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.
NorthCarolinaHorseFarm 