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Elite Veteran
Posts: 667
  
| I have decided to reach out on here about my 4 year old that I am having concerns about. I think that this is the only place that I can get well rounded opinion from everyone since some may have had the same experiences as me. So here are a few things that concern me.....
*He slow works great. Turns well and responds, when I started asking for speed he would start blowing off barrels. I kept wondering why i could not sit on him balanced while running or loping circles on him because if feels like you never know where his butt is going to go.
*He is NOT clumsy or stumbly but is kind of lazy in his back end.. more the left back than right
*He does NOT have a bad top line, has NOT lost weight, filled out significantly since I had bought him and has a great appetite. Has not lost muscle tone.
*Not moody, easy to catch, he is the dominant in the pasture with two other horses.
*Still plays and runs around
*Has bucked once with me since I have had him but I called on him to the 3rd barrel before warming him up really well.
*Doesnt get hot/excited about much but is sensitive if you really get after him but once you stop he goes back to dropping his head and relaxing.
*He WAS sore in his back (around his kidney area) I switched from Total equine feed to a oat/barley/corn mix.... seemed to help a little.
*Had his teeth checked (fine) and he is chiropracted regularly.
*doesnt refuse to do anything
*the last time I hauled him he started pawing in the trailer (with another horse on there) this was a first.
*he is turned out regularly, hardly stalled unless the weather is bad, gets alfalfa orchard grass hay.
* I dont get to ride a ton during the week due to work and just started hauling him more. He has been to maybe 12-15shows.
Basically this horse is a gentle giant. He is 16.2+ and a big baby. He was an orphan but is not all over you or disrespectul.
I took him to the vet and we did a lameness test on him and he shows pretty off in his back left. My vet stretched him, blocked him (not better or worse), x-rayed him (nothing negative on the x-ray). He never once pulled back his foot while he was flexing him. The vet picked up the left back and crossed it completely over the right and the colt just stood there. never fought or jerked it back.
When he went to place the needle in the back left leg he didnt even move a muscle.
He did a blood test for EPM and there were a few spots that came back green on the slide from the EPM test dye. He thinks based on the blood and his lack of any response from the block or flex testing that he could have EPM.
My question is.... does anyone else have an opnion on it? Does it sound more like nerve damage? Pinched nerve?
Has anyone had anything similar? We are attepting to treat him for epm. I am giving him 30cc daily of this medicine. I started it 11/22 and of course I can not remember the name. Its like a milky liquid. He doesnt mind taking it. It was not horribly expensive $200+????
Sorry to be long winded... I am just at a complete loss.. :(
Video from about a month ago:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zr55d35v6c&sns=em
Edited by TNcowgirl88 2014-12-01 1:58 PM
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| Well, your situation seems somewhat like mine, but my mare had West Nile a few years back. She was not able to pass neuro exams, even after EPM treatment, so we diagnosed her with permanent nerve damage from having West Nile. I initially noticed something was off when she wasn't able to get 10 minutes into a workout without stopping (without me asking) and just standing still completely exhausted. After treating her for EPM, she seemed to get better, so I started legging her up, and then she managed to contort her body is some super weird fashion and attempt to crow hop every single time i asked her to lope. That's when we decided it was permanent nerve damage. She just turned 6, too.
I don't have much advice for what yall can do for your gelding, but that's my experience with EPM! |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 667
| I am thinking I may need to test for West Nile. I just dont know how much money I need to pour into him to get nothing back. |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 1092
Location: OK | EPM blood tests can be false positives because the horse can be exposed to the parasite but not have enough or not be compromised enough to actually have symptoms.
There is a lab? in FL that does a test and treatment. Total cost is about $250. Takes 10 days. It's a pill you crush.
My horse could slow work too, very well. Super handy. Speed him up and he was a lunatic. I thought he was crippled. No limping, just kinda wampy in the rear end. I also noticed that when we loped smaller circles, his head would swing, or his nose would swing, with every stride. It made my hand move alot. He would never just hold his head and nose still. He never bucked, but he got really cinchy.
I treated with the 10 day thing, I've ridden him on and off for about 2 weeks and last night, he loped with his head still, and he felt more solid under me.
I'd test for EPM and West Nile. Just spend the $. :) |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 667
| Anyone else have any thoughts? |
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Married to a Louie Lover
Posts: 3303
| Sounds kind of similar to my experience. Nothing screamed off but we just werent clocking or turning at speed like we were in slow work. Had the vet out for hocks and he suggested EPM. Thinking back he had been having some odd stumbles and I did notice his top line sagging a bit. He's bounced back well from treatment.
UC Davis I believe also does a blood test where they compare to known blood samples I believe. |
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 Expert
Posts: 1302
Location: California | Testing for EPM costs a ton and can be false. I work at an equine vet and the vets always recommend to just run the treatment and see if you notice a difference. Almost all the cutting trainers treat their horses for EPM if they notice anything off in their horses and most notice an improvement within about 2 weeks. I want to say the generic EPM drug we use costs around $400 for the months treatment. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1092
Location: OK | The place in FL where our vet gets the test and treatment is something newer. There's another thread on here about it. Different from a regular blood test. They won't treat without a positive test result. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 667
| I agree on just treating it.. which is why I went ahead and got some medicine for it. I guess I wont see a huge difference until I start riding him again. If I dont see any difference I am really going to be stumped. Its just very bizarre at this point. He shows some signs but not others. |
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