Wobblers... symptoms and diagnosis

_jetset_

_jetset_

Well-Known Member
Joined
16 May 2005
Messages
11,389
Location
Lancashire
Visit site
I have also put this in the veterinary to get as much info as possible, so apologies if you are reading it for the second time.

I am struggling to find anything on the internet regarding this, so wondered whether people on here had more information on it???
 
It is nerve damage in the neck that leads to poor balance and co-ordination, the worse cases fall over a lot. Usually they literally dont know what their feet are doing.
 
One of the quickest ways of knowing if it may be wobblers is to make the horse back up. Wobblers cases will lose co-ordination
 
Mmm, I wouldn't necessarily say that a horse HAS to be completely uncoordinated (ataxic) to be a wobbler, there seem to be degrees/stages of progression.

Like navicular, "wobblers' is a syndrome (a collection of symptoms) rather than a disease so it doesn't have a set cause or even a "this is it" diagnostic pattern. It also likely means there isn't a single cause, but more a variety of reasons why different horses may end up with what is essentially the same problem.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Mmm, I wouldn't necessarily say that a horse HAS to be completely uncoordinated (ataxic) to be a wobbler, there seem to be degrees/stages of progression.

Like navicular, "wobblers' is a syndrome (a collection of symptoms) rather than a disease so it doesn't have a set cause or even a "this is it" diagnostic pattern. It also likely means there isn't a single cause, but more a variety of reasons why different horses may end up with what is essentially the same problem.

[/ QUOTE ]

This is all very true and they are graded on a scale of 1 -5 depending on the severity.
 
I've only seen one or two cases & they must have been quite severe then! Agree though about it potentially being more complex than we think. Is an interesting condition

JetSet - I read the post in Vets also & I think the diagnosis there was right
tongue.gif
grin.gif
 
Main symptom is unco-ordination, they seem to stagger can fall over and can have difficulty getting up. I think there is a test the vet does (lifting the head up in a certain way) which is fairly conclusive.
can occur in big or fast growing youngsters, or some think it could be hereditory.
 
As TarrSteps and sallyf state, there are degrees of neurological problems. Neurological problems can be inherited or the result of an accident/injury. I assume it is heriditary unless I know the horse is sound, I have observed the horse being injured. and subsequently the horse is neurologically unsound.

A few simple tests, which we do with young horses every 6 months beginning when they are a year old, can be done by the horse owner:

Get an experienced helper to hold the horse. Have the horse stand quietly and still for 30 seconds (to stop the electronic signals going to the hind legs, so to speak). Then have your helper put his/her hand on the horse's chest and back it up a half dozen steps. Observe what the horse does with its tail. If it swings to the side (to the left or right) or flags up and down it probably has a neuroligical problem. If it simply raises it a bit (but it does not go to the side or go up and down) that is a normal sign of tension and can be disregarded.

Next let the horse stand still 30 seconds, Make the horse turn in a tight circle around you and confirm that it is able to cross its hind legs as it turns. Now do the same thing in the other direction. Did the horse cross his hind legs in both directions? Did it take exaggerated steps with his hind legs, meaning did it lift either leg abnormally high? If it could not cross its hind legs in both directions, or if it took exaggerated steps with a hind leg while turning, then it likely has a neurolgical problem.

Every time your horse is backed out of the horse trailer observe its tail. Also observe your foals for lack of coordination as they move.
 
Thanks... this has all been very helpful and I will print it off.

It is actually for someone I know who is concerned their horse is a 'wobbler' and is currently considering going down the vet route but did not know much info on the condition. I started reading about it yesterday and couldn't believe the lack of information on the internet, but then this morning my own yearling fell at my feet when I was picking his feet out... typical, got the brain thinking
blush.gif
 
[ QUOTE ]
Get an experienced helper to hold the horse. Have the horse stand quietly and still for 30 seconds (to stop the electronic signals going to the hind legs, so to speak). Then have your helper put his/her hand on the horse's chest and back it up a half dozen steps. Observe what the horse does with its tail. If it swings to the side (to the left or right) or flags up and down it probably has a neuroligical problem. If it simply raises it a bit (but it does not go to the side or go up and down) that is a normal sign of tension and can be disregarded.

Next let the horse stand still 30 seconds, Make the horse turn in a tight circle around you and confirm that it is able to cross its hind legs as it turns. Now do the same thing in the other direction. Did the horse cross his hind legs in both directions? Did it take exaggerated steps with his hind legs, meaning did it lift either leg abnormally high? If it could not cross its hind legs in both directions, or if it took exaggerated steps with a hind leg while turning, then it likely has a neurolgical problem.

[/ QUOTE ]

All the above tests were carried out by the vet who attended The Grange Futurity evaluations.

I would be interested to know if the same tests were conducted at the other evaluation venues.
 
I had a horse put down with late onset wobblers at the age of ten. This was four years ago. Rommy was a belgian warmblood with a little TB in him. Wobblers is more common in male horses, warmbloods and quarter horses and horses that typicaly have a long necked confirmation. It can come on early in horses, ie yearlings but it can also be caused by trauma as it was with my horse who fell on his neck in the field. He started having problems with his hind fetlocks rubbing together and I thought it was a tilted pelvis so got the chiro out twice but this did not remedy the situation so the farrier raised the inside of his hind feet to help eliviate the problem. Then in canter he developed a very strange gait where he would concertina his body and it felt like a very strong disunited canter (but it wasn't). It threw you violently out of the saddle - this came on over a period of a few months. When you halted him and reined back and cantered again he would be fine (we now know this 'unlocked' his neck. He was always a very strong ride and had to be led everywher in a chifney as he was so strong (we now know this was related to his neck pain prior to his accident). One day I hacked him out and had to reverse out of a barn and he felt like he was drunk. We went up the lane and he was weaving all over the place so I led him back and called out the vet. Despite the vets inital response saying he thought it was wobblers he changed his mind and thought the horse had EHV (equine herpes virus). However as a safety precaution he was xrayed by portable xray mc at the stable and I was told the xrays were fine. However we know to our cost that they were not fine at all (the mc was not powerful enuf to penetrate the neck muscle to see a clear picture of the spinal column). He was put on bute and finadyne and had a tail sway test which came up positive but a wobblers diagnosis was still not confirmed. He was tested for EHV which came back positive (33% of the horses in the country are carriers but not all go on to develop the illness). I was convinced it was wobblers having read up about it on the internet but again the vets said it was EHV. He had three further attacks over the course of the next couple of weeks and I insisted on a referral to the Philip Leverhulme Clinic at Liverpool Equine Hospital. He was there two hours and underwent numerous xrays on his spinal column and gait analysis and I was given the news that he would not only never be ridden again but he was considered to dangerous to be a field ornament as he was so likely to fall on someone as he was so ataxic. We decided there and then to end his suffering and he was sadly put down there and then. This was in June 2004 but in April 2004 he was competing BSJA and getting clear rounds. Although the intial symptoms came on slowly and he was not in pain the traumatic injury he suffered in the field excelerated the disease. He had four vertebrae effected so an operation (bagby basket) was out of the question. It is important for me to stress that right until the end the pain suffered by my horse was neglible but when a horse is a flight animal and relies on its bodily functions and muscles being able to react as a life or death situation (as horses see things) it must have been distressing for him. Thats why we had him refferred to get a definitive answer which made the decision so much easier at the end of the day. Rommy would have good days - sometimes weeks where he would be fine, out in the field with his friends, doing a one day event, showjumping, dressage, the works. Then other days he would have a 'wobbly episode' and the vet would come out to reassess. I told the hospital if they wanted to keep his neck bones to help students (liverpool is a teaching hospital) then they were welcome. If it helps people learn and understand about wobblers then Rommys life death has been worth while.

You will find the link below very useful.

http://www.equiworld.net/uk/horsecare/erc/wobbler.htm

RIP Rommy - I will always love you and miss you, my beautiful black beauty.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top