sick horse

One of my horses didn't come in to the barn last night at feeding time. She was up on the pasture and not acting right. Here are the symptoms; Standing her legs will begin to kinda shake, her head may or not be down, her eyes are not as wide as usual. All of a sudden she will fall over, literally, not bending her knees just fall over. She eats and drinks with no problem and doesn't seem to have a fever. I called the vet and of course it was after hours, he met me at the office and gave me 3 shots for her. I gave her 1 last night and am going up to give her another in a few minutes. She kinda perked up after the shot last night but this morning is the same as she was when I found her last evening. He said it sounded like colic but she isn't pawing the ground and isn't trying to roll, she always falls on the same side and she doesn't want to walk more than a couple of steps. I don't have any type of harness or sling that I could pick her up with (she's a small riding horse about 14.2 hands. I'm baffled on this, never seen a horse act like this before. I at first thought she might have gotten into a wild cherry that had broken a limb off and eaten some wilted leaves but I really don't think so now and haven't found any wild cherry in the pasture. I'm totally open and looking for some help on this one. I'm gonna see if I can get a vet out here today. It's pretty hard in this area to get a vet to look at a large animal anymore. Keith

I have had several horses colic over the years I never had one with those symptoms.might need to get some blood work done.

For 18 years we had 15 horses and 12 ponies on the farm. In that time some were radically ill, some way old and kept as pets into their end of life.
We has at least two that had what was described by the vets involved as a stroke.
Looking up horse stroke is informative in that the symptoms are all over the place. From rear legs not functioning, to one side or the other not working and falling one way, to feeding issues, and mental recognition/command problems. One thing that made sense to me is the clear very short time between normal and trouble. You didn't see it happen, but it was overnight. They can get better, but usually in the same way a human might. That compensation and convalescence is not optional with most non human animals. If the horse is a favorite, it might be a hard row ahead. My heart goes out. Jim
I am not a vet!!!! but you asked.

I just came back from giving her some hay and another shot. I know what you're saying Jan, she's a young horse (about8)and all 4 legs function and she recognizes everyone including the grand daughter that owns her that hasn't been out for a couple of weeks. I've never had an animal act like she is. I really don't think it's colic as she has pooped during ther night and it appears to be normal. He mentioned something else that if it is is fatal. Something about eating hay that a rabbit or a possum has peed on, but they are on pasture except for last night after we found her. The other horse is fine. I guess time will tell. Thanks for the replies guys, I do appreciate them. Keith

Sounds like a reaction to something toxic to me. Has she had her tetanus shots? No fever? Has she been wormed regularly or has she been wormed in the last couple days? If the vet isn't willing to come out, find a different vet- fast.

You are welcome. Others will chime in I am sure. The term stroke is also an old term that covers a variety if issues (a spread of blood vessel failures. Aneurysm is one and can happen at middle age or younger. falling consistently to one side is my indicator. Jim

I have 16 mini horses and seem to have one or two colic most years. When they start to colic they lay down and roll and don't get up quickly as they do when they normally roll. They also repeat this action with a longer time getting up until they don't get back up without coaxing with a lead. When this happens I load them at both ends with mineral oil. Because of my disability I gas up the lawn mower and keep them walking until they pass the plug. I have hot had one this year but had two last year and was using my electric wheel chair and when he passed the first apple it sounded like a stone when it hit the cement drive. When I stopped he wanted to lay down so we kept going. The next apple was not as hard and after a little longer the mineral started to show. A horse will lay down with pain, give up and die.

What you describe does not sound like anything I have seen. If I was you I would seek out a horse vet. Meaning a vet that horses are his or her main work.

Well, she's been standing for about an hour now and that's a lot longer than last night. She still don't want to walk much more than a few steps before she gets shaky. I took a video of her and of course she did nothing. she chews a lot which is not common for her. I will try to attach a video I took this morning, it isn't very good due to the other horse trying to get all the attention, as you will probably see, they are not under fed (maybe a little over fed). For some reason I couldn't upload the video, what is showing is just a pic of her head but it won't show the whole video, sorry

Hopefully your vet is a large animal vet.

Maybe this website will help, you plug in the symptoms and it whittles down the possible causes.
http://www.horsedvm.com/views/symptoms.php

Has she had her equine encephalitis shot, with the problems with mosquito's this year it has been bad.

My guess is tetanus. Have seen it in sheep and lost our dog to it. Good luck.

It's 2: P.M. and she has not fallen down since this morning after I gave her the 2nd shot of medicine. We've been checking her all day and she, in the last few minutes has walked about 25 feet to some shade and up hill, so maybe some improvement. Talked with the vet this morning & he said to give her the 3rd shot this evening & come into the office in the morning for some more. I do appreciate all the responses but still can't find anything on the website that was posted with the symptoms she is having. I will take the video in with me in the morning & show him. I took it in this morning but there was no parking places available at the office parking lots, he was really busy this morning. Keep your fingers crossed that maybe the worst is over, however she still has not put out any horse apples that I have seen. Keith

(quoted from post at 15:36:55 09/29/18) It's 2: P.M. and she has not fallen down since this morning after I gave her the 2nd shot of medicine. We've been checking her all day and she, in the last few minutes has walked about 25 feet to some shade and up hill, so maybe some improvement. Talked with the vet this morning & he said to give her the 3rd shot this evening & come into the office in the morning for some more. I do appreciate all the responses but still can't find anything on the website that was posted with the symptoms she is having. I will take the video in with me in the morning & show him. I took it in this morning but there was no parking places available at the office parking lots, he was really busy this morning. Keep your fingers crossed that maybe the worst is over, however she still has not put out any horse apples that I have seen. Keith

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Keith, what are the shots? I don't have a lot of faith in a vet that won't even come look at an animal. Whats he giving you to shoot her up with? Banamine?

Yes Banomine.

He's just shooting in the dark Keith. Time to find a different vet. If the horse lives, that's great, but next time it might not go this way.