Shivers affecting laying down?

[whatsnottaken]

Mister has has moderate shivers as long as I have had him. It has really only been an issue for my farrier, and he is used to working with him with no problems.

Today, I gave him a shower after working and turned him out. I stayed out, to see if he would have a nice roll in the sun. He did, but he seemed to have a tough time actually laying down. He started on his right side, got about two-thirds of the way down and was kind of shaky, then he just plopped the last bit to the ground. He rolled vigorously, got up and shook and turned to roll on the other side (he is high-withered and seldom rolls completely over).

He "fluffed" his spot, and tried to lay on his left side. He got half way down, started shaking pretty markedly and got stuck. He stayed that way, legs folded halfway, for probably 15 seconds then aborted his attempt. He just wandered off like nothing happened, but it was pretty distressing to watch. Has anyone with shivers experience run into this before?

[elizabeth_h]

I found this web site helpful when I was looking into shivers:
www.cvm.umn.edu/umec/lab/shivers/home.html
It does mention hesitancy to lie down as a symptom in some horses.

I don't know if difficulty laying down is related to shivers or not, but I seem to recall that it can also be a sign of stifle weakness or hock pain.

Is he on the shivers diet? That might help.

[whatsnottaken]

He's been on low carb/high fat (TS Low Starch + Legends Omega and added oil) for years, but I don't see him lay down often so it was a bit of a surprise.

[RacetrackRejects]

Yes. Basco and Mister sound like they have the same level of shivers. Basco only has issues with farrier as well and sometimes seems to get stuck on his way down to roll. His legs will shake and it's like he can't go down anymore. I have noticed now that he he tends to turn in circles more as he's laying down and this seems to help him, less leg shaking and less getting stuck.

[whatsnottaken]

He does turn a lot of circles, and paws a lot to soften his spot. I'm putting him back on Myo-Guard (Vit E, Selenium and Magnesium) after trying regular E and Se crumbles. I did notice him shiver less while he was on the Myo-Guard ($$$ hence trying something cheaper).

[RacetrackRejects]

I have Basco on straight vit E. It made a huge difference in the muscling in his hind end and with holding his hind leg up for trimming.

Basco sort of does a corkscrew when he rolls. He turns all the way down until he is actually on the ground.

[TeachU2Ride]

The Sam-o-saurus has Shivers, and bad hocks, and he frequently does as you describe on his way to rolling. Shivers is a progressive neuro problem, so seeing things get worse with time is par for the course.