Snickers and the mysterious hind end saga

Makes sense.....so I guess the tests first. Gotta rule out one after the other, obviously.
If they come up negative, did she say what to do next?
I'm kinda with you in just living with it once certain things are ruled out. If Snickers can live with it.....

Well, I figured I'd do the EPSM/PSSM hair test...since that has a chance to be helped with the high fat diet. If neg, I may just chalk it up to it being her 'horsie disability' and only do things within her limits, taking a little at a time. No future of hacking up narrow, steep trails, cantering of any kind under saddle, no arena work and absolutely no lunging of any kind.

If I come up with $2000+ and someone to trailer her to the specialist that was suggested, I would think about it. But really...why? There is only a small chance that a neurological medication would be effective, if it would even apply to her specific problem anyway. I could spend another $2000 for a bone scan...again, really?...why? I can't fix her anyway.

We will just continue on, the way we already do. She is awesome.

Like I said, I'm with you on that. If she's okay with it and doesn't become a danger to you or herself....

If she ever declines to where she can't be ridden, then she will just be my happy pasture pet and go for walks being lead. I still woudln't give her up. Her personality has so much life and sweetness. Her best interest is always first.

Has this mare ever foaled? I've seen a horse who'd had a difficult delivery sustain severe nerve damage that affected her gait - particularly one leg and her yail. Hmmm... the mare I'm referring to made a complete recovery, although it was after extensive veterinary intervention and lots of $$$$$

No, she is a coming four year old. I got her when she was two. I'm thinking along the lines of that 'she' suffered the nerve damage when coming into the world. Maybe she has cerebral palsy? I had a dog suffer nerve damage after spending $2000 on her anal glands to be surgically fixed. She was never the same after that surgery....she turned into a three legged dog and had to eventually be put down from all the arthritis. I can't say I would risk it with my horse and pay LOTS of dollars.

Sorry, I can't read through this whole post. But you can answer or not, it's up to you :) Has your vet done blood work and checked her Vit E levels? Does she have any stiffness when stretching anywhere through her body? Kissing Spines? Saddle soreness? Neck problems?
If it was neuro, I don't think horses can just "adapt" since it is misfiring signals in the brain and neuro system. Maybe I'm wrong, but it doesn't seem possible to me. Usually hind end neuro problems are caused by a neck injury.

I did not read through all of the answers, but I can tell you what I would do:

I would pull about 200 pounds of excess weight off of this mare and would put her on high doses of both Vitamin E and Vitamin B 1 (Thiamin).

I have used both with great success for several different neurological problems.

If you Google 'Vitamin B1 for nerve damage' and 'Vitamin E for nerve damage', you will find several articles and websites with these vitamins being used successfully for nerve damage and other neurological problems.

The huge amount of weight this mare is carrying has to be making her problem many times worse than it would be if she were at a healthy weight. It also has to exacerbate any metabolic problems she might have and puts her at risk for Laminitis.

Again, if she were mine and I lived in CA, after pulling the weight off of her and putting her on the Vitamins E and Thiamin for 60 days and she still had problems, I would take her to Dr. Doug Herthel at Alamo Pintado in Los Olivos, CA. His clinic is World Renowned for diagnosing difficult problems. I have recommended him to several people in CA and he has been fantastic. He is also the person that developed the 'Platinum Performance' set of supplements. He is not cheap, but he is good. I think he is probably 250 to 300 miles from you. He is near Santa Barbara.

But, I would try the weight loss and Vitamins first, before I did anything else.

Thanks for the post. Kissing spine is interesting to me. I just had chiro out and she had nothing going on in her neck. She never shows any signs of soreness or being unhappy. She is always quite aloof and goes along with everything. She was only started under saddle this past summer and has been trail riding over the past few months. She showed the abnormality when I first purchased her as a two year old and has the same gait whether she is under saddle or not. When I purchased her, I noticed something different, but wasn't sure if it was anything to be concerned with or not. I had the vet look at her before taking her. The vet said she was butt high and a draft cross....she seemed to be growing into her legs and was in a growth spurt. Since then, more vet visits to look at her, farriers, chiro, massage therapy, trainers....nobody can seem to pinpoint anything at all. I was concerned with wobblers....she passes all the physical tests. She is very flexible in her neck, does lateral movements, backs up fine, can walk blind-folded, does not do circling with her legs in a tight circle, good tail tone, doesn't show any type of misfiring at the walk. Some people thought she was trying to gait. Her cadence/rhythm is way off at times, but not always. When she walks, she walks base narrow, then may take a step or two wider, then back to base narrow...she seems 'loosy goosy' in the behind. At the trot, she smacks her hind legs down, this I guess was why the recent vet diagnosed her with stringhalt. She also crosses over with her legs. When she steps out of the trot to the walk she goes from base narrow out to a wider stance maybe?...for balance?...I think. At the canter she sometimes gets a good rhythm and she looks fine, and then something happens and her legs go wonky. When slowing down, her butt and legs go underneath her like she is doing a reining stop. It looks like if you were standing with your knees locked, and someone did the karate chop thing behind your knees and they gave out. It looks like the scarecrow from the Wizard of Oz. The weird thing is that it is all not consistent. It almost looks like her fetlocks lock up sometimes.

I am going to try and get some video with the help of a friend while I lead her so people can see. Nothing has changed since I got her and started riding her. I ride her almost everyday from just riding around the ranch to trail riding for a couple hours. There are times when she was hesitent with something, like an incline on a trail, but she seems to think and figure it out and then does not hesitate the next time. I don't over push or expect too much. If it seems like a situation that may not be good for her, I get off and walk her over it. She has never fallen or anything such as that.

Thank you Cherie...

I would LOVE to get some weight off! I just don't know how? I have her and my percheron...I would love for both of them to be slimmer. Between the two of them, they get about 8 flakes of bermuda hay a day and a ration balancer. Snickers gets 1.5lbs of Nutrena Empower Balance....in the middle of switching to the Purina Enrich 32. That is all they get. When I am out there, their grass is opened up for a couple hours and the grass right now is mixed with green grass and dead grass right now. How do I lessen their hay to where they aren't going all day/night without eating? These guys are trail ridden almost daily right now. I can't ride more than I do. I had signed up for the FeedXL site and thought that it had said with the ration balancer and hay/grass combo that they were getting all the vit amounts they needed already. I'd be glad to try supplementing more, if I need to, just don't want to OD.