How to Wrap a Horse's Hoof

Horses and petit mal seizures – Would you know if your horse had one?

A few weekends ago, the weather was warm and sunny and for the first time this spring, the bugs were out.

From the barn, I watched my horse toss his head and knew that the little gnats were flying around and annoying him. I decided to go wipe down his face and head with repellant. It would give me a chance to try out the new “bug wipes” I had recently bought.

In his paddock, I caught and haltered him and began wiping the sides of his head. Then, I wiped the front of his face all the way down to between his nostrils.

As soon as I did that, a scary thing happened. Suddenly, my horse threw his head up and began tossing it in a quick, jerking motion with his eyes bugging out. He shifted his weight backwards until he was sitting on his haunches. And then, his legs buckled and he rolled onto his side.

As quickly as this fit began, it ended, and my horse jumped to his feet and looked at me, blowing through his nose. At that moment I thought to myself, “I think he just had a seizure.”

I left a message with my vet about the incident and the next morning she called me back. I explained what happened and she said that my description sounded like a petit mal seizure. She explained that strong scents could set one off and that perhaps the citronella scented wipe was the cause. (Horses that suffer from these seizures often have “triggers” that bring them on.)

She also explained that petit mal seizures can present in different ways. For instance, a horse having this type of seizure doesn’t always collapse. The symptoms could be as slight as staring at a wall for several seconds. Others who’ve witnessed horses having a seizure described it as the horse “zoning out” and appearing unresponsive. This state can last for seconds to several minutes. Horses that have a petit mal seizure typically recover from it immediately, as my horse did.

My vet wasn’t overly concerned about this episode but did recommend that I not use the wipes on his face again, advice I’ll certainly follow.

And I pass this story on to you in the event that you ever notice your horse behaving in this manner. In some cases, as my vet mentioned, seizures can signal that a neurological problem, epilepsy, or narcolepsy is present. So if you think your horse has had one, give your vet a call.

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