The pictures are of my gelding but the video I found and is exactly what my gelding is doing

https://youtu.be/nxoZbN5al5U

My gelding (in his twenties ) just started doing this yesterday. He hold his head turned to one side and turns circles often. Or stands there with his head cocked that direction. His lips are hard to the touch and he nibbles at his food and drinks water like a dog (sticks tongue out).

Is there any chance this is something other than epm?

He doesn’t want to turn neck other direction. My other horse tried to bite him over the fence and he did trot off. But basically stands around or turns circles other than that
I checked his mouth and felt all around his face and body and doesn’t seem to have any sensitive areas. Also seems to have dropped weight.
I DO HAVE an appt with the vet tomorrow morning for an exam and possible euthanasia. Just want to get opinions on what it could be. Thank you everyone ????

no answers,but so many prayers,please keep us posted

I had an old thoroughbred mare who had EPM and she ended up having a stroke at 26 and was doing close to the same thing. Hope you get some answers and prayers!!!! 

I had a mare do this exact thing earlier this year.  She did it once and came out of it for a while.  I believe the vet had us just give her bute.  The second time she did it was much worse.  She was in a panic because she couldn't get herself to her food so she was spinning in the middle of her pen.   I calmed her down and get her over to her groceries.   Everytime she moved the circling would start again.  The vet thought it was likely degenerative arthritis somewhere along her spine that caused compression of the spinal cord.  I had to lay her to rest that day.  I couldn't watch her deteriorate further.  It sucked, she was a grand old mare.  I'm sorry you are going through it.  

He walks to his food from across his pen then he starts spinning when he gets close to his food. And eventually he gets to it and nibbles. His mouth doesn't move hardly so he can barely eat and drink. 

Oh I just found out he's been this way since last Thursday. 
I havnt been around the horses much besides just dumping feed in their buckets. I just had a baby and have been inside mainly. My daughter said she tried to ride him Thursday and he kept turning circles. She didn't know there could be something wrong and just thought he was misbehaving. 

Prayers for your boy

Stroke maybe?

It could be a number of things, EPM, a hard blow to the top of the head, getting halter hung up on something solid, a stroke. 

update? Sending more prayers

Me too. . . . 

He wouldn't load in the trailer this morning and I can't get a vet out until Tuesday. But over the phone they think epm. Will run tests next week 

Is he still able to eat and drink?

Yes but not much. He might be able to come sooner they said they would let me know. But I called all around and couldn't find anyone that can do a farm call until next week. 

Continuing prayers

Who is the Vet you are taking your horse to? 

He had an appt this morning with at deason hospital in floresville. have dr Sullivan from crossroads coming Tuesday possibly sooner 

thinking of you,sending more prayers

I thought this too. . . 

Prayers continuing

He is very dehydrated. I soak his feed but he hardly eats. I hand fed him this morning and he seemed to like that but didn't eat it all and ended up walking off and not wanting anymore. I gave him electrolyte paste. Will give him more tomorrow. I called the vet again today and they are still unable to come out until next week. Called several. I'm not sure what else I can do, I'm afraid he might go down before then and then what?  

There seems to be something wrong with his mouth he eats weird. I again opened it as wide as I could this morning and used a flash light me and my husband tried to see inside. Was difficult... didn't see much. He still holds his head to the left side like he's about to turn. 
if he has to go a certain direction to get to a certain point he will turn left until he's there or lined up to get there. 
he will stick his nose almost to his belly when he chews his food. 
he is not very coordinated with his feet either. Like he shook his whole body yesterday and had to catch his balance. 

circling with his head turned means something is going on in the forebrain. it could be any number of things. EPM is more often seen in the spinal cord than the brain, but never say never, the protozoan can go anywhere in the CNS.   But my differentials would be- EPM, space occupying mass (tumor, abscess, etc) infarct, metabolic, hepatic encephalopathy.. idk. could be a number of things. He needs a vet exam for sure. 

I hope you get answers, I would think something neurological like stroke or EPM. I'm flabbergasted that you can't get a vet out. Any vet I know would have cleared their schedules to be there within 24 hours 

Right! I'm not sure if it's the holidays or what. Some vets I  havnt got to answer or call me back. I don't have a report with any specific vet as I hardly take my horses to them. Just for coggins and have teeth done is it. I have used several over the years 

I would call Retama Equine Hospital in Selma and see if one of their Vets will come to you since they are not far from you at all, Dr. Huffman is who I use, but they have other Vets there and they are the only ones I would really trust or Give Seguin Animal Hospital and see if Dr. Bruening would make a house call. Since this horse has a neuroloical problem I really dont think he can make a trailer ride anywhere, his balance would not be good at all in a trailer.

Wondering if theres any undate on this horse? 

I would be a little concerned that it's Rabies. We had a horse many years ago that presented similarly to this horse. It was Rabies.

This crossed my mind also.  She said this started on the 26th, I believe--do they live that long with rabies?

I sure hope it's not rabies. Their saliva can infect other horses and even humans. 

Hopefully we get an update soon. I'm curious to see what the outcome was.

Still hoping for a good update

Vet came out took temp which was normal

heart rate normal

gut sounds normal

ears looked good

teeth looked good However he had busted his upper and lower lips on the inside  like his teeth went into them

took a few of us to get him to walk into a stall he doesn't walk with you anymore 

pumped his stomach with water gave him an iv with several bags of fluid  

eyesite is normal  pupils weren't dilated or pinpointed  

gave him banamine and antibiotics took blood for some testing  vet doesn't know what it is and was surprised with good results of the tests he did today.
  

he did mention rabies. But said he should have been dead by now. It's almost been two weeks. We are going to see how he responds to the antibiotics and wait for some blood test results

He got out of the pasture last night. Walked down the street and into someone's yard. He's never done that before, passed a pasture of horses also which I think is odd how he just went away from my horses and the neighbors horses further down the road to a random yard with no animals. Took four of us to get him to walk to a friends house nearby as we couldn't get him back home. So he is in a friends stall for the time being. I can't get him home. I don't know how he can walk so far on his own but won't allow you to lead him anywhere. He absolutely refuses to be led. He will stand in one spot. 

It seems like when he tries to eat or drink he suddenly has to turn his head all the way to his belly on the left side. He will stand like this for a bit and then turns a circle sometimes. It's so freaking weird. Also something just isn't right with his mouth. It's hard to explain. Can you post videos on here?

Wow.. these are very odd things! It's so frustrating when you can get answers from your vet. I hope you get him figured out soon. 

Could he have had a stroke?

Did the vet test him for EPM?

Results come back Monday. I'm having him put down this afternoon. 

I'm so sorry for your loss:((

I'm so sorry for your loss, prayers for your family! 

I'm so sorry to hear this

My old mare had something similar happen. She was fine in the morning when I fed, but by afternoon she was displaying neurological symptoms like circling instead of walking straight. We actually got her in the trailer the next morning and  took her to the vet clinic. They did a bunch of neurological tests on her and determined she had what was called Sidewinders, which can randomly appear in older horses. She was 27. The vet said I could take her home and keep her on meds to try and prevent it from getting worse, but that she would not improve. I decided to put her down that day. Her knees were already bad and I could tell she was getting tired and it hadn’t even been 24 hours. I also didn’t want to haul her again it was so stressful. While it was super hard putting her to sleep, I feel good about my decision. I was so worried I would find her down and unable to get up and I didn’t want her to suffer. 

I'm so sorry for your loss. It hurts. We just put down our boy Monday due to laminitis. Prayers for your comfort. 

I'm so very sorry for your loss; it is so hard. . . Prayers that each day gets better

Hello everyone,

I am new to this forum so I "hope" I'm doing this correctly. Kianna your post really caught my attention, as I had a very similar experience with my 28 year old mare.  Please accept my sincerest condolences on the loss of your sweet boy... I wish I had joined and had seen your post earlier.  My mare's symptoms (each horse may present with different symptoms) were very subtle in the beginning. (I bought her as a 3 year old so I knew her like the back of my hand.)  The first thing I noticed was an odd "head tick" for lack of a better description.  Within a matter of weeks she progressed to going off feed, very apparent muscle wasting, stumbling, reluctance to move at all really, and a wobbling/swaying gait behind.  My vet diagnosed her with EMP... I disagreed...... Did my own research..... and discovered that she was actually suffering from vitamin E deficiency, which can, and does mimic EPM.  I started her on a good all natural vitamin E supplement. (I used "Elevate" per instructions on the container, but there are many good products on the market.)  Within 5 days she was much improved.  By day 10 she was back to normal and symptom free.  It pains me that most vets, even the good ones will miss diagnose this condition. Horses especially elderly horses with bad teeth, or ones that lack sufficient chewing surface on their teeth) are at greatest risk for vitamin E deficiency. As are stalled horses with little or no access to good pasture, or on hay-only diets, especially of a lesser quality hay.  It is almost un-heard of in horses with proper green-pasture turnout.  (Or horses that still have well maintained good teeth and fed a good quality hay.)   PLEASE, please, for your horse's sake do your own research on this condition.  There is appropriate testing for it also that can be done by your vet.  Be your horses' own best advocate.