If someone says he or she can think or talk about equine neurology without becoming dizzy, that shows only the person has not understood anything about it. This bastardization of a quote uttered by Murray Gell-Mann, an American Nobel Prize-winning physicist, at one point in his esteemed career in reference to quantum physics, succinctly and effectively describes the complexity of the art and science of equine neurology.

To take the dizzy factor out of understanding neurologic disease in horses, I.G. Joe Mayhew BVSc, FRCVS, PhD, Dipl. ACVIM, ECVN, head of Equine Massey and professor of equine studies at New Zealand's Massey University, has dedicated much of his career to helping practitioners and owners understand equine neurology. He undertook one of his latest educational efforts at the 11th Congress of the World Equine Veterinary Association, held in Brazil in 2009. He made several presentations on topics ranging from simple reviews of common neurologic diseases and updates on specific conditions to descriptions of emerging equine neurologic syndromes.

"Lameness, colic, airway disease, and skin disorders are much more common than neurologic problems," says Mayhew. "Spinal injury and wobblers (horses with wobbler syndrome) probably occur at a rate of 1% of young horses per year on breeding studs, and infectious diseases such as West Nile virus, protozoal myelitis, and Eastern encephalitis and toxicities such as ryegrass staggers, stringhalt, and grass sickness are major welfare and financial problems at certain locations and in particular seasons. Thus, neurologic diseases are of major concern and certainly of frightening occurrence worldwide