12d (edited) ā¢ Vet Casesāļø
š“ Case Study: Why Does Atlas Rock Like a Metronome?
Meet Atlas, a 7-year-old Warmblood gelding whose new owner calls because she is worried he might have a neurological problem. He sways rhythmically at his stall door every morning before breakfast, shifting his weight from one foreleg to the other like a pendulum, head and neck swinging side to side in perfect time.
She asks if something is wrong with his brain or spine.
You arrive at morning feeding time and watch Atlas for yourself. The swaying begins the moment the feed cart appears at the end of the aisle. It stops twenty minutes after he finishes eating.
You perform a complete neurological exam. In-hand trot on a straight line, tight circles both directions, backing, tail pull. Atlas is perfect. Not a single stumble, no toe dragging, no proprioceptive deficit anywhere.
This is weaving, a locomotor stereotypy. His basal ganglia have been permanently reorganized by years of social isolation and twice-daily grain feeding with minimal hay. The behavior is not neurological. It is behavioral. And it is irreversible.
You counsel the owner honestly: increase turnout, add slow feeder hay nets, allow social contact. The frequency may improve. The behavior will not disappear.
š” The takeaway: A horse that sways only at the stall door before feeding is not broken neurologically. It is telling you something went wrong long before you arrived.
For more information on this condition see the classroom or follow the link below:
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š“ Case Study: Why Does Atlas Rock Like a Metronome?
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