Wobblers syndrome

[happyhorse978]

Hi all
Does anybody have any experience of Wobblers syndrome causing aggression in horses?

My horse is aggressive, often with no real trigger (please see my previous thread, he is already under vets and had extensive investigations to no avail) and he has recently over the past few weeks developed a strange gait whilst walking down slopes. When I google videos of horses with Wobblers syndrome it is very very siimilar. He seems to be walking normally on the flat.

He has some other symptoms which I feel point toward a neuro issue (again, he is under the vets at present but I am just asking on here for other peoples experiences).

I would appreciate peoples experiences, thank you so much

 

[shortstuff99]

My old mare had a brain tumour which made her go very ataxic and become strange in her personality (after having cushings for about 10 years). I would possibly be leaning more towards that then wobblers.

 

[happyhorse978]

My old mare had a brain tumour which made her go very ataxic and become strange in her personality (after having cushings for about 10 years). I would possibly be leaning more towards that then wobblers.

Thank you, could i please ask how you found out about the tumour? Thank you

 

[shortstuff99]

Thank you, could i please ask how you found out about the tumour? Thank you

It was pretty much decided from her symptoms and I didn't have a postmortem as she was pretty much 30 years old. She had developed cushings quite young and I had been told that this was probably from a pituitary tumour rather than degradation so I imagine it just grew very large.

 

[Sossigpoker]

Yes my then 4 year old started getting aggressive. First treated for ulcers and stifle OCD. The aggression continued to increase , he picked a vet up by the pony tail ,couldn't be led safely. My vet had a hunch and x-rayed the neck and he had a severe compression. As there's no treatment and he was clearly very distressed and getting dangerous, he was PTS two weeks later.

Edit - he didn't actually wobble or show the classic signs of failing the tail pull or not being able to turn I a tight circle.

 

[happyhorse978]

Yes my then 4 year old started getting aggressive. First treated for ulcers and stifle OCD. The aggression continued to increase , he picked a vet up by the pony tail ,couldn't be led safely. My vet had a hunch and x-rayed the neck and he had a severe compression. As there's no treatment and he was clearly very distressed and getting dangerous, he was PTS two weeks later.

Edit - he didn't actually wobble or show the classic signs of failing the tail pull or not being able to turn I a tight circle.

thank you so much x

 

[ycbm]

Mine was sweet with me but aggressive with other horses, both a kicker and a biter. Everyone's rug but his was covered in repairs.
.

 

[Birker2020]

Hi all
Does anybody have any experience of Wobblers syndrome causing aggression in horses?

My horse is aggressive, often with no real trigger (please see my previous thread, he is already under vets and had extensive investigations to no avail) and he has recently over the past few weeks developed a strange gait whilst walking down slopes. When I google videos of horses with Wobblers syndrome it is very very siimilar. He seems to be walking normally on the flat.

He has some other symptoms which I feel point toward a neuro issue (again, he is under the vets at present but I am just asking on here for other peoples experiences).

I would appreciate peoples experiences, thank you so much

Yes I had a smashing 10year old WB x TB that had wobblers. He was only diagnosed when he went to Liverpool Philip Leverhulme horse hospital. He was sadly misdiagnosed with EHV before he went but I was convinced he had wobblers and was sadly proved right. He was Grade 3 - almost Grade 4. He had had a fall onto his neck from rearing backwards in his chifney (I suspect the YO at the time was rough with him and he went up and over backwards). I got a call from the yard to say he'd had an accident and got to the yard to find he wasn't able to raise his head over chest height. Prior to this there were indicators that he had wobblers but he was incorrectly diagnosed by chiro and vet who both said he hadn't although I knew something was wrong.

Xrays using a portable xray machine showed no damage but because it was a portable machine brought to the yard it wasn't strong enough to penetrate the neck muscles so gave an inaccurate reading. It wasn't till later at Liverpool that the damage was evident on a much stronger xray machine.

His symptoms were over a long period of time but got worse - not picking up back legs going through the odd jump but once in about every ten outings. He as actually a very good SJ and was jumping BN and Disco and was ready to go to NC. He had a weird canter that threw you up and out of the saddle. You had to halt, rein back and then ask directly for canter from rein back. This had the effect of loosening his neck. His front left leg would kind of shake when stood eating hay like it wasn't locking but he wasn't typically back at the knee. At this point he was fine to ride but with the odd 'strange behaviours' I've mentioned but following his fall got progressively worse very quickly. I'd had him 2 years and 6 months when he was pts and only couldn't ride for the last two months following his fall when he was ataxic and suffered 3 episodes where you could have blown him over literally.

He wasn't aggresive, but he was very strong in hand and would often pull so needed leading everywhere in a chifney. He was fairly strong to ride too and I used to ride him in a continental snaffle and then a pelham. He would also stick out his tongue to one side when he got strong. He was very elevated with his front legs in trot too.

Sadly it didn't end well for my horse and he had to be pts as he was too afflicted to operate and would have been dangerous to keep in retirement since he could have fallen at any time as he was very ataxic.

This is a very good link for carrying out your own neuro test. Shows the difference between an affected horse and anunaffected horse.

More common in geldings, more common in WB's and more common in horses with long necks.

This was Rommy (and me jumping him) - he was my heart horse, he really was. I miss him even now today.

 

[mariew]

I suspect it's time to call a vet to check your horse out

 

[planete]

My pony was a suspected wobbler when he had a couple of falls simply walking on the flat, struggled badly to walk downhill, felt as if this back end was giving way when ridden and failed soeveral tests for neurological problems , he was also quite aggressive at that point. The equine hospital did neurological tests which were all negative but they picked up abnormally elevated muscle enzymes after exercise. The pony is now managed as a PSSM2 pony and is symptomless and being ridden again. I would recommend a referral to an equine hospital to get a proper diagnosis.

 

[happyhorse978]

I suspect it's time to call a vet to check your horse out

Hi please read the post properly as I mentioned numerous times that he is under investigations with the vets.

 

[happyhorse978]

My pony was a suspected wobbler when he had a couple of falls simply walking on the flat, struggled badly to walk downhill, felt as if this back end was giving way when ridden and failed soeveral tests for neurological problems , he was also quite aggressive at that point. The equine hospital did neurological tests which were all negative but they picked up abnormally elevated muscle enzymes after exercise. The pony is now managed as a PSSM2 pony and is symptomless and being ridden again. I would recommend a referral to an equine hospital to get a proper diagnosis.

Hi Thankyou so much. Unfortunately he’s unable to travel now (another new thing) he can’t balance in either a trailer or box and throws himself around at the wall ceiling floor etc in such a state love him. This is new as he used to travel like a rock. So unable to travel him into the clinic and/or another vet hospital

 

[mariew]

Hi please read the post properly as I mentioned numerous times that he is under investigations with the vets.

My bad. I'm surprised the vets haven't managed to come to a conclusion as what you are saying looks on the surface like some kind of neurological issue/spinal cord compression or similar. I'm certainly no vet though so it is just a gut feel.

 

[Sossigpoker]

Hi Thankyou so much. Unfortunately he’s unable to travel now (another new thing) he can’t balance in either a trailer or box and throws himself around at the wall ceiling floor etc in such a state love him. This is new as he used to travel like a rock. So unable to travel him into the clinic and/or another vet hospital

Has he had a neck x-ray?

 

[SEL]

We had one on m old yard who was aggressive to people - we all assumed it was pain. His owner stopped riding him after diagnosis and was keeping him as a companion. Fine in field but awful if stabled. Stunning warmblood.

Sorry you're going through this. Very hard.

 

[happyhorse978]

My bad. I'm surprised the vets haven't managed to come to a conclusion as what you are saying looks on the surface like some kind of neurological issue/spinal cord compression or similar. I'm certainly no vet though so it is just a gut feel.

Thankyou , me too. It’s so hard as due to the aggression we are limited with which investigations we can do in a way. It does sound that way to me too! X

 

[happyhorse978]

Has he had a neck x-ray?

Not at the moment, he’s had his back xrayed but that was fine. Will a neck X-ray show potential wobblers? X

 

[ycbm]

Not at the moment, he’s had his back xrayed but that was fine. Will a neck X-ray show potential wobblers? X

It will if the impingement is in the neck. Mine was congenital and it was obvious even on a mobile x ray. My horse couldn't balance to travel either.
.

 

[happyhorse978]

It will if the impingement is in the neck. Mine was congenital and it was obvious even on a mobile x ray. My horse couldn't balance to travel either.
.

Thankyou so much I’ll mention to my vet about X-ray x

 

[Sossigpoker]

Not at the moment, he’s had his back xrayed but that was fine. Will a neck X-ray show potential wobblers? X

The only way to diagnose it is via a neck x-ray. The vet will look for compression in the vertebrae . If you're on Facebook, here's a good article about it.
If the horse is visibly wobbly why on earth have they not x-rayed the neck ?
https://www.facebook.com/1555800044...tHrcaA9qpwdoqe9zBBu5eVUedVDaWs2vhghfvD71v7jl/

 

[Birker2020]

The only way to diagnose it is via a neck x-ray. The vet will look for compression in the vertebrae . If you're on Facebook, here's a good article about it.
If the horse is visibly wobbly why on earth have they not x-rayed the neck ?
https://www.facebook.com/1555800044...tHrcaA9qpwdoqe9zBBu5eVUedVDaWs2vhghfvD71v7jl/

You can also have a myelogram where contrast dye is passed through the spinal cord and then a xray scan of some sort will be able do identify compression. Quite expensive and not without risk as horse will be given a GA

 

[poiuytrewq]

My bad. I'm surprised the vets haven't managed to come to a conclusion as what you are saying looks on the surface like some kind of neurological issue/spinal cord compression or similar. I'm certainly no vet though so it is just a gut feel.

I have a horse with neuro issues, most likely spinal cord compression and my vets are unable to confirm 100% everything has been inconclusive. Sadly it’s not all black and white with these kind of problems.

Mine got aggressive ridden, if we were alongside other horses or I was riding and leading another he started lashing out with both ends. This was a new symptom. He had previously been fine and was very used to me riding and leading off him.

I put it down to pain more than anything but that was just a guess. We again were never able to diagnose where any pain was coming from!