Every morning, Aileen Daly goes to Windsong’s stall and asks him, “How was your night, Puff?” She’s not just being polite; the way “Puff” spent his night likely has a huge impact on his day.

Puff, a 17-year-old Hanoverian (Weltmeyer—Lauries Crusader), suffers from night terrors and sleep deprivation. It means he collapses in his stall usually at least once a night, and he has more dramatic, seizure-type episodes about every three weeks. He’s also competed through Grand Prix and finished sixth in the adult amateur Intermediaire I division at the U.S. Dressage Finals in Lexington, Ky., Nov. 8.

“I was really, really proud of him. I came out of the ring, and I was just so emotional because he was so good. It was the biggest venue I’ve ever shown in,” said Daly, who purchased Puff from Heather Beachem, who competed the gelding in Brentina Cup classes, last September.

“He’s a pretty special horse to do what he does on very little sleep,” Daly added. “You never know from day to day where his brain’s going to be. He falls every night. He falls like someone shot him; he just crumples to the ground.” 

Stumbling Like A Drunk Person

About four months after Daly bought Puff, she was riding another horse when people in the barn started yelling for her to come over. Puff was down in his stall, “running” in place, and the assumption was he’d had a seizure. Daly hauled the horse from Aiken, S.C., to Rood & Riddle in Lexington, Ky., for a diagnosis.

“They kept him for close to three weeks and never saw any behaviors, but they would say things like, ‘You know, we heard a noise and walked down there, and his blanket would be crooked,’ but it was nothing that really stood out. But then he did something there, and we saw it,” said Daly.

Daly found a California veterinarian, Dr. Joe Bertone, DVM, MS, DACVIM, who specializes in horses with sleep problems, and Bertone diagnosed Puff with sleep deprivation and night terrors. He also helped Daly and her groom, Cortney Severance, develop ways to manage the horse’s condition.

When he’s at his home farm, Puff lives next to an alpha mare, so he feels like he can relax, and the two are turned out next to each other as well. He is fed at specific intervals during the night by an automatic feeder to keep his blood sugar up, and he also has cameras in his 14’ by 14’ stall. Daly tries to limit the number of shows she does away from home, so he can stay in his own stall.

“Usually between midnight and 3 a.m., you can see him on the cameras, he’ll start stumbling around his stall like a drunk person,” said Severance. “He gets in his rest position, which is usually him with his butt up against the wall, and then he falls. He either falls back, or he just crumples to the ground.”

While the minor episodes of falling usually don’t require special treatment afterwards, except for checking the gelding for any scrapes, cuts or soreness, the “night terrors” require a bit more care.

“Originally we were like, ‘What do we do?’ ” said Severance. “He’s weaving afterwards, and he’s really fearful, and we didn’t know how to help him. Now we know to get him out of his stall and get him walking. At that point, he starts to relax.”

“Cortney can tell if he’s had an episode just by the energy he’s throwing off,” added Daly. “He’ll be weaving and spinning and just very active—like he’s really upset.”

Though many people haven’t heard of Puff’s conditions, Daly said she’s met several others who had horses with similar issues. Brentone said the problems are more common with older upper-level dressage horses.

“It’s the most bizarre thing,” said Daly. “It might be that they’re type-A horses, or maybe dressage people see their horses more often if they’re inside.”

The sleep problems aren’t the only physical issues Puff’s faced in his life; he also had colic surgery in 2006 and has numerous hernias as a result of complications. But despite his issues, Puff is still the ideal horse for Daly. Next season, she’s aiming him for Grand Prix with the help of trainer Darren Taplin.

“Puff is such a perfect match for me,” said Daly. “Darren understands him, and he understand me. When I started working with Darren in March, I was at the point where I was thinking about giving the horse away because I wasn’t sure I’d get to the point where I could ride him safely and comfortably. It’s been a big year for us.”