My Stud

Question
I have recently returned my stud home from a 3 acre pasture.
Because of having 2 mares at my home I had to put him up in a stall. He was fine when we loaded him and brought him home. But after about 4 days of being home and in the stall I noticed he was staggering and his back legs are outwards.He staggers like he is drunk. His appetite is normal and is taking in plenty of fluids.He seems to get normally excited around the mares. He is almost to the point of falling over sometimes but he seems to keep from doing so.Please Do you have any ideas what this could be?
Your advice is appriciated!

Answer
your horse is showing signs of significant spinal cord ataxia which is a type of neurological impairment. I strongly suggest getting him evaluated by a vet and planning to get at least xrays taken of his neck. His age and the signs are suggestive of cervical myelopathy or wobblers syndrome wich is caused by compression of the spinal cord by the vertebrae. It seems to be at least partially genetic and tends to be found in horses this age when it progresses normally. Do not ride this horse and be very careful working around him until you can get this evaluated and determine if this is a neurological problem. Based on your description, hs is showing signs strongly suggestive of a spinal cord problem. Im sorry to bear this opinion. I hope for you and your horse that Im very wrong. I am very concerned about what youve described though. I wish you the best of luck and I urge you to pursue diagnostics on this. It could be life threatening for your horse and dangerous to you and your family. My best to you.

Anissa:

it is correct that a problem like this doesnt necessarily make the horse fall over dead, but if the signs you are describing are due to neurologic condition, it is a very severe neurological problem, which maked the horse unsafe to you and to himslef. he could fall and break something or fall on a person. This makes his quality of life poor and dangerous, thus his life is threatened as he may appropriately be considered for euthanasia. I am a board certified internist and I see a tremendous number of neurologic horses, and Im sorry to say but anyone who tells you that a severe spinal cord neurological problem is not life threatening is terribly wrong. I wish you the best of luck with this. Please let me know how you do and what you find out, Im also happy to help any way I can further.