Jax

A couple months ago, Casey noticed that her horse, Jax, was really thin and his back legs would tremble badly after a trail ride. We chalked it up to his awful past (being kept in a shipping container because there was no pasture) and that he just needed to beef up and get back in shape. Just in case though, Casey had the vet, Marilyn, come out and look at him.

Marilyn thought he might have HYPP, a genetic disorder linked to a specific quarter horse stallion (even though Jax seems more like a Morgan). So she pulled some hair to do tests on, and prescribed high fat food for both him and Cooper (who was very skinny because of teeth problems now fixed). She thought if it wasn't HYPP then it was probably just muscle weakness from being out of shape, and putting weight on him was the first step to recovery.

She also recommended giving him a couple weeks of rest, so Casey had to sit out the Acadia trip.

Those couple weeks later, the HYPP test came back negative, and Cooper had gained weight and Jax had not, despite feeding them each 12 pounds of grain, 20-30 pounds of hay, and supplements every day.

I know from personal experience that Googling symptoms usually leads to the worst possible (incorrect) diagnosis. However, having ruled out HYPP, the fact that Jax had not gained a single pound, and that he was exhibiting a lot of the associated symptoms, we think Jax has EMND, or equine motor neuron disease. There is not a reliable test for it, so there really can't be confirmation. It's extremely rare and there is no treatment. It is linked to vitamin E deficiency, seen most in horses who don't have access to forage/pasture (like Jax).

The prognosis for EMND is not good. According to the article linked above, 40% of the horses can have an improved condition with supplements, but would decline again if ridden much. Another 40% stabilize where they are at, and the remaining 20% rapidly decline and have to be put down.

In any of these scenarios, Casey would be paying board, vet, and farrier expenses for a horse she couldn't ride and whose condition could very well deteriorate quickly. So she made the incredibly hard decision to take Jax back to Animal Rescue Unit where they can make the final decision to either wait to see how his condition does or to put him down. We dropped him off August 17th, and ARU's vet will be coming out later this week to assess him.

Besides his ear-piercing whinny, his cribbing habit that threatened to tear down my barn, and the time he trampled and nearly killed one of the ducks, Jax is a wonderful horse who loved his girls - Casey and her 3 year old Audrey - and will be missed around the barn. I am really glad we were able to give him a happy, loving home at Blonde Bomber Acres, even for the short six months he was here. He certainly deserved a good home after what he's been through, and it just doesn't seem fair that he finally got to a good place and then had his past catch up with him.

Here's hoping that Dr. Google, DVM is wrong in this case and Jax can enjoy years of peaceful living at the rescue.