Tying-Up - Azoturia

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parelligirl

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Hi guys - new to the forum!

Wanted some advise... I feel so bad!!

We had to get the vet out last night for my mare.
We thought it was behavorial issued as when she was schooling she would (what we thought) "evade" and try and throw you off balance, skipping, cantering with front legs and trotting on back legs when asked to trot.
She became so sweaty... (we thought this was because she is very unfit and because it was mild...)

Basically she looked very akward and thought she was being naughty... We put her back in her stable after trying to work her...
She looked very uncomfortable in her stable, looking at her belly and back end. standing funny, breathing heavy... (all signs of what we thought was colic...)

We called the vet out to make sure and whilst on the phone to the vet she urinated (which looked like blood but wasnt..) a ribena-looking wee.

The vet came and diagnosed her with azoturia/tying up.
Basically her whole back end had cramped... her muscles had contracted but didnt open again (just like out muscles when we use them)

The vet has taken blood to measure the amount of muscle damage she has.
The reason she has dark urine is because of all the myogolobin released from the damaged muscles and it escapes through the bladder.
She had a painkiller injection to relieve her of pain and on pain killers and electrolytes in her water for the next couple of days.
She is on box rest untill the blood results come back at least, she is not to move, even to be brought out the stable for mucking out. The worst thing she can do is move whilst these muscles are locked (hence the terrible feeling i have right now of guilt....)

There is a lot more info here if anyone is interested
http://www.equinehospital.net/azoturia.htm

The vet has suggested Ty-Guard by Equine America...

But ive seen a couple of other supplements, one by Global Herbs called Ti-Free formula also

Just wanted to see if anyone else has ever experienced this and if they are using supplements?

Thanks for your help and listening to my guilt trip
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I had a mare who had an attack which was pretty much as you describe with your horse. It was very scary, and it did take a good few months for her to be back to rights. She never had another attack but needed fairly careful management to prevent it.

Firstly, if she wasn't worked (even just for a day) her hard feed was cut right back, basically if not worked she got a handful of chaff and her supplements. If given a few days off, she would have to be carefully eased back into work. Warmup and cool down have to be done scrupulously.

She was fed NAF vitamin E, Lysine and Selenium supplement. A lot of horses have a selenium deficiency and this contributes to Azoturia. She also was also fed salt in every feed.

Never, ever clipped her over her quarters and always kept her warm - warming up with a warm quartersheet on in winter and never letting her stand in a draft without being covered.

Regular psyiotherapy to help repair the damage muscle tissue over her quarters. It took nearly a full year before she was able to use her back end as well as she could before her attack.

Finally, don't beat yourself up. Now you know the symptoms you can be on top of it if it happens again.
 
you're not the first one to do this, don't worry. (Harry Meade at Burghley for one.) i did this years ago with a mare too. trouble is, it feels/looks like laziness, relutance to go forward, and we have been trained to make them go forwards when they seem idle etc. if only they could talk...
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mares are more prone to this than geldings, and once they've done it once, i believe they are more prone to it.
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there's a lot of info about it on the web, i did a lot of research after my girl did it, and she never did it again (including eventing up to 2* level). she was on Ellen Collinson herbs for it for a while.
some of the things to avoid are quite bizarre, such as horsewalkers, riding and leading (where prone horse is the led horse) etc. worth a look around.
v best of luck. lots of tlc for her, and don't feel too guilty... you weren't to know.
 
Thank you for words of support. I know i can only move forward from this - We are fully prepared to give her the correct management for this. She will have as long as she needs off and not brought back in to work one minute before she is well enough again.

I have prepared myself for a lot of money on physios and vet bills so this is not a problem lol!!

Im guessing the supplements are just to help... and its going to have to be mainly correct management and prevention?

She was not clipped last winter but because she is being brought back into work (which i thought was easy enough for her mentally but clearly not physically
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) she will need her front clipped. i feel a blanket clip coming on and lots of rugging to keep her warm - the vet also suggested about exersize sheets for hindquaters in winter.

Thank you for your help - I spose its just waiting to see what the bloods come back as
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I lost a mare because of this and my own ignorance.

Never feed her corn or haylage. Feed her nothing but grass, hay, and supplements mixed in with intolerance mix if you can. Give her a really long time off to get over it and then bring her back really slowly. Its so painful but it comes on so fast in fit horses, its so hard to see it coming and prevent it.

Try not to feel too bad, hopefully now you know she suffers from it you'll be able to prevent it in future.
 
Hi, don't feel guilty as its really hard to tell the difference between colic and azoturia. I had the same a couple of weeks ago with my mare, she went abit loopy on the lunge and then just refused to move, i thought she was avoiding work and after trying to presuade her gave up. When she got back in her stable she was really immoble and sweating/panting, i called the vet who gave her a pain killing injection and asked to look at what i was feeding her.

I fed Alfa A Oil with a few High Fibre Cubes and he said that horses that are prone to azoturia should not be fed Alfalfa, so i was to feed her a hay only diet with a feed balancer and add High Fibre Cubes depending on her workload.

Hope this helps.
 
I had a mare that did this, I always rode in an exercise sheet, (2 in winter) she was always rugged (except hot occasions in sumer) and I never clipped her she was a TB so her hair never really grew to baddly, I fed her SeleniumE it was very cheep and fantaqstic neverhad a problem again, I was lucky my instructor recognised it immediatly and we caught it but had i not have been with her I could have been the same as you,

Try not to worry too much and welcome to the forum
 
All this is so helpful! Thank you

Because she is also on a bit of diet.. she has only been fed "Safe and Sound" all summer and in during the day with a haynet and out at night as we wanted to prevent laminitus (which we did yay!)

So all she has been getting is a handful of safe and sound chaff, garlic, benevit and oil.

The vet made us make basically a soup for her to drink in her feed so she can get liquids back in her. She will need this for a couple of days.

I just cant wait for her to be out of pain. I cant stop thinking about her today
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Recent research has stood the whole Azoturia syndrome on its head. I suggest you do a search on EPSM or PPSM. The way forward is a high oil ,low carbohydrate diet. I was surprised when I read that you were told that Alfalfa was bad.I understand it to be a major component of the diet for horses prone to tying up.
 
You need to feed a high fibre low energy diet, my horse was on box rest after an attack for about 5 - 6 weeks, he was allowed 1 lap of the yard in front of the boxes which was about 10 metre circumfrance then back in the box. He was then allowed bit longer walks, sedated ! then slowly increase this, then he was allowed out, which is easier said than done when all they want to do is run around, thats the worse thing they could do but unfortunately its very hard, I just sedated mine for a while.

After all this is over and you can start riding again, my vet told me to increase the work by 10% each day. I used NAF d-ty I think its called, that was about 4 years ago, I dont' use it anymore BUT am very careful how I warm up and cool down. I walk for 20 mins before doing anything else then cool down for 10 works for me. He only has hay now, I think haylage is ok if is high fibre, he can't have that because he had laminitis before
 
Ditto others. High fibre diet with oil if more calories are needed. No cereals or starchy feeds, even pony nuts can have a reasonable level of starch.

Afalfa is good because of the calcium it contains, which is good for muscle function. Vitamin e and selenium is important for muscle function too. Selenavite e is probably the best supplement in terms of levels, some have very little/ineffective amounts.

If the urine is dark that is quite a severe attack, so be very careful from now on. When the vet says it is ok to exercise again-
warm up slowly and properly.
cool down slowly and properly.
Make sure your horse is fit enough for the work you are asking it to do.
Turn out as much a possible. If possible let the horse live out.
Feed electrolytes everyday
Be careful with travelling and then riding/competing. Again, consider fitness. travelling requires alot of muscular effort.
Stress can contribute to an attack too

Good luck
 
Hello,

My mum’s mare did this a about 7years ago (previous owner did not tell us she was prone to it!!!). To be honest we have nothing different i.e. supplement wise but we are careful that in the winter she ALWAYS starts and ends work with a blanket on her back, if we do fast work or jump we trot on a lose rein for 5mins and then walk for 10mins(if cold has a blanket on). Also we don’t clip the hair on her rump just to be on the safe side.

Feed wise, if she isn’t working then she has a handful of dengie and then minerals supplement to give her nutrients etc.

We nearly lost our mare and the vet has said if it happens again that he would recommend we PTS as she has extensive liver damage. Mum did a lot of research into this once it happened and she did find an article that said TB mares are common for it and it tends to be when they come into season (this is for horses that are prone to it)

Good Luck and keep us posted!
 
I have to agree with mike007, I read a very interesting article on azoturia awhile ago that recommended (after scientific study), to feed alfalfa as a main dietary component along with making sure the horse always has enough salt/electrolytes as lack of these can cause tying up. Selenium can be helpfull but often this is less of a problem than people imagine. Basically you want a diet based mainly on fibre adding oil if extra energy/weight is required. As others have said ensure you always warm up and cool down thoroughly and be aware of your horse's fitness so that you don't push her beyond her limits.

I have owned a horse who I knew was prone to tying up when I got him for two years now. He has tied up once with me, it was entirely my own fault, I allowed him to get excited doing lots of fast work in a new place, only walked him off for a few minutes and then put him in his box. The poor boy could barely move. Thankfully he recovered quite quickly but it was a wke up call for me, I'd had him a year at the time and as he'd never tied up with me before I'd begun to take it for granted that he wouldn't. Silly me, won't do that again!

Otherwise due to me being very carefull with him he has happily completed endurance rides and even been hunting (which he finds extremely exciting!), but because I hack him there and back (at least half an hours walk) and make sure henever stands still for long during the meet, (when they stop we keep walking around, galloping then standing still is not good for azoturia prone horses), we can still have loads of fun and not have to worry about tying up.

Hope your mare feels better soon.
 
I have a pony who has had several atacks, one of the main reasons I beleive she took it to start with was she was being fed Blue Chip which I think was too rich for her.

TBH I now underfeed her with not much hard feed is cut right back, usually a bit of chaff, carrots and supplements to make her feel that she wasn't being left out when the others were fed.

She was fed vitamin E, Lysine and Selenium supplement and salt in every feed.

She isn't clipped her over her hindquarters and I always keep her warm - warming up with an exercise rug on cold days and never letting her stand without having a rug on.
 
I have a mare who used to tye up quite often in the winter because she would do a really explosive spook before I had a chance to get her warmed up. I tried everything and read loads about it. Also lengthy box rest didn't work for her because as soon as she was ok to resume work she would come out of the stable firing on all cylinders and promptly tye up again! I found she was better after a couple of days going in a very small turnout area with light lunging after a week but they are all different.

Fingers crossed she hasn't had an attack for years. I keep her very warm and always use a polypad exercise sheet which is much thicker than normal exercise sheets. Feed a diet very low in starch and sugars - when she's in hard work I feed Hi Fi Lite and Saracen's Re-Leve (which is specially for horses prone to tying up and contains less starch than just about anything!). A lot of the feeds aimed at laminitics are good if in lighter work. I also feed electrolytes as these are proven to help.

Good luck
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My gelding tyed up last Friday, was a first in the 2 years i've had him and really horrible to watch. We were only out hacking, had walked for 20 minutes, a dog tried to attack his friend, he turned himself inside out (we have issues with dogs), and then tried to canter off. Slowed him down to a trot and he completely switched off and felt lame. I hopped off, and within 2 secs, he was dripping with sweat. I called the vet who came up and took bloods and gave him a painkiller. I'm absolutely certain it was the dog that did it, he is a bit of a stresshead. Vet has advised diet change, high fibre, so am looking into Simple Systems. Was a horrible thing to watch and i hope it never happens again. Although how to avoid loose uncontrolled dogs will be a bit of a challenge
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have you stopped all hard feed? there is herbs that you can feed i could find them out for you if you like my friend fed them when her horse did this!
 
My eventer ties up. He can't be fed haylage. He competes on Hi Fi nuts & corn oil & is never shut in, he can wander all year round with access to his stable.

He is only on Selenium & Vitamin E. I looked at Ty-guard but it's extortionate, & I wasn't convinced about a supplement that contained sugar for him.

We have a stock of Dantrium (human anti seizure tabets) that get watered down & syringed down his throat if he has an attack. However, touch wood, seems like haylage was his trigger.
 
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