Why is my horse falling over and so tired?

Leviathan said:
Not reading what others said I would

  • get a vet to check and take bloods
  • get a physio to check him over
  • check his diet with a nutritional person.

I would not :

pump him full of corn and energy feeds without the first three being checked and ruled out

There is a reason for this and its important to check everything before you change his diet.

I see all to many on here who say give him this give him that. Without knowing the horse - some you just cannot give things like mix as it blows their heads off. There are diets which are more tailored without the starch.


Do first things I said first

it could be low grade virus
infection
lami
a number of other things. As I said vet first to include bloods taken.
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Hello thanks no i gave him the same feed today. Ive been told he may have asthma when i took him out to do only a 70-80 today to see whether he was forward he trotted all the fences so getting vet out :) and i'll get physio to have a look he has back massages equilibrium therapy massage pad??:) xx
 
alexshowjumper said:
Hello thanks no i gave him the same feed today. Ive been told he may have asthma when i took him out to do only a 70-80 today to see whether he was forward he trotted all the fences so getting vet out :) and i'll get physio to have a look he has back massages equilibrium therapy massage pad??:) xx
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I really don;t think you should be taking him to competitions until you've established whats wrong with him -there are easier and kinder ways to se if a hose is "forward"
 
Auslander said:
I really don;t think you should be taking him to competitions until you've established whats wrong with him -there are easier and kinder ways to se if a hose is "forward"
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It was schooling it wasnt really much o an effort for him and it was for a trainer to see what is wrong with him, and she thought he may have asthma so we only did a small amount of jumps and hardly any canterwork.:) thanks xxx
 
Auslander said:
I really don;t think you should be taking him to competitions until you've established whats wrong with him -there are easier and kinder ways to se if a hose is "forward"
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Plus he loves his work so it was kind, surely popping over xc jumps at a slow pace with many breaks to assess his movement and his breathing is ok? Dont want you to get the wrong end of the stick:-) i wouldnt do anything that would put my horses at risk or be not kind to them.:) thank you, xxxx but what other ways are you suggesting too?
 
alexshowjumper said:
It was schooling it wasnt really much o an effort for him and it was for a trainer to see what is wrong with him, and she thought he may have asthma so we only did a small amount of jumps and hardly any canterwork.:) thanks xxx
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If your trainer is diagnosing 'asthma' is she also a vet!?

Sorry if this offends but these threads really irritate me. People with horses showing what I would consider to be quite worrying symptoms, doing absolutely anything and everything they can rather than get the vet out.
With the money you would have saved in diesel and paying a trainer today I'm sure you could have just called the vet.
 
alexshowjumper said:
Plus he loves his work so it was kind, surely popping over xc jumps at a slow pace with many breaks to assess his movement and his breathing is ok? Dont want you to get the wrong end of the stick:-) i wouldnt do anything that would put my horses at risk or be not kind to them.:) thank you, xxxx but what other ways are you suggesting too?
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A quick hack up the road should do it. I'm sure you are trying to do the right thing, but whatever way I look at it, I cant see any benefit in taking him out and jumping fences on him when you are worried about him falling over and being tired. Please get the vet out, pull some bloods, and rule out any health problems before doing anything else.

If he does have a virus, he will feel like you would feel if you were asked to play in a hockey match with raging flu. Even if hockey was your favourite sport, it wouldn't be a comfortable or enjoyable experience
 
Patterdale said:
People with horses showing what I would consider to be quite worrying symptoms, doing absolutely anything and everything they can rather than get the vet out.
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Yes, I do agree with most posters a vet exam and blood screen are definitely the first thing to do. He may love his work but if he is ill or anaemic for eg. work will be hard going.

Trying to boost energy with adding energy feeds is often not the answer unless in very hard work, sometimes taking sugars, cereals etc. out of diet is more helpful.

Re garlic. http://www.equisearch.com/horses_care/nutrition/feeds/eqgarlic528/
 
Take the advice offered already in this thread and get a good horse vet to examine your horse before you do anything else. Don't work him whilst you are waiting for the vet to come out.

Also postpone the clipping until you know what you are up against, as others have said there are many possible causes for his symptoms. He may well need to be rested for a while. Clipping a possibly sick horse is not a great idea.
 
Out of interest did you tell your trainer your horses recent health "issues" before you started working him?

I would certainly get a vet out to him and under no circumstances would I change his diet or clip him until I knew what was wrong.
 
Patterdale said:
If your trainer is diagnosing 'asthma' is she also a vet!?

Sorry if this offends but these threads really irritate me. People with horses showing what I would consider to be quite worrying symptoms, doing absolutely anything and everything they can rather than get the vet out.
With the money you would have saved in diesel and paying a trainer today I'm sure you could have just called the vet.
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Unsurprisingly my vet doesnt work on sundays im afraid. And ive been told that it is probably a virus that will pass so he is ok to do small amounts of work? Thanks x
 
Allover said:
Out of interest did you tell your trainer your horses recent health "issues" before you started working him?

I would certainly get a vet out to him and under no circumstances would I change his diet or clip him until I knew what was wrong.
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Yes of course i did say.:) and ok! Thanks xx
 
alexshowjumper said:
What do u mean by if this is for real? Thanks xx
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the fact that your horse is so tired he is falling over but you have not had a vet, and continue to work him including jumping and taking him out, and that your trainer is happy to advise you when your horse is doing this and still train you, that you think it may all be 'fixed' by clipping him. I could go on but CBA

sorry but give me strength

bad mood yes, but this sort of thing gets my blood up
 
Stop guessing. Someone has said it's asthma, another person has said it's a virus, neither are vets. Get the vet out.
 
Whereabouts are you OP?
I'm sure someone on here would be able to recommend you a vet who provides cover on a Sunday - I find it quite surprising that yours doesn't. Tbh I'd be looking elsewhere; what would you do if there was a dire emergency and your vet wouldn't come out?
 
alexshowjumper said:
Unsurprisingly my vet doesnt work on sundays im afraid. And ive been told that it is probably a virus that will pass so he is ok to do small amounts of work? Thanks x
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Are you joking?

Obviously the vets aren't open on Sundays, but if you are being truthful then this didnt come on suddenly today, did it? I'm sure the vets were open all of last week.

And you've 'been told its probably a virus'? By whom, exactly!? Someone with x ray blood testing vision??

If you were bothered about your horse, truly bothered you would get the vet, find out what is ACTUALLY wrong and rest him in the meantime.
Poor sod.

I could say more but I will try to restrain myself.
 
twiggy2 said:
the fact that your horse is so tired he is falling over but you have not had a vet, and continue to work him including jumping and taking him out, and that your trainer is happy to advise you when your horse is doing this and still train you, that you think it may all be 'fixed' by clipping him. I could go on but CBA

sorry but give me strength

bad mood yes, but this sort of thing gets my blood up
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Plus all of this ^^^^^^^
 
If one of your friends had suddenly started getting clumsy and developed asthma like symptoms what would your advice be to them?

I would suggest finding a trainer who gives a monkeys about the horses welfare, working a horse with those symptoms is inexcusable and I am sorry that you were given advice to the contrary. He needs to see a vet. The important thing is to learn from what is happening, it is the only thing that makes making mistakes justifiable and you will become a better horse person for it:)
 
alexshowjumper said:
Its just so not like him to be this tired and falling and tripping all the time. Thank u xx
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Then you've answered your question - its NOT normal that he's like this so definately get blood tests done straight away. If he's so tired he's falling and tripping then that is not normal! I would also NOT be working this horse at all until you find out whats wrong with him. Even it it IS "just" a virus, why do you feel its ok to still be working him? Would you like to go for a run if you have flu?
 
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alexshowjumper said:
Unsurprisingly my vet doesnt work on sundays im afraid. And ive been told that it is probably a virus that will pass so he is ok to do small amounts of work? Thanks x
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I think your sarcasm is very, very misplaced. People have taken the time to answer your post and advise you on the best course of action to help your horse.

If your horse has a virus a small amount of work might be appropriate, but there again it might not. Just to help point you in the right direction about what a small amount of work is - it's walk work only. And certainly not any sort of exertive work such as jumping.

I do actually hope this post is a wind up. Someone showing such a dismissive attitude should surely not be in sole charge of any sort of animal.
 
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