In Practice 2: 17-24 (1980)
© 1980 British Veterinary Association
Causes of ataxia in horses
Katherine E. Whitwell
The clinical elucidation of the cause of incoordination in a horse is a difficult task. The degree of incoordination may be very slight and only noticeable in a horse asked to coordinate critically (eg, in dressage, jumping) or it may be gross and have progressed to quadriplegia. The diagnostic aids (blood samples, radiography, CSF analysis) will provide useful, if not diagnostic, information with certain types of lesion. Their usefulness in providing negative evidence is better appreciated when the long list of possible causes of ataxia is considerd. The most helpful examination of all however is the clinical and neurological assessment by the practitioner himself, to include an assessment of the laryngeal adductory reflex (the slap test) (Greet and others 1980). More sophisticated techniques (myelography, venography, electromyography) may be increasingly employed where the economic need for a more precise diagnosis arises.
