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  Discussion on Right sided roarer
Author Message
Member:
Mkuchta

Posted on Wednesday, Mar 17, 2004 - 10:44 pm:

I have recently adopted a 4 yr old trotter gelding that never made it to the track. He is sound, great looking, smart and well mannered. Unfortunately the right flap over his windpipe opens only 20%. I thought this would be OK since all I do is trail riding and low level dressage but now I'm not so sure. After even 10 minutes of walking his breathing is noisy. It's not really loud roaring and I think it is just air passing by the flap. I have only heard him roar loudly once when he got nervous. It seems that this loud breathing isn't a problem, but I'm not sure how much work he can handle. He has been ridden maybe 15 times and he is not all that fit yet.
1. How can I judge when to stop working him? I want to increase his fitness over time but I don't want to push too far.
2. Am I right in thinking that it's still OK to work him when he is breathing loudly but not roaring?
3. I'm not sure how to determine when he is becoming exercise intolerent. If I use the rate of his breathing, what's too much?
This horse is on trial until June and my instructor feels I should get him as fit as possible before making a decision.

Thanks!
Maureen
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Thursday, Mar 18, 2004 - 7:04 am:

Hello Maureen,
You should be aware that some cases of LH get progressively worse, see the article for more on this. Taking your questions one at a time:
1) You should stop if he seems to be having trouble catching his breath.
2) Yes.
3) The rate is not a good indicator all horses breath fast when heavily exercised.

You will want to monitor the amount of effort the horse is making to breath and how long it takes for him to recover following exercise to a normal rate and/or effort. The appearance of increased effort is rather hard to describe but is seen as a "abdominal pull (inhalation) or press (expiration)". By watching normal horses, you can get a feeeling for normal effort and recovery times and compare your horse to this.
DrO
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