Horsekeepers: Skip The Guilt Trip!

For many of us, owning a horse means confronting self-doubt when an illness or illness occurs or other things go wrong.

If you’ve owned horses for a while, this scenario may sound familiar: Your horse is suddenly lame or ill and—right away—you set to blaming yourself. Ugh, you think, he was a little sluggish yesterday, probably not feeling well, and I just kept riding. What was I thinking? Next thing you know, you’re buying yourself a one-way ticket on the guilt train. 

I experienced this recently with our 25-year-old Haflinger gelding, Mighty—my husband’s heart horse. I’ve taken care of Mighty every day for the last 21 years and I know him inside and out. How could I not have seen this catastrophe coming?  

Mighty was fine in the morning. But by midday he looked like he was doing a reining pattern in slow motion—compulsively circling to the left, then walking sideways—as if he was drunk.

A preliminary diagnosis: EPM

Our veterinarian was nearby, so within an hour we had a preliminary diagnosis. Mighty had EPM, equine protozoal myeloencephalitis, and it was attacking his nervous system. A week later, the blood test confirmed it.

How could I, a lifelong