We have a Belgian weanling that was born in February , his problem is that he keeps picking up his back legs while standing , like there's something bothering him , we're going to wash his private area to see if this is the cause , but it's hard to believe that he could be that dirty already . Any ideas would be welcome . Thank you .

Butch, this sounds a lot like shivers. There is some controversy whether all shivers is related to EPSM, and I have to admit that young drafts with shivers have been very difficult to control even with diet change and exercise. But, that would still be my recommendation here. I believe that you already feed a high fat and fiber and low starch and sugar diet, so my best advice is to maximize fat, minimize starch and sugar, and give him as much turnout time to exercise as possible. That and consulting with your veterinarian to make sure we are not missing something else. Good luck and please let us know how things go.

Dr, Beth; These colts are turned out 24/7 , we're feeding them 6oz. of a hi fat low carb feed in the morning along with some supplements for joints ect .In the evening they're getting 4 oz. of the feed along with Fastrack . I am adding extra dry fat to each meal but only a half cup each time , so this would be equal to only an extra half cup of liquid fat per day . This and about 50 lbs of hi quality 2nd cutting hay between them per day. Their appearance is good , not to skinny ,but you can feel ribs easily , but not see them. WE noticed this behavior when we feed them their feed , we hold their bowls because they like to spill them if we don't and this is when this colt does this , we'll have to watch to see if he does it thru the day . Is there a test for shivers ? I could up the fat and see if that helps , how much more do you think , our feed is 20% fat without the extra . Thanks . Also if you're ever going to be on the east coast let me know .

Dr. Beth After reading your response ,I did some reading about shivers and I may not have explained the leg raising correctly , it is as if he were trying to get a fly off his belly , but not going that high and he sets it down right away , but he'll do one leg and then the other ,however he does not keep doing it. During the course of feeding ,he may raise his legs like this ,two or three times over a 5 to 10 minute period . Sorry if I misled you .

Butch, you may be right that this is something different, but if so I don't know what. I'd go with the possibility of early shivers and try increasing the added fat for this guy and see if that makes any difference. Try to calculate for at least 1.0 pound fat per 1000 lbs of horse per day. Your 20% fat feed will have 0.20 lb of fat per pound (16 ounces, by weight) of feed, every cup of oil has 0.5 lb of fat, and every cup of dry fat has 0.25 lb of fat.

Dr. Beth
I'll go ahead and increase the fat and I'll let you know how it works out . Thank you , for your prompt response .