Wobblers Syndrome - Please tell me about it!

[3Beasties]

Just wondering if anyone can give me more information about wobblers syndrome?

Has your horse got it? What where his symptoms and how did you have it diagnosed?

What is the long term prognosis? Can a horse with wobblers still be successfully worked/competed?

Any information would be much appreciated!

Also, can it be 'caused' by someone who is suppose to be a professional (ie. a Chiropractor)?

 

[cptrayes]

Mine was ten when it suddenly became obvious that he didn't have proper control of his back legs.

It was diagnosed by neck xrays and the prognosis was hopeless and he was put down. Sorry not to be more up-beat, but I have also been told that there are several good dressage horses in this area with it - one of the symptoms is a huge trot!

It couldn't, I don't think, be "caused" by a Chiro, and definitely not if the horse has malformed vertebrae as mine had. But if a chiro had manipulated his neck at any time in his life, it could have brought on the ataxia from his narrowed vertebrae pressing on his spinal cord.

You need xrays of the neck, and possibly of the back if the neck is clear. EHV can also cause ataxia and mine was tested for that too.

 

[charliejet]

I lost my mare age 7 with it.

She was one of those horses that was always just not quite right ridden but Vets never found anything when she was checked out. I schooled her up to novice level dressage but her real talent was show jumping.
However once she turned 7 and began doing more work she began to show problems and ataxia. She reared up with me one day and went right over backward (her backend didnt have the balance). I called Vet again and after doing tests (tail test etc) wobblers was suspected. She also had a lameness work up. She then went on a 10 day bute trial to rule out pain from else where, the next step would have been xrays but she deteriorated quickly and had a bad fall on the yard.
She was PTS so wobblers never confirmed on xray. In her case we think she was born with it looking back she had little signs over the years, she had difficulty cantering and would go disunited, she used to wear through hind shoes very quickly, over reach and pull front shoes off, bunny hop buck when she got frustrated, all these things can be for example hock problems so these do need ruled out.

This site is helpful
http://www.equinewobblers.com/diagnostics/neurological_examination.html

 

[Birker2020]

Rommy was a ten year old gelding, (more common in young fast growing WB and Quarter horses/shires and TB's) and in those horse with long necks, and more common in geldings also. I had owned him for 2.5 years and he was a lovely showjumper and we'd won quite a bit of money BSJA together.

Rommy had a fall in the field which hurt his neck and the vet came as he was ataxic (wobbly on his legs) and the vet said it was wobblers to start with but then changed his mind. Then another vet took over who wanted to write a thesus about what she thought my horse had - EHV (equiine herpes virus) when in fact he did not have this. This delayed any treatment that might have been beneficial to him as she spent many weeks going down this route and ordering blood tests. The chiro came out twice as Rommy kept knocking his hind fetlocks together but on both ocassions said he did not have wobblers when it was very obvious that he did. THe vet also did xrays on a portable xray machine that she bought to the yard and said his xrays were fine but the machine was not strong enough to penetrate the muscles in the neck hence the false reading.

Finally upon my insistence he was referred to an Equine Hospital (Phillip Leverhulme at Liverpool) and he had comprehensive xrays and a neuro examination. Within two hours of arriving he was pts as they couldn't do anything for him, as he was too compromised in the neck, C3, C4 and C6.

His was late onset wobblers, probably more accurately called CVM (cervical vetebral malfunciton) due to the fall he has on his neck in the field.

The operation is to fit a metal 'basket' in the neck called a bagby basket which stabilises the vetebrae. http://www.equine-equilibrium.com/AR...ketCasePDF.pdf

Here is a fabby link which explains about wobblers by someone who is fab (Antonio Cruz) and who emailed me when I wrote to him after my horses death. http://www.meadowherbs.com/Info Ce...oblers_EPM.pdf

Even in the middle to latter stages (before we knew what was wrong with him and obviously before he was wrongly diagnosed with EHV) he was jumping double clear discoverys one day and then totally uncordinated the next. On his good days you would never know there was a problem, on his bad days his canter used to throw you up out of the saddle with huge force and he would just look 'strange'. By then he was only Grade 1, the day he was put down he was Grade 3 to 4.

 

[Birker2020]

I she had difficulty cantering and would go disunited, http://www.equinewobblers.com/diagnostics/neurological_examination.html

My horse used to have a weird canter, but it wasn't a disunited canter, it was like he would concertina his body so his front end and back end were squished up and in canter he would throw you up out of the saddle. Much stronger than a disunited.

If you stopped him, reined back and struck off into canter it would alleviate the problem for a few minutes. We didn't know he had wobblers then, and some weeks he would jump really well - he was jumping discovery classes, and then other times he would land in the middle of a jump for no reason, Dad filmed me once and you could quite clearly see the front end taking off over the jump but the back end just dragging through the fence.