Nerve problems?

Ok, so I have a long situation to try and explain. I would love to see if anyone has any info or advise as to what may have been wrong with this horse.

Late last summer I got a horse. An 8y/o TB. I got him as unsound as he was "off" in his hind end, almost like he was short strided. Last owner was the second owner and said he never had any injuries (to me anyways). He WAS 100% sound and shown in 2007.

He got sick this last Dec like he was colicing but it wasnt colic. ALL the symptoms plus some extras were there. He should NOT have lived through the night and the vet called the next day after I declined having him put down and was SHOCKED to hear he was actually acting back to normal. SOmething was going on with his heart the day before that should not have corrected itself. He even offered a FREE checkup just to see for himself that the horse was alive and called the info in to all the differant hospitals we had talked to looking for advice.

Well, after that 1 episode he was fine and back to normal. I waited months before I decided to rehome him as unsound to another. I found a home for him a little over a month ago with someone who was going to try and see what was going on and see if they could correct the soundness problems.

She was great. She had his teeth done and all routine care, lameness exams, xrays, etc. The vet found an old stifle injury I wasnt aware of seeing as I was never told about it. She said that was fine and that they were practicing stretches and stuff and he should be good in no time.

Then a few days later I get another email...a not so good one. She said that since he had gotten more weight(hes a hard keeper) she hadnt been riding him but started lunging him at the canter and he fell over twice. And even when loose in the pasture he fell over once at the canter. She said it was like he had no control over the back end. Maybe nerve damage.

Since then, I did some research and the only thing that made any kind of sense is EPM. They said its cause from possums and such and I found a possum in my tack room not too long ago. BUT that doesnt explain the ongoing lameness in his back end or the other problems he's having. Anyone ever have this kind of unfixable problems with a horse? I'm having a hard time understanding it. Thanks!

EPM was the first thing that came to my mind after reading his symptoms. He can be tested for it if you want a diagnosis he will have to see a vet for full neurological testing since they have already done full radiographs and didn't get answers. If there is stifle disease perhaps the sciatic or obturator nerve was damaged.

Weakness in the hind end can be a symptom of nerve damage in the spine, sometimes called wobbles. I had a horse who was diagnosed as a wobbler, the vet told me it could have been something he was born with, or it could have happened during a fall. Hard to tell which one, as he fell under the category of a wobbler, generally happens in males, and tall ones with long necks. Wobblers can be hard to diagnose, but some of the symptoms I experienced with my horse was he looked like he was drunk when he tried to walk, he didn't know where his feet were, and he was not a typical case in that his weakness was in the front end rather than the back end. He would trip a lot and fall down on his knees. He also would fall in the pasture while playing. The sad thing is that their minds and personality are not affected, so they will act like a healthy horse while their body falls apart around them. I hope you are able to rule this out for this horse, as it is usually a sad ending.

We have a horse that suddenly declared a wobbler syndrom at 11 month old.

Very hard for him.
Very sad who difficult it is for him now just to trot...
Maybe it will get better as he get older...
We hope so, even if we know we never can ride him.

Lyme disease is another possibility.