At 10:01:20 on 09.09.11, Dazzle wrote:
I have found a lovely 5 year old, 17'3, Hannovarian the but is that he has slight shivers. I have read everything I can on the net, that includes ESPM diet and the article by Beth Valentine. I realise it is a gamble and he could be fine for years or retired at a young age. What is holding me back is that he would be expected to compete at advanced dressage, is this unfeasible? Would voltes be out of the question? I realise he is not going to pass a vetting, but I would be interested in your opinion.

At 07:26:03 on 10.09.11, kibby wrote:
I really haven't had any experience but hopefully someone will see my post and pop in too. I do know of horses with ESPM that have gone on to be happy and healthy competition horses.

At 07:34:29 on 10.09.11, kibby wrote:
Have a look at this. its people who have all gone throw the ESPM thing in horses. Things they have tried that worked, things that haven't.
http://www.eques.com.au/discus/messages/317400/317400.html

At 20:51:12 on 10.09.11, Rahara wrote:
I haven't had any experience but a few years back, when I was doing the eventing [long time ago] friend of ours had a warmblood with Shivers competing, she said that the training and competing kept it under control and diet high fat / low starch as Kibby said ESPM, I'm not sure if it depends on the breed, I do know a lot of horses over here end up in the factory because of Shivers simply because owners were ignorant of diet, you could end up with problems there again it could be the right horse for you, I'd say you'll have to go with the gut feeling. When I bought Diamond I was told she'll never do well in the jumping because of the Curb ..she jumps ..maybe not to her best ability but that's because of me, in a younger persons hands she possibly would go far.

At 08:53:52 on 24.09.11, Part Arab wrote:
Found this info on the net about shivers which is the first I knew of it after your post. * It is most often diagnosed in Clydesdales and other draught horses who are under three years of age. * The main indication of shivers is a shaking of the hindlegs, particularly when the horse is backed up. * The condition is likely to worsen with age and can sometimes reach the stage where the affected horse cannot move at all. Good luck with deciding :)

At 10:38:31 on 29.09.11, gallante wrote:
Hi there , my 17.2 T/B Welsh Cob was a shiverer .I broke my heart trying to work out his behavioural problems as he was so talented . He had a massive jump & I competed at county level in affiliated Working Hunters with considerable success.I wanted to event him but he had problems with drop fences bounce & combinations ,sometimes running out violently ,his dressage was unpredictable & I trained hard with different instructors changed bits , & finally ended up with a copper D ring snaffle & running martingale drop noseband , as he would speed up if I lost control in the early days ,losing his balance I& sometimes could take a fence by the roots !!I did find out though that he needed big fences to aim at & that really slowed him down & gave him something to respect & aim for. He was difficult to shoe behind often pulling away violently & almost falling over ,as a youngster I was so worried about him I had his back Xrayed at the Equine research Newmarket but they pronounced him fit & well & to wotk in straight lines to build up his muscle.When I backed him he would flinch away when I mounted so I always had a leg up & walked on immediatly.So we thought he had a cold back.Even with all his problems I showjumped to affiliated grade B & competed at dressage, riding club & afiliated .I evenually sold him on the advice of my trainer as he thought the horse would do better as a showjumper rather than keep trying to do dressage & cross country on him which was proving more dangerous for me ,I think he was fed up of scraping me up off the ground as I had several falls with him.When I sold him he was confirmed as a shiverer & I think he went on for a few more years as a showjumper before he was put down.Personally if I was at all suspicious of a horses having symptoms of a shiverer I would walk away very fast & look elsewhere.Sorry .It will worsen & will become a problem ,I think it is one of the most dangerous of ailments as the horse reacts in situations where he cannot control himself & this can be catastrophic .My horse also used to travel poorly with a partition in the trailer & fell over violently being unable to balance . I travelled with no partition & he was then fine . He could not travel well in a box either ,or back up & was difficult to shoe behind throughout his life.