Cursed

I am an idiot. I spoke too soon.

I went out to the barn very excited to ride today.  And to be truthful, Walker seemed pretty excited as well. I even intended to take him to the outdoor arena after I had sufficiently warmed him up in the indoor arena, and I knew that would make him happy.

I got on.  I walked him for approximately 10 minutes, and because he felt pretty good, I decided to jog him for 2 minutes.  Then I went back to a walk, a halt actually, because I asked him to change direction.  And then he just starting shaking uncontrollably.  I could feel it from my saddle.  So I hopped off immediately, removed all of his tack, but the shaking never stopped.

I talked to the vet on the phone, and the vet suggested that I simply watch him and see if it got worse.  It didn't get worse, but it also didn't go away.  He shook like that for 3 hours before it started to slow down, but by then I already called the vet back and had him come out.  Yep.  Another after-hours vet bill coming my way.

Anyway, the vet isn't entirely sure what is wrong.  He had a spike in temperature and wasn't eating.  He was also clearly uneasy.  He was shifting his weight in his hind end a lot and stretching very awkwardly.  Besides that, he didn't really have any big colic symptoms, but the vet did a rectal exam (right there in front of a bunch of 8 year olds getting ready for their lesson, might I add).  Nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

Prognosis: Maybe mild colic symptoms. Maybe mild tying up.

MAYBE HYPP!

Now I don't know how familiar you are with HYPP (hyperkalemic periodic paralysis, for you fancy science people) but it is prevalent in Quarter Horses.  Or more specifically, it is prevalent in a particular bloodline of Quarter Horses, of which Walker is obviously not a part.  In fact, we called the AQHA today, and they assured us that Walker's bloodlines check out and he cannot have HYPP.

Well, stuff happens.  And it has happened before.  Mostly with fraudulent breeders or sellers.  As my barn owner explained, Walker as I know him could have been switched with the Walker on paper.  We don't believe this because we have Walker's baby picture on the back of the registration papers, and that pudgy little thing is definitely Walker!  So that means, if he does have HYPP, someone somewhere could have switched a stud, and although the AQHA is pretty diligent about this, it has happened before.

Now I'm not going to jump to conclusions or anything, but let's just say that was the first thought out of my vet's mouth.  Which isn't exactly reassuring.  It can be managed with diet, but let's just say that people go to great lengths to avoid getting horses with this defect.

Anyway, the other prognoses really don't make me feel any better, to be honest.  He has never colicked before or had a case of tying up.  Now I realize he has been on stall rest and was sick before that, but I'm extremely nervous to ride him again and have this happen again.

And mainly I feel bad for my sad pony who was clearly very excited to play in the arena.  For the first time ever, he wouldn't stand still to be bridled.  He just kept trying to walk towards the arena.  And then the minute this happened, he just shut down.  I want my Walker back.