Today in the Tictac Equestrian office, we have been discussing horses that are prone to tying up, or developing Rhabdomyolysis syndrome as it is more commonly known. This is a condition in which the horse develops stiffness in the lower back and thigh area. The episodes of stiffness can range from mild cramping to a severe problem where muscle destruction occurs. In these cases, the urine will darken due to the muscle fibres breaking down.
My horse Honey has tied up now on three occasions, which can be pretty frightening if you do not know enough or anything about it at all! Her episodes, so far, have been very severe. In every case she has been unable to walk and she starts to become increasingly distressed the longer she is left untreated. The first time this happened, I called my vet straight away and he came out to treat her. He gave me enough pain killers to keep her comfortable for the week, and due to the severity of her pain he thought on that occasion that it would be kind to mildly sedate her to help relax her muscles. He also took blood to examine in case it was something else underlying causing her problem, this came back negative. In the following two occasions that she has tied up, I have been able to treat her and keep her comfortable without having to call out the vet. I have given her two weeks off of ridden work afterwards to ensure her muscles have fully recovered before bringing her gradually back into work.
It is advised to keep your horse warm and not to move them if it is possible as this can cause further damage to the skeletal muscle fibres. Although, be careful not to over-rug as due to the stress, sweating can occur. In Honey’s case, she tied up after strenuous exercise but in some cases, horses are known to tie up with no sort of strain put on the muscles at all. This could be caused by an electrolyte imbalance which can be resolved by supplementing your horse’s diet with electrolyte salts which can be fed with hard feeding or dissolved in your horse’s water. You can buy these from our website. This can affect horses more frequently in hard exercise or in the summer due to excessive sweating in which they lose too much salt.
In the 1990s, research was carried out which suggested this condition could also be brought on by a defect in a horses carbohydrate metabolism which can affect the skeletal muscle fibres. Equine Polysaccharide Storage Myopathy (EPSM) is when a horse is unable to effectively break down carbohydrates. This is one of the reasons my vet suggested to me that Honey persistently tied up. I stopped feeding her hard feed which contains high carbohydrate and starch levels, and started feeding her Dengie Alfa A Oil and British Horse Feed Fibre Beet which contain high levels of fibre and oil which my vet told me would prevent further problems. Since I changed her diet, she has not tied up again! Thank goodness! Prevention is always better than cure after all. A good quality supplement such as NAF Vitamin-e, Selenium & Lysine will provide your horse with the vitamins and minerals that they will be lacking to cause this problem. You can buy this off of our Tictac Equestrian website. Honey has been supplemented with this for just over a year now and I believe that this has also prevented her tying up again.
If you find yourself in the situation I did and feel that your horse may be tying up, phone your vet as soon as you can and explain their symptoms. Keep them as comfortable and calm as possible until your vet arrives and also keep yourself safe! Horses can become very distressed and unpredictable in this situation. We hope that this never happens to your horse but if it does, we’d love to hear your experiences and any advice you have to give to our customers and the Tictac Equestrian team. Good Luck!
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