# My horse falls over while he is asleep



## mynameisntlola (Jan 8, 2007)

Hmm, I haven't got any experience with this but buckling at the knees is a symptom of Narcolepsy. Does he seem to fall asleep at times that aren't normal, and then this happens? 



> If a horses collapses at rest, it is often because there is a problem within the nervous system. If the brain is not sending the right messages, the body can't respond and will tend to topple over.
> 
> Narcolepsy is one such syndrome. This is a rare, incurable sleep disorder of the central nervous system characterised by uncontrolled episodes of loss of muscle tone (cataplexy) and sleep.
> 
> ...


http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/horsecare/1370/103928.html

It's possible ta be that but it might be from lack o' REM sleep too. Does he lay down and sleep at all? Because horses can doze while standing but must lay down ta get REM sleep. If he's lackin this then he could be startin ta go inta REM and therefore falling. I am no expert in this area though.

Good luck.


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## barnrat (Jan 1, 2007)

We had a horse at our barn for a month that had that, the person was leasing him and then found out about this diesease that he had. He would fall over while they were riding him and he could not walk straight, it was really kind of freaky....


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## child in time (Dec 4, 2006)

maybe he is afraid to lay down and sleep. Did you seen him layin? Maybe you should put something on his knees for not injuring. Sorry for my english.


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## Shannon (Jan 14, 2007)

Thankyou for your help so soon. He has always been really with it to lead and ride, but whilst platting him for a show he would fall down on us. 
Shannon


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## kristy (Dec 8, 2006)

It really does sound like narcolepsy. Have you discussed this possibility with your vet? It bothers me no one has figured out a reason for this behavior (vet wise). Poor thing.


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## savepitbulls (Jan 2, 2007)

My former instructor had a horse with this problem. He was fine to ride, but when he was sleeping he'd collapse. Scared the hell outta everyone until they had him checked by the vet. Turns out he didn't have the ability to "lock" his knees like most horses do. We just had to make sure he was always sleeping in a safe place where he couldn't fall on something and get hurt. The vet said that its actually pretty common - and mostly in gray horses. Not sure how true the last part is but the rest makes sense to me.


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## barnrat (Jan 1, 2007)

huh, I find that really interesting...


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## kristy (Dec 8, 2006)

savepitbulls said:


> My former instructor had a horse with this problem. He was fine to ride, but when he was sleeping he'd collapse. Scared the hell outta everyone until they had him checked by the vet. Turns out he didn't have the ability to "lock" his knees like most horses do. We just had to make sure he was always sleeping in a safe place where he couldn't fall on something and get hurt. The vet said that its actually pretty common - and mostly in gray horses. Not sure how true the last part is but the rest makes sense to me.


I thought about this, too. I don't think that the inability to lock knees would make her fall while not sleeping, which I believe is what the OP said. I think the horse seized as well? Scary scary thing.


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## Robyn-Niagara (Mar 7, 2007)

It could be Narcolepsy, I've read about lots of stories, and this is when a horse with no warning can just fall over out of the blue, does he trip a lot? or fall anywhere else? or just in his stable?


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## TudorRose (Feb 20, 2007)

The horse may also suffer from epilepsy. I have a friend with a horse who has epilepsy. The local vet school told her her would be unridable etc etc however that was years ago and he trail rides and has a very happy life. he was older when this started too. He is not on a bromide medication daily but it works and I don't think he's seized in years. Before the medication it was happening fairly frequently. There were a series of blood tests they did to diagnose this condition. I can try to find out more from her about what tests they did if it would be helpful.


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