The past couple of times I've ridden Red, we've only walked for a short time in the arena, and I've ridden him bareback - no bareback pad, just me and him. I love riding bareback - it's the way I grew up. I don't think I hardly ever rode in a saddle from the time I was a small child until I was in my teens. It feels very natural and comfortable to me. I've ridden Dawn bareback from time to time - that's the only way my younger daughter rides her. I've never ridden Red bareback before, but he seemed to like it too - he stood perfectly still at the mounting block for me to jump on and waited for my signal to move off. Red has the perfect back for bareback - he's nice and broad, but has just enough wither - but not too much, thankfully - to allow you to keep your middle over his middle.
Red continues to show various neurological signs of what may be EPM. He's started doing a few other things that he did during his last EPM bout. One I call the "tripod" - when he's standing on crossties, he'll plant his front feet close together directly under his chest, and then have his hind legs somewhat stretched out to the back and spread apart more than normal. It looks to me like a pose that's seeking a feeling of stability. Neither Pie nor Dawn did this during their bouts with EPM. Red's also doing something Pie also did - if he's resting a hind foot when I lift a front foot for picking, instead of putting the hind foot down, it shifts partly down, making his position somewhat unstable. It seems to be affected feet that do this - in Pie's case it was his left hind, but Red has been doing it with the right hind too, which seems to also be affected now. When I was walking about bareback, Red was occasionally doing something that both Pie and Dawn did previously - a funny feeling when the horse takes a step and then the foot shifts - it's an odd feeling of a slight jolt/mistep.
If the shipment arrives today as I expect, Red will his first dose of Oroquin-10 paste (decoquinate plus levamisole) this evening. If he truely does have EPM - we should have the blood test results very soon - I'm hoping to see improvement in his symptoms soon - in my horses' past cases, significant improvement was visible as early as day three of treatment.
For those of you who may be new to this blog, there's an extensive EPM page with lots (and lots and lots) of detail. For summary information, and if you'd like to learn more about the current state of EPM research - there are plenty of vets out there who aren't up to speed on this or who have a vested ("I didn't know about it (and I'd look stupid if I admitted that) so it can't be true") interest in continuing old, not as effective (and much more expensive) tests and treatments - here are two references from that page. Fortunately for the horses, there are also lots of vets out there who are either informed or willing to change what they're doing as the science advances. The first reference is a journal article published by Dr. Ellison and a colleague on preliminary treatment results from their study. The second is a link to Dr. Ellison's web site with more information about the test and treatment that are in clinical trails.
There's a lot of interesting stuff being learned concerning EPM, including that the symptoms may be caused as much or more by the horse's inflammatory immune response to the infectious organisms, as by the organisms themselves. (This may perhaps explain the flare-up in symptoms that EPM horses, or horses who have previously had EPM, sometimes have upon immune system stimulation due to vaccinations.) If Red does indeed have EPM, that will be my fifth case (three with strain one and two with strain five) - so I guess I'm unfortunately getting to be somewhat of an amateur specialist! It's interesting to me how diverse the symptoms can be, and in some cases pretty subtle - if you didn't know the horse well and interact with the horse frequently you'd likely miss them. My horses have not had one early symptom that is apparently fairly common - anhydrosis (failure to sweat). Although my horses have had various symptoms that weren't all the same, there are some common things. One of the earliest symptoms I've seen is difficulty/reluctance to pick up feet for handling/cleaning/farrier work - this happened with all three horses, who had previously been very good about hoof handling. Other early symptoms I've seen are slight depression - more like the horse is somewhat subdued, reluctance to take up/maintain gaits above walk, tripping, toe dragging and what feels like a stifle catch (a lot of horses with EPM may be misdiagnosed as having a stifle problem), along with unusual hoof wear - all my horses started to wear the toe of the most affected foot. Difficulty/reluctance walking down a hill is a common symptom. But there can be lots of other symptoms, some of which are not common with EPM, such as Pie's recurring colic attacks (we believe due to inflammation of abdominal lymph nodes), and the disease progresses differently in each horse, probably depending on their own immune response and the specific strain the horse has - it appears that strain one can cause the most serious symptoms. The important thing to remember is that your horse doesn't have to be falling down or having severe balance problems or muscle wasting to have EPM - it starts with very subtle symptoms - and now that there is an available, accurate blood test, early cases can be caught and, in a high percentage of cases, effectively treated. There is still a lot to learn - about how horses who cope with the infection and clear it on their own do this - it may have to do with geography/prior exposure, perhaps even in utero or as a foal - and about if/how long-term immunity can be developed (I'm certainly hoping for that), perhaps even at some point with a vaccine.
If Red does have a new infection with a different strain of EPM (this is what happened with Pie - two separate infections with two different strains) and we successfully treat it, I'm sure hoping I'm done with this equine medical experience . . .
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