You noticed something “not quite right” with your horse. Nothing huge. A bit of clumsiness. Something amiss in the way he’s moving. A slight — but undeniable— change in his gait.
After a bit of testing, your precious equine was diagnosed with Wobbler’s Syndrome, something that affects the neck of some horses. (There are several fancy names for this condition – cervical vertebral malformation, cervical stenotic myelopathy are just two.)
Essentially, when the horse bends its neck, the vertebral bones move more than they should and put pressure on the spinal cord. Some horses will be weak in the back end, some will only show a bit of pain on / around the neck, and some will be so severely affected that they cannot stand up.
Sadly, this last group is usually euthanized.
The hard truth is that conventional medicine doesn’t offer a lot of options for these horses. For a very special few, surgery may be a possibility. For most, unfortunately, surgery is just too expensive.
The good news is that acupuncture, chiropractic treatment, and herbal therapy can do a lot to help the majority of these horses! In several studies, in fact, over 90% of horses returned to normal movement and no longer had pain.
Talk about great news!
If your horse is diagnosed with wobblers syndrome, find a veterinarian who practices alternative medicine. Not only will they likely be able to help your horse, you won’t have to mortgage your house to pay them!