Often characterized by quivering of the hind limbs during backwards movement, shivers is the name of a progressive neuromuscular condition that is hard to diagnosis and has no treatment.

How common is this chronic condition that alarmingly has no known cause, treatment, or cure? “I see about two cases per year in my lameness practice, which equates to about 86 during my lifetime as a veterinarian,” says Langley, BC-based veterinarian Dr. Nick Kleider, whose specialty is equine sports medicine and rehabilitation. Dr. Kleider was certified by the International Society of Equine Locomotor Pathology in 2012 – the first Canadian to receive the ISELP certification.

Dr. Nick Kleider, who was short listed to the 1974 Canadian Eventing Team and has trained and competed horses up to the advanced level.

Although the cause is unknown, Kleider explains that researchers suspect a genetic component may play a factor, as it occurs predominantly in draft horses and warmbloods, although occasionally affecting other breeds like Thoroughbreds and Quarter horses. “It appears to be the result of a defect in the deep cerebellar nuclei of the brain where selective purkinje cells undergo axonal degeneration,” he explains. “The inhibitors to the muscles are not functioning – no ‘off switch’ so to speak.”

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