Equine Sidewinder Syndrome
Equine Sidewinder Syndrome is a description of a symptom complex especially occurring in elderly horses, which manifests in an acute onset. From one day to another, the horses cannot control the hindquarter anymore, i.e. the hindquarter is often moved in another track than the front legs (like going in travers). In some cases, the hindquarter is so much out of control that the horses start spinning around themselves.
Despite many horses being put down in this acute onset, we were already able to track down cases of horses that survived and lived clinically free from symptoms for up to 10 years, so recovery is possible. Causes and pathogenesis are completely unclear. While two scientific studies carried out in the United States have linked it to Equine Protozoal Myocarditis (EPM), we have proven this syndrome also to occur in Europe, where EPM (Sarcocystis neurona) does not occur.
This study therefore aims to:
- provide an overview about cases in Europe (with a focus on Denmark and Germany) and
- examine the causes by pathological examinations of horses that are being put down because of the syndrome or due to another reason, but also affected by the syndrome.
Formalities
Project: Equine Sidewinder Syndrome
Period: June 2023 - June 2024
The project is finansed by Center for Forskning i Familiedyrs Velfærd