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  Discussion on The weirdest thing happened today
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Posted on Saturday, Aug 26, 2000 - 2:43 pm:

Hi All
Anyone ever hear of such a thing as this: Brought my foal (4/5/00) in around 12Noon, he had been out all night, had breakfast and went back out until lunchtime. He always eats all of his grain. After feeding I looked in on him and he was down, rolling and constricting (?) or shorting his neck...sort of like telescoping his neck in towards his body. (He ate half of his grain only.) He did this when he tried to swallow and he would let out a little cry. Gosh! I was so worried. First I thought choke but there was nothing coming out of his mouth or nose. He did this about every 20-60 seconds. You could see his jugular just bulging and pumping really fast! His neck muscle were really tense. Anyhow, as I was calling the vet clinic around the corner he vomited!!!! out of his MOUTH! it was slimy and grassy looking. He continued doing his neck compression so we took him immediately to the vet! Of course by the time we got there he was no longer exhibiting the odd behavior. After an exam the vet was unsure of the cause but was thinking possibly a stem had been lodged in his throat? His gut sounds were a bit elevated but otherwise normal. he tubed him and found no obstruction.
Any ideas? Thoughts?
~barbara

Posted on Saturday, Aug 26, 2000 - 5:45 pm:

Hi Barbara,
Just wondering, is the grain you feed on the dry side? If it is maybe try wetting it down a little, and maybe watch to see if he gobbles his feed. If he does, you may want to try putting some medium sized rocks in his feed tub to slow him down a little. Just a thought.....
Boy how scary that must have been for you, glad to hear it ended well but frustrating not knowing what caused it!!
Jackie

Posted on Monday, Aug 28, 2000 - 5:51 pm:

Hello Barbara, he choked on the grain, saliva began to pour onto it, when the esophagus became full he projected food and saliva out the mouth, then the obstruction cleared before the vet got there.
DrO

Posted on Monday, Aug 28, 2000 - 6:25 pm:

Oh, well that clears things up. I guess when I have seen other horses choke they stretched their necks out and were frothing out of the nose. And I have never seen a horse cry out like he did, with his chin to his chest...it was awful. But while I was on the phone w/vet my husband massaged his neck.
Thank you. I have been adding a water to his grain.
~barbara

Posted on Tuesday, Aug 29, 2000 - 3:34 pm:

Barbara - you could also try putting large rocks in his feed tub so that he can't get a large mouthful of grain at one time. I did this for my gelding when he was 6-10 months, as he would grab huge mouthfuls of grain. This slowed him down considerably, and he has kept that habit.

Posted on Tuesday, Aug 29, 2000 - 3:53 pm:

Hmmmm, putting large stones/rocks in the feed tub works if it is fixed or too heavy for the foal/horse to turn over. If like me you feed with a big black feed dish which gets put in then taken out and scrubbed, the horses soon work out that they can tip it over, kick the rocks away, and still guzzle the grain too fast.

I have found that the best thing to do is make the grain very wet - they may make a hell of a mess on themselves, the stable walls, the bedding, but that doesn't matter and they cannot eat too fast then and I have never had any type of choke [crossing fingers and touching wood].

Posted on Wednesday, Aug 30, 2000 - 9:55 am:

Thank you for your replies. I have been using the black tubs that you put on the ground and then remove. I have been adding quite a bit of water. I will keep my fingers crossed as well that this will keep him from choking again.
~barbara

Posted on Wednesday, Aug 30, 2000 - 11:44 am:

My older mare choked and it is a scary and painful thing to see. Make sure you are not feeding where there is competition , real or perceived , from other horses so they are calm , feed moistened feed, either mix your own or buy seniors type mix , always feed on the ground , no elevated buckets , my mare recovered after a very bad episode , we feed normally now but make sure she is not in a hurry as she is a pig on food to begin with .

Posted on Wednesday, Aug 30, 2000 - 3:19 pm:

I just experienced my first choking event with a 25 yr. Arab mare, I was towing her home and left some dry food in the trailer, it took about 40 minutes to get home and when I arrived she had thrown up everywhere and for the next few hours she had a constant, flowing, clear nasal discharge and labored breathing. It has now been 48 hours and she is still not herself. I don't know what to think.

Posted on Wednesday, Aug 30, 2000 - 8:52 pm:

The choke is a very traumatic thing for a horse , not like us , My mare had lesions in her lungs , strictures in her neck muscles , had a lot of fluid in the lungs , almost like a DrOwning , it takes a lot of care and time to recover. Best thing to do is have your vet tell you exactly what the damage is , this will help you care for her properly , know what to watch for , and help avoid it in the future , it really takes a toll on them!

Posted on Thursday, Aug 31, 2000 - 6:49 am:

Richard is right you need to have the vet out to check your horse. Choking while on a trailer is more serious than choking in a stall: the horses head is frequently tied up making it more difficult to breath around the choke and aspiration pneumonia more likely. In a stall horses can put there heads down to help clear the pharynx. It is a good reason not to trailer with feed in front of a horse.
DrO

Posted on Thursday, Aug 31, 2000 - 4:05 pm:

After reading your replies this morning I called the vet, he came out and sure enough it was aspiration pneumonia. She is on Penicillin and Gentocin. He had me listen to her breath sounds and heart on both sides and you could tell a difference. Thanks for getting me on the right track and I will never leave feed in the trailer again. I guess this is a sticky subject but now I am wondering if she would have been better off if she was not tied in the trailer?
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