Need advice

[CHgirl]

I have had big horses for many years, and have just ventured into the wonderful world of minis this year. I have a 9 yr old mini mare that had a foal about a month ago with no problems. (She has several foals before.) She recently developed a strange thing that I can only describe as a muscle spasm in her hindquarters. Periodically she will have a spasm that will travel across her hindquarter and into the area on the side of her stifle. These episodes cause her to momentarily drop down in the hind end or one of her legs will take one jerky off step. She is walking and even trotting ok, doesn't fall down, but seems to be unstable at times in the hindquarters. When I first had the vet come out, I had noticed she had started breathing hard. Her heart rate was 100, so she was obviously in distress -- we hosed her to cool her off and put her in the barn under a fan. The vet first had my treat her for a calcium deficiency, and her bloodwork did show her calcium level was a little low, but all else was normal. She thinks it is coming from her back, as when she presses on the loin area, she seems to be tender. She has treated the mare with 3 days of steroids, then ongoing Robaxin (muscle relaxer). She seems to be a little better, but I am still not sure what is really going on. (The vet does not think it is rabies or EPM.) I had ever experienced this type of thing with their minis, I never had anything like this with my hunters -- sore backs maybe, but not this strange stuff. I wondered if anyone else had experienced this type of thing with their mini. Thanks so much for any thoughts!

 

[Reignmaker Miniatures]

I don't really have any insights to share since my first thought was calcium deficiency and as I read on it seems you have already covered that. Hopefully someone will read this that has seen something similar. In the meantime, let me be the first to welcome you to the forums. As you will see there are many people here with a great deal of knowledge they graciously share with anyone who asks.

 

[supaspot]

that sounbds similar to one of mine ..I have a mare that has always foaled without problem but this year although the foal wasnt big , just for a moment ( less than a minute it was stuck , the mare stood up laid back down , half rolled and the popped out , we thought no more of it , afterwards I noticed that every now and then she would take a strange step - it was like a spasm in her leg , its not there all the time and I imagine it could easy go un-noticed , the vet checked her out and said the foal had pressed on a nerve as it came through the birth canal , the vet says its not uncommon and she will improve a good bit for the first 2 weeks and then slowly after that , it could take 6 months and in some cases it is permanent , I wonder could that be whats wrng with your girl

 

[AnnaC]

I was thinking exactly the same thing Sue. When a foal passes through the birth canal the boney part of its withers and spine runs right under the nerves on the underside of the mare's spine, often squeezing these nerves, even temporarily numbing or damaging them. Often you will find a mare a bit 'wobbly' in her back end when she first gets to her feet, but she recovers quickly.

It is possible that this mare has 'deeper' damage like your mare, or could even have given an already slightly compromised nerve another 'tweak/pull' after having a roll in the field (reading that she foaled 4 weeks ago).

Sorry, I should have said "welcome to LB CHgirl"

 

[CHgirl]

First, WELCOME from HOT Florida!

I had a wonderful mare, a palomino fewspot, who as a maiden mare had a bad dystocia that caused permanent nerve damage.

After we pulled the foal, she got to her feet, and everything looked fine. She was eating well, moving well and no problems noted.

UNTIL.....she went to trot to the back field. THEN it became apparent something was terribly wrong. The vet came back and checked her and said it was nerve damage from the baby pressing on a nerve during the extra-long birth.

I sent her to a forever home, and she is steadily improving, but will never be asked to foal again -- as it would probably cause her to relapse.

It doesn't sound as if yours is this bad, and hopefully in a few weeks, she'll be back to normal.

.

 

[CHgirl]

Thanks so much for the warm welcome and good advice. Her spasms seemed to have stopped

but she is lying down quite a bit today, so the vet put her on a little bute, thinking maybe she is having some pain still -- doesn't seem to be colic. It seems that the baby is really pulling her down condition-wise, so I plan to re-examine her feeding plan and get her pumped back up. The damaged nerve makes a lot of sense.

My other mare had a baby this week -- black and white tobiano filly -- two beautiful fillies for my first mini foals, so wonderful!

Thanks again.

 

[targetsmom]

First of all, welcome to the forum! I had some experience with nerve damage when our show mare Princess was a weanling and almost hung herself. She had facial nerve damage where she couldn't close one eye, move an ear, or chew very well for about a month. At about one month we started to see some improvement - when her ear moved the tiniest bit we were overjoyed! - and by the next spring, she seemed fine. If it is nerve damage, it could be a very slow recovery.

If your mare foaled a month ago, I wonder if she is in heat and maybe that is causing the pain you see now? ETA: Banamine is usually a safer alternative to Bute for minis. Good luck!

We would all LOVE to see photos of your new fillies - you can start a new thread or post on the pinned one where everyone is posting foal pics.

 

[Michelle@wescofarms]

Have you checked her selenium levels? I have one line of horses that have a higher requirement than the majority of my herd, the gelding and mare will both get what looks to be cramps, tightening in one leg. Either an annual selenium/Vit E shot or selenium block/crumbles helps alot.

 

[BlueStar]

Have seen this a couple times now with 2 different mares although more severe than what your describing and with each mare the foal was about the same age. You mentioned the calcium levels were low...the 2 mares I have seen do this were severely low and we had to give them calcium. They now routinely get it so we don't go through it again. If it were me, I would add calcium just to be safe and alfalfa hay or pellets. It can get worse than what your seeing now.

 

[CHgirl]

Yes, I think I will add calcium from here on out. The selenium is an interesting thought, as I believe our area (NC) is low in selenium. We had 7 - 10 AQHA and Appendix AQHA babies a year in the past, and never ran into these issues. But the minis definitely take the prize for the cute factor!

Thanks for all the advice!

 

[Eagle]

Hello and welcome to the forum from Italy

A pinched nerve sounds like the most likely, just give her a bit of time to see if she slowly gets better. As Targetsmom said, with minis Banamine is better than Bute.

Selenium is a must but be careful as it can be dangerous to over do it. I get all mine blood tested once a year to test all levels and then give the necessary supplements.

Photos of your babies is a must

 

[CHgirl]

Gotcha on the banamine. The vet preferred that, I just didn't have any, as someone borrowed it and didn't replace it, so all I had was bute -- our vet is far away.. I will get that replaced and use that -- thanks.

 

[kaykay]

Know that calcium deficiency or thumps can come right back. I would pull another blood test to be sure you resolved it. I have many friends that treated and then the mare was fine only to die a few weeks later when the calcium plummeted again.

I had a mare get this last year and we had to really watch her for a couple weeks.

 

[Mareish Mom]

Could definately be a pinched nerve. Rather than waiting it out to see if it gets better I suggest you find an equine chiropractor to look at her. If there is something still out of alignment and pressing on the nerve an adjustment will fix it. There is an excellent one here in central Virginia. If you don't know where to start looking you could try calling the Woodside Equine Clinic up here and asking them if they know of anyone in your area.