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  Discussion on Heart Murmur in a five-year-old Standardbred
Author Message
Member:
Jchadola

Posted on Sunday, Jul 9, 2006 - 10:30 pm:

I am looking for a young horse to purchase with a calm disposition. I went to look at a very sweet horse today. - a 5-year-old standardbred gelding. He was only gelded in April this year. The owner said he was a cryptorchid but had always been very calm and she had no problems with him - she finally got the funds to have him gelded this year.

She told me when she had the pre-purchase exam done on him before she purchased him when he was 2 years of age, the vet said that he had a heart murmur but it was one that went away with exercise and was not something to worry about. She was told this is common in standardbreds.

What I am wondering about is whether heart murmurs are common in standardbreds and if what the owner was told makes sense - that the murmur goes away with exercise and is not something to worry about.

Any comments appreciated as he is a very nice young horse.
Member:
Mrose

Posted on Sunday, Jul 9, 2006 - 11:39 pm:

I don't know about the heart murmer in Standardbreds, but if you are looking for a calm horse to ride (I read your other post where you mentioned having had a hip replacement) I would be concerned about his being cryptorchid, unless both testicles were removed inspite of their position. Dr. O. and others with more knowledge about cryptorchids may offer other advice, but it is my understanding that a cryptorchid can be just like a stallion. He may be very sweet, etc., but he may not be all that calm when ridden next to a mare in season?
Member:
Jchadola

Posted on Monday, Jul 10, 2006 - 12:05 am:

I'mfinding out if both testicles were removed. I think they were.

About the heart murmur issue, the owner just emailed me and the report from the pre-purchase exam done when she got him when he was 2 said:

"systolic heart murmur. After exercise, at increased heart rate, murmur not detected"

So is this a health problem that I should worry about? Will it shorten his life or limit what activities he can do?

I don't want to buy heartbreak.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Monday, Jul 10, 2006 - 8:15 am:

Heart murmurs in horses can be with in the range of normal physiologically Janice and not indicative of disease. Usually the grade (loudness), character, and whether it disappears with exercise are used to make the decision. For more on diagnosing and dealing with cryptorchids see, Care for Horses » Management & Procedures » Castration in Horses.
DrO
Member:
Green007

Posted on Monday, Jul 10, 2006 - 9:16 am:

I have owned a cryptorchid and while he was the best horse I ever had, he was very much a handful when a mare was in heat. I had some interesting moments at horse shows and on the hunt field that were quite demoralizing, if not dangerous. These included rearing, striking out with front legs, and attacking other horses who he felt got too close to "his" mare. This only happened when a mare was in heat, and absolutely anyone could ride him if no mares were about.

However, do be careful.
Member:
Jchadola

Posted on Tuesday, Jul 11, 2006 - 12:46 am:

Both testicles were removed when he was gelded. That is why the girl who owns him had to wait to have him gelded because the surgery was more involved and cost more. So that isn't a concern anymore.
Member:
Jchadola

Posted on Wednesday, Jul 12, 2006 - 1:54 am:

I don't know if I am having false hope about this standarbred I like so much but I found this interesting article on the internet:

Abstract
Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association
May 1, 2000, Vol. 216, No. 9, Pages 1441-1445
doi: 10.2460/javma.2000.216.1441

Prevalence and clinical importance of heart murmurs in racehorses

Nikolaus G. Kriz, Dr Med Vet, MVetClinStudDavid R. Hodgson, BVSc, PhD, DACVIMReuben J. Rose, DVSc, PhD
Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, University of Sydney, New South Wales 2006, Australia. (Kriz, Hodgson, Rose); Present address is Department of Veterinary Clinical Studies, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Glasgow, Bearsden Road, G61 1QH, Glasgow, UK. (Kriz)
Objective—To determine the prevalence of various types of heart murmurs in Thoroughbred racehorses and assess their association with performance by echocardiography and review of the horses' race records for the preceding 2 years.

Design—Clinical and retrospective study.

Animals—846 Thoroughbred racehorses.

Procedure—Cardiac auscultations were performed by 3 individuals; for 30 horses, Doppler echocardiographic examinations were also performed. Statistical analyses of race records for 753 horses were performed to assess association of heart murmurs with performance.

Results—Heart murmurs were detected by cardiac auscultation in 686 of 846 (81.1%) horses. Systolic murmurs over the heart base were most common; 365 (43.1%) horses had systolic murmurs that were loudest over the pulmonary valve area, and 232 (27.4%) horses had systolic murmurs that were loudest over the aortic valve area. Systolic murmurs over the tricuspid valve area were detected in 241 (28.5%) horses, whereas systolic murmurs over the mitral valve area were detected in only 32 (3.8%) horses. Diastolic murmurs were much less common than systolic murmurs. Review of race records did not reveal a significant association between murmurs and performance.

Conclusion and Clinical Relevance—Results suggest that heart murmurs are a common finding in racehorses; most of these heart murmurs do not appear to be clinically important. (J Am Vet Assoc 2000;216:1441–1445)
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Wednesday, Jul 12, 2006 - 11:59 am:

No false hope this is consistent with my earlier post.
DrO
Member:
Jchadola

Posted on Monday, Aug 7, 2006 - 4:37 pm:

My vet came out last Friday to check out "Winger". She said the murmur was a "1" when he was at rest and she couldn't hear it after he exercised. She said it was a non-issue. I was so excited, I forgot to ask her exactly what it was.

Would it be what is called I think a functional murmur that is not the result of any defect in the heart?
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Tuesday, Aug 8, 2006 - 9:47 am:

While auscultation alone does not diagnose the cause of the murmur, such functional murmurs are very common in horses and this would be in the range of normal for horses.
DrO
Member:
Jchadola

Posted on Wednesday, Aug 9, 2006 - 1:57 am:

Thanks Dr. O. I was very pleased when my vet said his murmur was a non-issue as he is such a nice horse with a very laid-back disposition.
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