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Discussion on Horse pulls up hind legs........vet says stringhalt??
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New Member:
Scraig
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Posted on Wednesday, Jul 19, 2006 - 9:09 pm:
I have a 12-year-old TB gelding who began pulling up his hind legs yesterday.He alternates legs and holds them for a few seconds and then kind of sets them down hard. He looks very agitated, as if something is bothering him. This make him appear unstable. There are no other symptoms. Everything else seems normal.
I just had a vet out who diagnosed him with stringhalt, which is a neurological condition that can be brought on by ingesting false dandelions. We do have a lot of this in our pasture.
This is a young, new vet at our clinic and the first time I've worked with her. She sounded confident in her diagnosis.
She prescribed taking him off the pasture for a couple of days while we get rid of the false dandelion. She also said that it can take anywhere from eight weeks to one year for a full recovery. Apparently this weed is mostly prevalent in Australia, Oregon, Washington, and California. We're Oregon.
I'm rather new to horses and this was a dire rescue three months ago, so any help would be appreciated.
Do these symptoms and this diagnosis sound familiar to anyone? Thanks so much!
Susan
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Member:
Christos
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Posted on Thursday, Jul 20, 2006 - 8:16 am:
Welcome to HA, Susan.
Until DrO replies : Your description of the condition does not sound like stringhalt. Please read this article:
https://www.horseadvice.com/sbs/articles/diseases/lameness/rhabdomyolysis.html
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Thursday, Jul 20, 2006 - 10:03 am:
Christos is thinking of the polysaccharide storage diseases which have tying up and stringhalt like symptoms but if you have correctly identified the false dandelions as the genus and specie associated with toxic stringhalt that would be at the top of my list, for more about this and the other forms of stringhalt see, Diseases of Horses » Lameness » Diseases of the Upper Rear Limb » Stringhalt.
DrO
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Member:
Christos
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Posted on Thursday, Jul 20, 2006 - 4:51 pm:
Thanks for setting this straight, DrO.
I do not mean to contradict any vet, of course.
What I mean is that holding the leg up for a few seconds and then stomping it on the ground sounds to me like muscle cramps and considering this may be a good idea while, of course, one removes the false dandelions from the horse's diet at the same time.
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Friday, Jul 21, 2006 - 9:36 am:
No need to explain Christos, after all you may be right. It will be interesting to see what falls out.
DrO
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New Member:
Scraig
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Posted on Thursday, Jul 27, 2006 - 1:52 pm:
Thanks for the help. It appears the vet was correct. We took the horses off the pasture and sprayed the false dandelion with a product called "Weedmaster". According to the company there is no wait after spraying.
Soon after taking them off the pasture the stringhalt symptoms started to diminish. There're now back on the pasture and he only pulls his leg up once in awhile. The vet said that recovery can take a long time so I'm optimistic. Thanks again for the help!
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Member:
Frances
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Posted on Friday, Jul 28, 2006 - 7:22 am:
Isn't it NICE when a problem can be solved quickly and easily like this?  Best wishes for continued improvement.
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