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Whiskey passed out in the cross ties today

7K views 45 replies 13 participants last post by  deserthorsewoman 
#1 ·
Hey guys.

Put Whiskey in the cross ties today and he was dozing as I groomed him, which isnt abnormal for him. Well I went to put my boots on and I noticed he was sleeping.

Next thing I know he hits the ground and then jumps up like "woah! My bad!". It freaked me out.

My vet was out at the time and checked him over and said everything seemed okay but to keep an eye on him. There havent been any changes in his diet, turn out situation or anything else. Not presenting with pain anywhere. He is a little sore being barefoot and is getting shoes back on Tuesday. But would sore feet keep him from laying down?

My vet acted like it really wasnt that big of a deal, but I have NEVER experienced this. He was not tacked up or anything like that. Just had his halter on. He didnt make it all the way down. Went down in the front (the noise made me think he was pulling back at first) and then woke up and scrambled to right himself. His butt/back legs were on the way down but he woke up before they could hit.

Any body have any kind of experience with this? Anything I should look out for?
 
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#2 ·
Could he maybe just have fallen asleep? At our barn we have a friesian who does that sometimes. He's checked by a vet head to toe so we know it's nothing medical but he kind of dozes and then if he falls asleep drops his front end to the ground. It freaked us out but our vet said it's normal for some horses and she's seen it a couple of times.
 
#4 ·
Thanks! I think thats what my vet was leaning towards also. I had just never experienced/heard of a horse simply falling asleep! I thought their legs locked to keep this from happening?

And ha ha Flygap! Dont let Whiskey be the judge of that. He loves to be rubbed on so I dont know if he cares if its a good grooming job or not. He is just like "ooohh yess rub me!" ha
 
#6 ·
I wonder if he is lacking in true sleep. Cat naps will only cut it for so long. Do you ever see him lay down?

In the mean while keep and eye on him and wake him up when you see him sleeping. Velcro cross ties might be a good idea too. If he falls down all the way he could hurt his neck. The Velcro ties are very strong (i can put my full 220lbs weight on them and they dont budge) but will give if he falls into them.
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#9 ·
Hey Slidestop! I have yet to see him laying down. But he is out 24/7 in a 100 acre pasture. I will ask some of the workers if they happen to catch him sleeping early in the AM before I go out. I know that's usually Drifter's favorite time to nap.

He is top dog (hes a mean little baby boy) so I dont think hed be afraid of being bullied or anything. I dont know what would be keeping him from laying down if that is truly the problem.
 
#7 ·
He is not a lazy type of guy, so thats another reason I think this sort of shocked me. He usually dozes a bit while waiting on me to finish grooming him, but then he wakes up and starts moving around. I have never even thought "oh hes about to fall over" before.

Maybe he was just exceptionally tired today. I'm just good to know there are other horses who do such things. I'll probably keep an eye on him for a bit just to be safe but good to know its not totally out there. My first thought was "oh my god I bought a narcoleptic horse". ha ha
 
#8 ·
Not gonna lie, when I first read the title I thought it said "passed away" and I was about to freak. Good thing I was wrong! I say ditto on what everyone else said. Does he lay down to sleep often? Some horses don't like to lie down often. I see Henny laying down alllll the time, but have only seen my pony lay down twice in the ten years we've owned him. Both times it wasn't "Awww he looks so cute napping!" but an "Omg what's wrong with Bubba?!" because seeing him down is so rare.

ETA: I've trimmed a narcoleptic/dozy horse before. He'd smack me in the face with the cross ties while I was trimming his front feet. :lol: He'd fall asleep and then shake his head like crazy as he woke up. And this was a constant thing, every couple minutes.
 
#11 ·
I'm with SlideStop on this one. Horses need REM sleep and the only time they get it is when they lay down to sleep. If they're not laying down it's usually because they don't feel secure in their environment.

I've read a couple of articles on it and dozing off and almost falling down is a classic symptom. It's also dangerous because it could happen while you're riding. Some of the remedies that were suggested are:

Making sure they have a roomy stall with plenty of bedding and horses that they feel comfortable with on either side.

Putting a mare in the pasture if the herd consists of all geldings. The jist of this being that a gelding will trust a mare to keep watch better than they will another gelding.

Good luck, I hope it all resolves itself and that Whiskey is soon laying down and sawing some logs.
 
#12 ·
Thanks JC! I wonder what would have changed to keep him from sleeping all of a sudden. He stays with his two main buddies, and seems fairly happy in the pasture. I have seen nothing else even close to this the past 2 months I've owned him.

He does usually have dirt/mud on him all over after he lies down, but come to think of it I havent seen any the past two days. I'll put him in a stall for a bit tomorrow and see if we can catch him laying down.

I always manage to pick the horses with the weirdest issues :shock:
 
#14 ·
We had a horse at our barn that did the same thing and he lived in the stall next to my boy for two years before the first time I saw it. I was stunned and went running for help..thought for sure something was wrong.

His eyes were closed and it was clear he was dozing..one of those hot and stuffy type days. His front legs buckled and he was going down but before he got all the way he woke up and started eating his hay. Those that responded to my call indicated this was normal for him and that some horses do this.
 
#15 ·
My heart horse used to have issues with sleep deprivation. If his paddock situation was not letter perfect he simply would not lay down for REM sleep. While horses can lock their joints and nap while standing up, to get the most important REM sleep they MUST lay down.

I discovered it after a similar occurrence to yours. We had introduced a couple of new horses in to the paddock Rex was in a few days before the incident. I was standing next to him, giving him a wither scratch. Next second he had collapsed beside me. Hitting the ground brought him out of it, but he was clearly shaken up. I freaked out, thinking maybe he had a seizure or something sinister like that. I had the vet out to do a full work up and draw blood. The blood work showed something called "leucopenia" which is often the result of exhaustion.

After that we made sure that he was only turned out with horses that were lower than him in the pecking order or on his own. On the odd occasion that for whatever reason he had to spend a few days in a "less than ideal" turnout situation he would begin to buckle at the knees whenever he napped and we knew it was time to get him back where he felt most comfortable.
 
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#16 ·
I stopped by the barn on my way to work that morning and Whisk was passed out in the sun with his best buddy snoring away.

Hopefully this means if something was indeed keeping him from sleeping that its righted itself. Ill keep an eye on him in the future
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#18 ·
whiskey went down again while he was eating this afternoon. He had just finished and was dozing and the next thing I knew - BAM. Down he went. :(

He was standing in the round pen which is thankfully grass eating, so he wasnt tied. I hauled him to the vet school and dropped him off so they can watch him tonight and see what they can see. My vet is going to run some blood tests and call me tomorrow. i hope its not a big deal. I might be over reacting but now two days and out of the blue...nope. Not okay with that.
 
#21 ·
Hey Cherie! While speaking with my vet from the school today he said that narcolepsy in horses is VERY rare. He assured me that if Whiskey had narcolepsy it would have shown up before now.

They seem to think it is a herd/pain thing keeping him from laying down. Hes under observation tonight and if he sleeps and does fine without any episodes tomorrow they will assume its herd related and we will look further into that. If he does not sleep even while stalled they are going to do lameness exams to see if they can figure out what is causing him pain.

Fingers crossed its a herd thing. I havent seen him give any indication of pain and he is not off at all.
 
#22 ·
I just want to throw out there that I REALLY know how to pick the horses obviously <--- sarcasm. Its now become a running joke that If I love a horse run away as fast as possible because it's probably got 10 zillion issues just waiting to come say hey.

This is so frustrating :cry:
 
#23 ·
So sorry you're having issues with Whiskey! I know one horse that I swear does have narcolepsy, I've actually seen her fall head first into a wall before :shock: I'm glad they've calmed your nerves about that. Hopefully it's just a herd dynamic that's relatively simple to deal with rather than pain somewhere.. Fingers crossed for you!
 
#24 ·
I know a TB who has similar issues. Not sure if when they sold him he got put in a bigger pen or not, but he was a HUGE TB, 18h and built like a WB, and I think his stall was too small, and being used to the track, not padded enough, and hate to say it, but owner was a cheapskate, and wouldn't get enough shavings for him, and claimed he had no problem, but EVERY morning without fail, I'd go out to feed, and I would watch him literally fall on his face. On the couple of occasions the owner did decide to buck up and get some shavings, he was a bit better, but I still wouldn't ride him or deal with him because it wasn't worth it. The vet did blood work and stuff and said that he was fine in that regard, so it had to be sleep related. I personally never saw that horse lie down, and I watch all the others, including my incredibly skittish Arab lie down and sleep at some point during the day/night. I hope there's just something maybe coming around preventing him from feeling safe enough to lie down, and that you can figure it out so your poor guy can get some good rest. I didn't see anything posted, and I know it's not your guy's issue, but apparently some horses can't actually lock their knees properly, and so often tend to fall as they are trying to sleep standing up. Thought that was quite interesting. Good luck, and keep us updated.
 
#25 ·
Thanks amp and dressagebell! When we first moved him to my barn almost 3 months ago, my vet did caution me to keep a close eye to see how he transitioned to being out since he had previously spent AT LEAST 22 hours each day in his stall.

He was doing great and seemed really happy so I had stopped monitoring him (anymore than I would normally do) for signs of not sleeping or another form of distress a few weeks ago.

I did notice today as I was loading him up in the trailer to take him to the school that he has a lot of bite marks on him that weren't there before. He is usually "top dog" but I have also noticed that without his shoes (especially on the harder ground with rocks near their water tubs and such" he has a more meek and mild personality which is new for him. He tries to pick a fight and then cant move over the rocks in a hurry so he gets beat up.

My theory is that hopefully when he gets his shoes back Tuesday perhaps he will feel better and more secure. I will also have a stall set up for when he comes home so we can also try that route.

I just hadnt thought that sore feet might make him insecure, but I guess it is a possibility. I always think- foot sore - the horse will be laying down. But if he feels like he cant move away quick due to being foot sore - would that keep him from laying down? Since he wouldnt want to add to the extra time he takes to get around?
 
#27 ·
Well my vet called me today and said As soon as they got him in a stall he laid down and conked out. Has been sleeping most of the day abd will get up for an hour or two and then may back down and sleep. So they think its a herd thing. He's going to come home tomorrow and go into a private paddock until I can figure out the herd situation. Ill put Drifter up with him so he won't be alone.

I am glad it is nothing too serious but poor guy. To be that exhausted! I feel awful for him
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