Chico’s story

Chico was from Holland. He lived with his owner for about three years with Sidewinders Syndrome, but she owned him for 25 years. Here is his story in her words. Her English is slightly broken…

Chico, my story of my Sidewinder….

At the 7^th of April, 2019, I found out my horse was standing very strange while grazing.  He seemed to lean over to the right with his hind but I thought he was just being too lazy to replace his feet.

The next day same story but he was still walking straight to the stable so I did not worry.

The 10^th of April I got a phone call from the stable manager that Chico was walking really weird, with his hind beside his front and he was turning circles in the paddock.  When the vet came we thought of a swelling near his back and they gave him steroid to reduce the swelling and antibiotics for inflammation, we did not know the cause of it then…  It seems not to be a stroke or ataxic.

The next day he was doing a lot better and we gave him metacam, which is a normal painkiller and for inflammation.  He did not seem to react on the metacam and became worse. He was not lying down in the stable and leaning against the wall.

But he seems to be not in pain, is happy and is trotting through the pasture, although he is doing it with his hindquarters completely next to his front, he is not tripping or falling.

I wanted him to be checked by an osteopath and she wanted to have X-rays of his back, because they were afraid there might be a fracture. The pictures showed us Kissing Spines but nothing else.  The osteopathy showed nothing really bad, the SI–joint was just fine and the rest of the body also.

During the weeks he is slowly getting better, although he is no more on painkillers, slowly getting straight and less circles in the paddock.

We needed the farrier at the 18^th of may, but he could not lift Chico’s right hind foot.  From the start he is leaning constantly at his right hind leg, he cannot stand properly on his left hind foot so we could not get him shod. The farrier came back later just for 1 foot and then it worked.

Since we did not know the cause of all this yet, and he was almost completely straight, we discussed if I could ride him to get his body fully straightened.  If we could not do it by hand walking / groundwork, it might get better if I would get on him.  Well, that turned out terribly wrong!!!  I walked him for 2 days, for only 5 minutes, and he was right back where we started.  Completely wrong again….  Poor animal and sure I felt guilty!!

The 12th of June :  Slowly he got better again, getting straight and less walking in circles. This time I thought I call the osteopath for a check-up, since we are already 12 weeks from the beginning of this misery.  The osteopath came and blocked Chico’s entire back. That was logical because he had been crooked for 12 weeks already. So she treated him and gave him also dry needling and I bought balance-trainers to stand on for him to get stronger.

Then a bad thing happened, he lost his shoe.  We had to get the farrier come, but he could not lift Chico’s hind feet because of the treatment from the osteo.  So we waited for Chico to get stronger again.

Chico is twisting his foot when he places it at the ground, so the nails of the shoe are completely gone after 2 weeks….. so for his balance, slipping and this injury he need to be done very often.

At the 13^th of July Chico was a lot better again.  Getting straight, walking straight.  He is only putting his right hind foot slightly next to the print of the right front foot.  He is lying in the pasture and rolling, but still not in his stable.

The 1st of August:  Again something changed the whole recovery again.  Because of a cleaning he had to move to another stable, a much bigger one, he could not see his friends, had to eat from the floor, he was a bit stressed out.  The next days he became worse and worse.

7^th of August after he was again at his worst, like the first day in April when I got the call.

The issue now was he was not capable of saving himself because his right leg seemed to give it up.  His body could no longer keep itself standing.  The vet came; I wanted to talk about putting him down because this was so sad to see.  The vet  would not give up on him and wanted to give him steroids once more and trying to find out once more what was wrong. So he gave him steroids, painkillers, and a vitamin E shot.

Next they they came in the morning with a possible diagnose: Sidewinder Syndrome.

Very rare but the movies of Chico were exactly the same as shown on you tube, and the few articles on the internet totally described what was happening to my horse!

It took the vets 4 months to find out…. Here in Holland it is very rare.

Well, now we are at the 14^th of august.  After the injection we started to give him steroids every morning, and he is getting better every day.  He is already walking straight again. After 2 weeks we will see if we can lower the dose without the symptoms getting worse again.  If he is doing ok we will try to get the dose as low as we can.

Chico has had laminitis and one of the things the steroids could cause is laminitis.

I have been reading all the articles about Sidewinders on the internet, I got to contact several people in America who have had a Sidewinder and still its hard to find out everything…

I know few things for sure about the symptoms now

My horse was a healthy 31 year old gelding, with no PPID (cushing), EMD, wobbler, ataxic,  or anything like that.  From riding through the woods one day to a completely sad horse which does not understand what is happening with his body the next day.  So sad….  However he is happy now, eating well again, walking almost straight and having fun in his pasture….  I hope he will stay with me for some years in this condition…

September 12, 2019

After a week of not rolling or lying again, Chico chooses today to do that again.

Very nice, of course, but getting up didn’t go so well today. For the first time, he really had trouble with it. That shouldn’t happen more often…. He was also on his good leg and didn’t get it right under it… but we did it.

Feb 4, 2020  (ten months)

Update:

Today I saw it really gloomy for the first time with Chico’s hind feet. It’s time to get

I already knew he’s overloading extreme left back right now. Even though he runs pretty straight, not as crooked as in the beginning, Even though he doesn’t always turn circles in the paddock like in the beginning, Even though he is sleeping, rolling, and he comes up again, Even though his stable is fine and no craters etc.

He’s still cheerful and really nowhere he cares about or do you think he’s in pain. So he seems pretty ok do you think…. but I see he is extremely taxing his left hind leg.

So then that paw will be quite a thing… Luckily I have a super farrier who takes all the time, let a few kilos of horse lean on his body, gets started on his knees, who is super patient, and tries to help Chico in everything. Also saves that Chico was well raised, stands still, cooperates and let a lot come over without grumbling… So we did it again 🤗🤗🤗

We’ve always said all those 25 years… “when the day comes when there’s no irons left I have to say goodbye.”  Unfortunately, that turns out to be true right now.

Then there will be so much friction on that foot, especially on the outside wall that will break down the whole lot. Then it’s done. It’s not that far yet, but it might be coming. I’m not talking about the pressure / power that always comes on the rizwan and crown leg. Who knows how much that can have… and he won’t be the first horse to break something with a strange spin or movement.

Anyway. We live with the day… with the week… with the month…. per seizure or do I know a lot…

SO FAR SO GOOD…

Feb 5

But he still enjoys the sun and the mud… It’s going to be cleaning time …

Feb 19, 2020

Didn’t post anything about my boyfriend for a while. Chico is stable, runs crooked and hangs to the left but he doesn’t get any worse. He rolls and sleeping in the paddock. We walk down the path and graze a little… He doesn’t get anything worse but also not better. Some days better, others a bit worse.. As long as he’s happy fine. He’s doing ok on his medication.

The 27th comes the osteo again…. now always every 6 weeks. And the blacksmith every 8 weeks.. We look at it per period.

But we go first before March 1th: 25 years really mine!!!!

Feb 28 2020

Today Marjorie [ostheopath] was at Chico. He was better than previous time. The frequency of every 6 weeks seems to be going well. Better in his body. And he still goes crazy sometimes.

Only I doubt the meadow period is good for him.   That didn’t go well last year. It was a lot of effort for him to keep his balance while grazing, and he got tired of it.  Just thinking very carefully if i still want that for him. Not much lying down is still worrisome, even though he still does lie down and rolls around.

Dust to think so…. seriously thinking about my boyfriend. Don’t want to wait for something to go wrong and suddenly have to decide….

MAAAARRRRR….. first Sunday celebrating our 25th anniversary with a big cake!! And we watch everything a week at a time….

April 30,2020

Chico is enjoying the meadow again….. An hour yesterday and two hours today. Carefully build up because of his chronic Hoefbecation Furthermore, he still suffers from his tendon, so must behave well…. And the Sidewinder Syndrome is going well so far, hopefully he will stay up reasonably with that grazing…. All in all, enough worries and fingers crossed that everything keeps going well.

June 7,2020

My boyfriend is pretty straight by now. It’s doing great on the meadow! Looking good with his 32 years and doing nothing for a year. Enjoying his retirement…

Chico has been walking straighter for some time now.  However as of June 11 2020, this is the difference in his hind horseshoes after 9 weeks of wear.  (They are the same shoe, but they wore differently.)  With the wrong load on the leg, they wear differently.  

Jul 13, 2020

Chico has very bad teeth.  He barely has any chew surface; his chewing consists of hollow cups and he misses 2 teeth.  He can’t chew and process long grass well.  He therefore eats less grass than other horses and his meadow was now full of faded grass which was way too long.

Fortunately, we have lovely stable holders who are thinking about that. We don’t want to trade Chico’s pasture with other horses due to any stress which could result in a relapse with his SideWinder Syndrome so the meadow was mowed yesterday.  (The big mower can’t go into the country so Wouter did Chico’s pasture with the riding mower what was a nice job.!!!!)

The riding mower turns the grass into a pulp, so a fat wad stays in some places.  Chico can’t eat that mowed grass too much because of a chance of colic, and the grass is suffocated by this pulp, so this morning the first wheelbarrow of grass was raked away.  Another 6 wheelbarrows were raked this afternoon. …You need to have something left for your baby.

August 7 2020

Chico has been more crooked for about two weeks.  He can roll in the sand to his hearts delight, and get up and down smoothly, but he is walking a little more crooked…

·Sept 18, 2020

Chico still going well 

Sept 23, 2020

• We think now, after 1.5 year it is the vitamin B shots he gets. And the regular treatment of the osteopate. He still gets a dosis of prednison 
• 
  Anne Cain Can you share the amounts of the doses and frequency? Is an osteopath different from a chiropractor?

He is getting a daily dosage of 4 x 150 mg prednisolon every day before 09.00 hrs. We just found out the vitamin B12 is good for neurological issues . So next time he gets worse we immediately will give the vitamin shot to test.

Anne Cain I realized I have not heard how Chico is doing.  It has been a long time since we talked. How are you and him doing?

April 2023 Update

Chico has lived for 3 years with his ESS. He unfortunately died last year. Not even because of the ESS but because of the prednisolon he had been given and his organs started to fail. So he was holding fluids in his shaft and after 3 days I decided to put him to sleep. But he lived for 3 years happily with his ESS and was walking quite straight up.

It’s amazing how many horses develop ESS and no vet seems to know what it is. Thanks to my story on Bokt.nl al lot of owners know now what is is. But a lot of horses are put down to sleep. And to be honest: If I had know all this before I do not think I would have done all this with Chico.

My advice to people is mostly to put them down if they don’t get a lot better in a few weeks, sadly.

Chester

A few weeks ago, I got this email, which I want to share with you:

“I put my 32 year TB down a couple nights ago and have been struggling with my decision because I felt rushed in my decision. I have owned Chester for 23 years when we him got him from our trainer who got him off the track where he raced for 9 years. My daughter evented him for several years and after that he was used for low level dressage and then just as the barn favorite . He has been incredibly healthy accept for some arthritic issues and at 30 and 31 would still gallop around the field with my 17 year old OTTB mare. And do walk trot with a rider. The first time I noticed something was wrong was Tuesday when the farrier came and Chester just couldn’t seem to hold his back legs up. We figured his arthritis was just worse.  The farrier said he saw a small abscess but Chester hasn’t been lame. When I came home Wednesday one of the girls at the barn said. Chester was acting weird. She said he was holding his hind end weird and turning in the cross ties. I honestly just said it was probably the abscess starting to bother him. I gave him some Banamine and packed his foot and turned  him out for the evening. Then about an hour later I looked out and noticed him circling with his hind quarters. I have never seen a horse do this. He couldn’t even eat because he couldn’t control his hind legs. I brought him in and called the vet. In his stall Chester wedged himself against the stall and had his head over his stall guard in a weird way and we waited that way for the vet. And it was then I realized something was seriously wrong. The vet came and said it looked neurological but wasn’t very forthcoming. He basically said we can give him a bunch of steroids and DSMO and see what happens and test him for EPM…. But he reminded me he was 32 years old. I was torn trying to decide and he kept saying the choice was mine. Not what I needed to hear . Finally,
Realizing getting a vet out here for an emergency would be hard.  My current clinic that did emergencies is down from 3 vets to 1 and I couldn’t bare the thought of him going down or injuring himself so I made the heartbreak ing decision to have him put down. Afterwards I kept questioning myself and did some research and found some article and videos and feel pretty confident Chester was showing signs of this syndrome. I also have read the prognosis isn’t good so it has helped me feel I made the right choice. 
Thanks for addressing a syndrome my vet never mentioned and by helping me come to terms with decision.”

I believe she did the right thing. It was heartbreaking for me to watch Red every day, as he would spin in the field and get thinner and thinner because he could not eat right. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you need to talk… Anne

Followup on Pip: Not EPM, Arthritis!

After two “EPM” medicines which have been used successfully for years with horses, Protazil and Rebalance, Pip had not shown much improvement. A new compound was being produced in Florida, Oraquin-10, which seemed to be having good results, so I decided to give one more try. The barn manager gave the medication, and suddenly there seemed to be an improvement. What I did not realize when I first noticed the improvement was that they were also administering an oral steroid, Dexamethasone, which I had not been told about. “Dex” reduces inflammation, so there was a new variable to consider.

Pip, April 2023

With the steroid, Pip’s coordination seemed enough better that I wondered if he was rideable. I asked the vet about lunging Pip, and he said lunging might get the nerves firing again, so I could try it, but I should quit five minutes before I thought he was tired (in other words, keep it light and gentle.) We started at the walk/trot, and he still had his big, springy trot. After lunging I thought he walked straighter, with less cross-under, and tracking up, but his hips were still to the side. After a week or two, I got the courage to get on him at the walk-trot. Some days I got right back off, because his balance did not seem up to par, and others I could do 10-15 minutes, mostly at the walk.

I started thinking about how the rest of Pip’s life should be… Was he going to be a pasture pony, a trail horse, or what? He is such a gentleman, people love his calm personality. Could he teach beginner riders? Could he be a therapeutic riding horse? Before I could plan his life I wanted to know, “Is he in pain?” So we went to the NC vet school for x-rays and evaluation. We came home with the diagnosis of the problem. Pip has arthritis growing in his neck between the C6-C7 joint. It is pressing on the nerve which controls his back end. Unlike the arthritis which grew in my shoulder, they could not go in and clean it out, because a tiny slip would damage the nerve. (At my request, and for my peace of mind, they re-checked for EPM, doing a complete test, which included a CFS titer, which showed EPM was not indicated.)

So to summarize, Pip does not have Sidewinders. In spite of an initial indication that he had EPM, he does not. Arthritis is hampering my 24-year old warmblood, but it has not changed his willing, sweet personality. Now we will see where we go from here…

Pip has EPM, not Sidewinders…

We got the results from Pip’s blood test. He has a high titer of EPM in his blood.

He is on medication (Protazil) and vitamin E, and has been for a week with little change.  (When I was riding him, I noticed he was tracking oddly in his back end.) I talked with the farrier, and then a chiropractor, and finally a vet.  (I was panicked that it was Sidewinders, which is what Red had.)  When I got his blood work results, they showed an EPM titer at elevated levels (>4000), which was better than Sidewinders.  I started his medicine one week ago, and  I was hoping for a miracle in a week, but it did not happen.  He is eating well and he has good turnout.  He is probably enjoying being groomed and not ridden.  Maybe I can get a little more weight on him while he has his “vacation.”

I don’t know if I told you in this blog, but I went through this “EPM” with my mare Windy, too.  She recovered and I was able to ride her for years.  She was about three or four when she got it.  I don’t think her back end was as unreliable as Pip’s is. I mainly saw a change in her “spitfire” temperament.  

Can this be happening to me again?

Pip is my 23-year-old dressage horse. We also ride on trails, and occasionally pop over little jumps for fun. About a month ago, I noticed that when I riding Pip at the trot, his back end was not tracking properly with his front end. It was skewed to the left at the walk and trot. It did not seem to bother him. When I was able to observe him from the ground, he was not stepping evenly underneath himself with his back feet. He was standing mainly on the back left foot, as you see in the picture.

The first person I talked with about it was my riding instructor. She did not want to do lessons for fear of hurting him. However when he was turned out in the field with his buddies, he walked, trotted, and finally galloped with them. It seemed pretty clear that he was not in pain.

Next, since the farrier was due at the barn, I had him look at Pip. There was a soft spot on one hoof (a possible bruise) so I suspected he was working on an abscess. However after a few days there was no change. I began a Keratex Hoof Hardener treatment, which seemed to help the soft spot, and he has since been trimmed with no change in his movement.

My favorite chiropractor was tied up and could not see Pip. She looked at the video that I had, and felt the weird tracking was neurological and not chiropractic. A different chiropractor was scheduled to come to the barn, however, so I had her work on Pip. She adjusted several places on Pip’s back end, found no problems at his ribs, and made a small adjustment in him neck. She found a little sensitivity in his left stifle. Pip seemed a bit better (straighter) after the adjustments, but he was not back to normal.

So it was time to see a veterinarian. Pip was not getting better or worse, but I want to be sure he is comfortable, and I want to know what is going on. I put him on a trailer, and hauled him to the vet I have used for years in Apex, “Dr. M.” He is the same vet that helped me through Red’s Sidewinder story. I saw Dr. M on Monday this week. and he did the normal check up. Pip is healthy in all his vitals signs (heart, breathing, etc.). But with hand walking and trotting the vet could see the odd tracking to the left. He pulled Pip’s tail to the sides. In one direction Pip moved easily. In the other direction he would not move. Dr. M also placed Pip’s back feet across each other in both directions. One way, Pip moved his feet immediately back to the normal way they are supposed to be. The other way, though, Pip just left his legs crossed. It was as though he did not know there was something odd.

Dr. M knew what was going through my head. He drew blood for an EPM test. I am in a waiting pattern until the results come back next Monday.

It was interesting talking with him about EPM. He said most horses here in North Carolina have been exposed to EPM, and will have some antibodies in their blood. ( It is like chicken pox in a human. Once you have had it, you will always have some antibodies in your blood. However while you have chicken pox, the antibodies will be off the chart high.) So if Pip has EPM, his bloodwork will show it. EPM is treatable with either Marquis, which is an oral medicine, or with a newer medicine which is a top dressing for his grain. Both are similarly effective in treating it.

It is strange to think I am hoping that Pip has EPM. When my mare Windy had it, she was about four years old. We successfully treated it with Marquis, and I had years of riding with her afterwards. If it is not EPM, I don’t know where we go from here. I’ll keep you posted…

George, and his Sidewinders…

I first learned about George through some emails and phone messages.  Here are the early notes from Denise:

September 12, 2021

“Hello,  my name is Denise.  I was telling a friend about our draft horse [George} possibly having sidewinders syndrome and she sent me your article.

We go to the vet tomorrow as I want to know his true age first, too.  The sellers told us 15 but we doubt that. 

I took a video for CSU , Colorado State University, and they said “Sidewinders.”  We are 8 hours from them, that’s why I didn’t take him for that ride… We haven’t had him too long.  It’s so sad.”

Sept 21, 2021

“George was exposed to EPM.  He is in his late 20’s now and  is a 17.2 Belgian.   Poor fella.”

October 12, 2021

I finally got a chance to talk with Denise, and learn more of George’s story.  He was purchased from Pennsylvania, and she was told he was a 15 yr old Belgian draft.  (She suspected he was older than 15, and since learned he is in his late 20s.)  For a while, he could do everything she had hoped, and he pulled a wagon well.  When he started having trouble walking, she sent videos to Colorado State Veterinary School.  They said he did have Sidewinders.  Sidewinders is a symptom, not a disease.  It can be caused by a number of things, and sometimes they never know what causes it.  In George’s case, he has EPM. 

He did not experience a personality change as far as eating goes.  He loves his “Cow Cake” and alfalfa.  However, he did stop running in the huge field with his friends, and just stands near home, near the fence, all day.  One day he was in his run-in shed lying on one side, too close to the wall, and couldn’t get up.  They don’t know how long he was there, but they had to lift him out of the shed and flip him over to get him up.  

Denise faced a tough day later that week.  My thoughts were with her.

And now, my thoughts on George: 

I can’t help drawing comparisons with my horses Windy and Red. Windy had EPM when she was about three, and we caught it pretty early and were able to treat it.  The first thing I noticed with her was that she went from being a spitfire to being rather mellow.  That change was gradual.  She had gone to a trainer at that time, and at first I thought the training had made that difference. But the tipoff that caused us to call the vet was that when you pulled on her tail as she walked, she would lose balance a little. 

Red on the other hand did not have EPM.  He walked normally into his stall one night for supper.  When I came out to let him out three hours later he was circling in his stall, and couldn’t walk straight.  By the time the vet got there he was leaning on a wall.  We never learned the cause of his Sidewinders.  Red never lost his appetite for hay, or grazing, however he did stop eating grain occasionally.  He could not stand still long enough to graze well; he would take a bite and then spin around.  I think he lost weight because he burned more calories than he was taking in. 

One interesting note is that I live on the East Coast in North Carolina.  George came from the East Coast to Colorado.  I was told the most common carrier of EPM is possums.  They don’t have possums in Colorado, and they don’t see EPM much in Colorado.

Summer’s Sidewinders Story

In April, I received an email through my blog from Cristina, whose horse Summer had been diagnosed with Sidewinders. I replied and told her to call if she wanted to talk. We did talk, a couple of weeks later, and shared our stories in a wonderful conversation of like souls. Since that conversation, which I will always remember, Summer lost his battle. I asked if Cristina would share their story. She did, and here it is in her words:

Indian Summer

4/29/1988 – 5/29/2020

I had always had a love for horses. I wrote reports on them in elementary school and my parents would take me on summer vacations where I could trail ride. In 1993 my best friend since I was 16, Michelle, bought me 10 lessons for my 30th birthday. Summer was a 5 or 6 year old, cheeky, red chestnut, thoroughbred, gelding. He was one of the lesson horses and both Michelle and I were matched up with him quite often. I took beginner lessons on a lunge line, no stirrups at times & no reins at times. It was all something my teenage trail rides could never compare to. Michelle had worked with horses before and is and has always been, the fearless one, with a love to jump, so she took jumping lessons.

Over the years we boarded at show barns, jumper barns, backyard barns, family farms and country clubs all over LA County. Sometimes we had trainers and took lessons, other times we did our own thing. Michelle showed him in Hunter Jumper and I rode him in the ring and on the trails. It was the perfect mix. We began leasing him with an option to buy and in July of 1997, we bought him!

At every facility, we galloped through trails and had both mishaps, (he liked to rear…straight up I might add) and beautiful adventures. I even jumped a few X’s and got to gallop him around a practice racetrack with our trainer directing me through a head set!

In September of 2000, we bought an 18 month old Mustang Bashkir Curly mix, Blue, as a possibility that our daughters could ride him. We found a beautiful ranch in the mountains of Malibu with a pasture for Blue to grow in and a nice stall for Summer. It was an almost 300 acre ranch and I imagine Summer and I must have explored a good percentage of it. Looking back I’d have to say these were our most magical years. Here we stopped at mountain peaks and let the wind blow in our hair. Summer had overnights in a pasture on a hill where the sunsets were spectacular and the star filled nights were so peaceful.

Michelle moved to another city and took Blue and Summer and I stayed in Malibu. I sold a condo and moved to be closer to him. Summer moved a few more times locally and we landed at a private home 5 minutes from my home, where Blue too had landed! Life was leisurely, some bareback easy rides and lots of turnouts.

Day 1 (Friday, April 10, 2020):  after 3 days of solid rain I noticed Summers back right leg was swollen. It seemed sort of logical after 3 days of standing, sometimes in slippery mud, that he’d had simply gotten stocked up and would need to be wrapped and given bute. I walked him to the cross ties, but something didn’t feel right. I called a neighbor friend who just happens to also be a horse trainer and she came right away. She felt it was worthy to call the vet and we did. The on call vet arrived and it was decided, standing wraps and bute with a backup of antibiotics, should the swelling not be down by morning. A possibility of cellulitis was spoken of.

Day 2 (Saturday): the swelling was down by morning. I turned him out, hand walked him and he seemed ok. I texted my vet to let her know something wasn’t right and I wanted her to have a look. 

Day 3 (Sunday): something wasn’t right, his back legs were moving weird and had gotten a bit caught up as he went down for a roll and he had a little trouble getting up. His head and front legs appeared normal. My vet made it out on her off day (I might add) and noticed some swelling at his right hind end. She thought perhaps he had fractured his Ischium bone. Stall rest, a princess bed, standing wraps and bute were the plan. My vet explained that this plan would cover many possibilities and if no improvement we could start on steroids. 

Day 11 (Monday): the stumbling got a bit worse. My vet came out again and did a pelvic exam to make sure it wasn’t fractured and determined his condition to be Sidewinders. He was prescribed steroids that would taper down, Elevate (a vitamin E supplement), continued stall rest, a princess bed, daily bute and wrapping. I googled sidewinders & found myself depressed. Michelle found Anne’s blog and after reading it, so many things rang true and I found it very meaningful. A documented story that would now become my story, just different names & places. I took Anne’s lead and took photos and videos everyday. I installed a camera so I could check on him at all hours and could also take a snapshot or video, if he appeared to be moving more oddly than normal. It felt important to be able to compare each day and also to keep it real and not let my mind play tricks on me. I reached out to Anne who responded with compassion and openness, shared the view of the roller coaster I was now on. She said “he will have good days and bad ones” and this held true. She also told me, I would know when it was time. I didn’t like the responsibility that held and I wondered how it could possible be true. I felt under equipped in many ways for a lot of this. I texted my vet with my depressing findings and she said, “he’s not walking in circles, nor having to lean on his corral” “…some horses stabilize”. By trying this, I would know that I had tried everything medically, I possibly could.

It wasn’t quite enough for me, so I enrolled in an intro class online called Equine Partnered Bodywork and was introduced to Nancy Horne of Greater Good Ranch. (A side note: Nancy is in my cell phone as Equine Healer Guru). I finished her course, practiced the bodywork and reached out to her for any alternative suggestions she might have. She did, she said to “keep up the bodywork – hands on energy – get a diagram of the nervous system and circulation (blood flow) follow these with your hands, vision and intent all over his body.” She also pointed out that Sidewinders, “is a group of signs which may occur due to a variety of different causes, some of which are very treatable.” She gave me many resources, books like Renee Tucker’s; “Where does my horse hurt” and alternative healing modalities like Diana Thompson’s Equine Acupressure online course, to name a few. She even began to do remote healings from our first conversation, to our final days. She and I are both Reiki masters too and she gave me some hand positions and mindsets that she thought would be beneficial. She even began to do remote healings from our first conversation, to our final days. I practiced applying all that I learned as much as possible. My Reiki teacher even came out twice and we gave him Reiki together.  I called on other healer friends to send good energy and to hold space for him, me, us.

Some days I could walk him around his corral for a few laps and sometimes we could only get a few steps without him looking tipsy. He was eating and pooping and otherwise seeming “normal”, which at first felt hopeful and then confusing. He allowed me to do the light touch bodywork on his Bladder Meridian, Reiki with 1 hand on the inside top of his thigh and one on the outside and then switch sides to help with circulation, along with other hand positions to help balance and align the 2 sides. I was even able to find all the Acupressure points I was learning from part 1 of Diana’s course.

Day 36: I reached out to Anne and we had a beautiful conversation that ended on “how do you know when it’s time?”. Anne shared her story with me and we cried together over the phone. Two people in different states, complete strangers, our one commonality, the love for a horse.

Day 44:  Summer had a hard time getting up. I decided to walk him to check further and we were able to make it around his corral a few times without any major tipsy-ness. Because he walked ok, I decided to focus on that.

Day 48: Michelle happened to see him struggle quite a few times to get up, ultimately having to use one of the poles holding his shelter as leverage to get up and texted me. I went later to do his wraps and evening supplements. I tried to walk him and we could only get about 2-3 steps before I knew we couldn’t go further. 

Day 49: The next morning, I changed his wraps and gave him his morning supplements. I went to do some Acupressure & he turned his head to me with pinned ears, not happy. I recalled it had been like that the last few days and I guess I just kept putting it out of my mind.

I came home and began to clear stuff off of the passenger seat of my car. I thought I saw a shiny piece of something that could’ve been the corner of a candy wrapper or snack bar. But, it wasn’t, it was the teeniest little silver angel you could ever imagine. Seriously, minuet! (The angel is a little story all in itself.) I immediately began to cry. I knew it was a sign, one I didn’t want to know and one that reminded me that some thing otherworldly was watching over me. I texted a photo of it to Michelle and she called while on her way to work. She described in detail again what she had seen and thought perhaps he had just laid down in the wrong spot and that that was why he couldn’t get up. Because I had seen the difficulty he had Saturday, I felt differently. I reached out to Nancy who as always, gave me information, things to try and again, mindsets. Her final question in one of her emails was, had I ever had to do this before? I picked up the phone and called her immediately. We talked about everything. We too, cried together, two people in different states, complete strangers, our one commonality, the love for a horse.

Some of Nancy’s suggestions were to give him his favorite foods, to sit with him and to make it like a going away party, bring other horses by to say goodbye and friends too. All of this so hard to hear, and yet so meaningfully powerful.

My vet was not on call this day and since we weren’t completely clear with the final decision, I decided to book her for the following day, if anything, for a check up. Michelle left work early and we vacillated on possibilities, options and scenarios. A couple of neighbor friends came to check on me and in retrospect, it was somehow as if the farewell party was underway. My vet offered to come right then as she didn’t want him to end in a crisis. We needed some time to think. We opted to walk him to the arena for logistical reasons and I was uncertain we could make it there. If he was going to stay in the arena overnight, I was not leaving him. So, we decided to stay the night in the back of Michelle’s hatchback and watch over him. As I walked him both Michelle & her husband validated the tipsy ness as they followed us to the area. I let his halter go and he immediately went to his favorite corner to roll and got up pretty well, he went to a different spot rolled again and also got up ok. I think he might’ve even rolled again and at one point even got a little cheeky with a gallop and an attempt at a buck. He settled down and rolled again, had a few bites of his dinner, wandered and investigated what seems like every inch of the arena. Blue’s corral is right next to the arena, so he entertained us all with his funny antics. Michelle and I recalled memories of all these years and the adventures we all had together. I ended up sideways in the back of Michelle’s hatchback and her in the front seat. I watched him through the night wander and stand so beautifully regal, looking out, as if into the wild blue yonder.

Day 50: In the morning another neighbor stopped by with a doggy friend and Summer and the pup touched noses at the arena gate. The anxiety of knowing the vet would be arriving and the responsibility and commitment I made to the care of this magnificent being all flooded my mind. The possibility of him not being able to get up, to injure himself and/or worst case scenario panic himself into crisis, was not the route that seemed in the best interests of this soul connection we created, for the last 26 years. We watched him move, sometimes tipsy and noticed, not for the first time that he looked uncomfortable pooping and peeing, another visual that he was uncomfortable. He is a thoroughbred and it was made clear that it is engrained in him to be stoic when needed and to keep pushing himself.

He never finished his dinner from the night before and I continued to offer him fresh bowls of goodness, apples and all. I recalled how he would stop eating his main meal when I would arrive and he’d wait for me to bring him my concoction and eat it first. The funny thing is my concoction was exactly what was in his main meal (sometimes with supps mixed in of course) it seems he just preferred to eat the one that came from me.

The vet arrived and we talked it out. At some point in the conversation, I noticed Michelle and myself  were responding both in body language and words, in the same way and at the same time. Not shocking necessarily, it was just the way everything stopped for a moment so I could see and feel that we were one in this now. My vet recalled having just started her practice when we became clients, 20 years ago, oh how the time had flown. She explained the logistics, similar to the preparation Nancy had given me. As my vet walked into the arena, Summer walked from her aways and stopped.  My vet offered me his halter to fetch him and bring him back. Ugh… I approached slowly and spoke to him softly, put his halter on him and walked him back. The rest of the details seem unimportant, it was instantaneous really. We talked to him and told him how much we loved him and how we would ride together again one day. Oh how I have dreamt of that day every day since.

I call on memories now, like how I would put my hands up and stand strong and he would rub his eyes and head against my hands to get all those spots that the corral bars, a good roll or places on the fence couldn’t get. I will cherish that and all the memories we made forever.

Summer taught me so much, about boundaries, trust, commitment, timing, connection, parenting, to not give up, to try again, the power and fullness of love and on and on. Nancy reminded me that, when you ask for help, I want to add, truly ask for help, it will come. The outpouring of love and validation of our love from those who watched us from afar has given us a little more peace each day. Loving a horse, is a big love and worth every second.

Thank you Cristina, for telling your story.

For those of you who are reading this, should you ever need to talk about Sidewinders Syndrome, don’t hesitate to contact me. Email me at annecain@kw.com.. Sidewinders Syndrome is likely to become more commonly known as horses are living longer.

Sidewinders Syndrome- final chapter

This was an awful week. On Wednesday, Red got a “cold” and when he sneezed, the mucus came out with some blood on it. His breathing sounded like he was breathing through a puddle of water. I had my horses scheduled for spring shots on Thursday, and I figured the veterinarian could figure out what to do then.

When the vet arrived, he said that the long term steroid use (two months) weakens the immune system, and that is likely why Red had more rain rot than normal, and why loosing a tooth seemed to have resulted in some infection and the raspy breathing. He also said giving shots, doing fecals, and getting a Coggins was not reasonable. We talked about quality of life for Red and how much time we could expect. I had known this conversation was coming. Red has been losing weight and muscle tone, and he was physically only a shadow of the horse he had been on January 7th. Although his balance seemed to be neither getting better or worse, he was so busy spinning he could not graze well. I planned on spending the weekend with him…

I added a dose of Sulfamethoxazole and Trimethoprim tablets Thursday night to our twice-a-day steroid routine, and on Friday morning the “bubbly” sound had cleared up however Red was still breathing hard. The morning dose on Friday did not affect the breathing at all; in the evening Red was still breathing heavily.

On Saturday morning when I looked out the window, Red was lying down flat in the field. I couldn’t tell if he was breathing or not, so I went out to see. Red was breathing but he seemed exhausted. I watched him try to get up three times unsuccessfully, so I called the vet. When she arrived at my farm she found his heart and lungs were good but she said it was likely his back leg had fallen asleep from being under his weight for too long. We flipped him over and after a few minutes of resting he was able to get up with encouragement. I knew his time had come, though. At the NC State vet school today, the doctor said he was seeing 4-5 cases of Sidewinders per year. Little is know about the cause, and Red’s autopsy is likely to find nothing.

Anne and Red

This is the way I shall remember Red. He was a wonderful fellow, with good manners and a willing attitude. Before I knew him, he raced as a baby and did some eventing. For me, he did everything I wanted to try. We jumped, fox hunted, rode trails and beaches, and competed at second level dressage. During our final months together he decided he really liked his ears scratched, inside and out.

Should you ever need to talk about Sidewinders Syndrome, don’t hesitate to contact me. Email me at annecain@kw.com.. Sidewinders Syndrome is likely to become more commonly known as horses are living longer.

Sidewinders

After a month and a half, and lots of steroids…

I finally found a medical description that I can understand…

Horse Veterinarian: Doctor.A

“…sidewinders can be due to a large variety of causes, but the syndrome is usually fairly consistently defined as a neurologic deficit in the hind end including a difficulty knowing where their hind end is, AND/OR severe weakness. Often times there is also muscle wasting of the hind end. The front end is most often normal, as is their mentation (mental state) and personality.

When standing, they will often lean to one side, and when walking, they will tend to drift toward the side they are leaning to. When you pull their tail, there is little to no resistance, and they are easy to “knock off their feet” if you pull too hard.

They will often respond well to a course of antiinflammatories, but this response is transient, and will get harder to maintain with the same dose of antinflammatories. Often, the course of this condition will result in a down horse due to the weakness in the hind end. This can occur over months to years.”

One thing that was clear to me was the difference between the onset of Sidewinders and EPM. I had a young mare who developed EPM some years ago, and the symptoms “crept” into our life. She seemed fine at first. Then she got more mellow. (She was normally opinionated.) Then she started to have the balance issues. With my older thoroughbred, he went from normal to leaning precariously in a few hours.

Sidewinders Syndrome Update

Two days ago (day 24) we had a huge setback. Things had been going so well, and we kept reducing the steroids. We were down to once a day with a low dose. I went out to see Red and he was spinning in circles and had reversed the spin from then original direction. He could barely eat and he exhausted himself. ( This site won’t let me post a video.) Picture him grabbing a bite to eat and then spinning around. Then he cannot quite reach what he was eating before (so he cannot reach his bowl of food, or the flake of hay he was eating from before the spin.) I went from dreaming of riding him again to hoping he won’t starve to death. I called the vet. Red got a huge mega dose of intravenous steroids. I am back to large doses of steroids twice a day, and doing everything with my fingers crossed for luck. This all started on January 7 and we are at February 1 now. I thought tonight he is eating better. He can almost walk in a straight line if I help him balance as I lead…