highly trained of the impact of trace minerals on horses, so you may have to seek advice elsewhere.

Definitely my horses seem to be less sensitive now.

Maybe check with vet whether these things would help (or at least not harm). Or ideally try and speak to the awesomely knowledgeable Sarah at forageplus whether it could be a diet thing before maybe seeking feeding advice.

By the way, I have heard of other equine nutritionalists being highly praised on here - it might be worth doing a search if you want alternatives.

 

[CatStew]

I'm probably completely wrong, but my first thought was that it might be psychsamatic? If the problems started after she was hurt on the clippers, maybe she thinks it still hurts even though it is all healed properly?

Just a thought!

 

[StanStan]

i recommend electro magnetic field therapy, it worked wonders on a youngster i had, it had a twitch in it's trapezius

 

[Foxhunter49]

I would say that this is caused through misalignment plus possibly a sensitive skin.

Tension from misalignment will cause this juddering, just as it will cause tension across the back, thus labelling the horse as 'cold backed'

If you liken a horse to a car in that both have four corners. You can drive a car with the tracking out but it affects the steering, braking and the tyres wear out unevenly. Much the same with a horse.

Physio is great but unless the misalignment (s) are corrected the problem will persist.
To diagnose where she is misaligned you want a chiropractor who works with Applied Kinnesiology so they know exactly where the problem is.

For her skin problem I would do two things. First start feeding her NAF D-tox as this alters the immune system secondly, get some Neem oil, mix up a solution of 5ml Neem, 3 ml of a liquid soap and add 1 L of hot water and wash her in that. It will not cure any problem of allergy but it will relieve any itching.

One other thought, this winter has been exceptionally mild so is she feeling to hot?

If you are interested in knowing about a chiropractor who uses AK I can give you a contact if you PM me.

 

[Tnavas]

I would say that this is caused through misalignment plus possibly a sensitive skin.

Tension from misalignment will cause this juddering, just as it will cause tension across the back, thus labelling the horse as 'cold backed'

If you liken a horse to a car in that both have four corners. You can drive a car with the tracking out but it affects the steering, braking and the tyres wear out unevenly. Much the same with a horse.

Physio is great but unless the misalignment (s) are corrected the problem will persist.
To diagnose where she is misaligned you want a chiropractor who works with Applied Kinnesiology so they know exactly where the problem is.

Totally agree with this - 'fly twitch' is often a sign of the wither and neck being out of alignment and was one of the symptoms my horse would show when his neck went out.

 

[MerrySherryRider]

Your horse sounds very similar to a friends' horse's symptoms, she's now at the point of going off to Newmarket for neurological investigations as the local equine hospital is stumped.
Do let us know how you get on.

 

[Tammytoo]

Agree with Foxhunter and Xmas.

 

[StormyMoments]

when taz was fully clipped he hated wearing his roller or fleece rugs as they used to catch his hair so it would stand at 90 degrees to his body and it would get pushed down so in effect it was like having thousands of little needles stuck in his back... sure this isnt her problem?

 

[PercyMum]

Agree with Foxhunter and Xmas.

Me too - but just a thought...

One of mine started twitching too and was a bit grouchy, although nowhere near the level of unhappiness yours seems to be showing. Turns out I had been putting his saddle just a smidge too far forward (and it was literally an inch) and it was causing pressure on a nerve. I'm sure this isn't what you are doing but just in case!!

I hope you get it sorted as she sounds like a not very happy girly!

 

[Orangehorse]

I know you have vet and physio, but have you tried a chiropractor? Might be worth it.

 

[Skymagee]

Thanks everyone for this. I will talk to my physio about the alignment as she also manipulates. (Thanks Foxhunter for the offer of chiro details)This is a real thought. I will also try the NAF detox. I had also wondered about food allergies but I suppose I can't get my brain away from this started within hours of her being clipped. Maybe it is psychosomatic.... Which is my dread.
How do I cure that? I'm wondering whether to allow her summer coat to come through to see if that helps?

I hate this as her back has responded so well and she is working so well on the lunge now it breaks my heart to see her still broken.

I will purchase the detox and wash and see what my lovely physio says about her alignment

Thanks so much everyone. This is my first ever post on any forum, so am very grateful for the advice and suggestions.

Oh, I should also say that Sky has very sensitive skin and is pink skinned. She is a piebald....mostly white and 2 wall eyes. Baby shampoo makes her react for example!!! Bless her little cotton socks!

 

[Bluejazz]

i had a very scratchy mare - would go mad scratching in the stable when you took the rug off and could rub herself raw. Not as bad as yours but she was unhappy. I have now managed to stop her itching madly mainly though treating the skin issues. She didn't have any physical problems (she has the occasional scratch like any normal horse) by the following:

1 - she didn't need as many rugs as large mare and was getting too hot, so reduced rugs slightly. She wore one thin rug less than all the others in the yard.
2 - change diet - cut out All types of grain & molasses
3. put her on a paperbed or shavings as she was eating straw

All of this has stopped the itching. Also I used Karen Ruggles Ruggle IT ointment which is all natural and helped sooth the skin when it was sore.

However this was all skin conditions rather than anything neurological or physical.

 

[Louby]

One of my previous horses did this. It was a mystery and we tried all sorts, 2 vets were baffled too and a diagnosis wasnt found until she got other symptoms too, like pointing a toe, doing things out of character as in constantly jogging, leaping. She was given a full lameness work up and she had Navicular. Im certainly not saying thats the reason for your horse but in my mare it was a pain related sort of muscle spasm.
I hope you get to the bottom of it.

 

[Skymagee]

This has given me a lot to think about and pain related seems to be a big suggestion here.

She isn't itchy and I didn't ever see her scratch herself. At the start she did try to pin us to the wall but I never saw her scratch herself. It's the twitching or as Xmas referred to it as - fly twitching. This describes it nicely.

There is so much info here for me to consider, thank you!

 

[Jordi222]

OP did you ever find a resolution?

 

[Tegan]

Hi

Not sure whether the OP found a resolution but I have experienced this with a pony with wobblers syndrome. It seemed to come on when she laid down for any length of time or had the farrier. Unfortunately for us the only option was PTS.

Hope the OP had a more positive outcome.

Tegan