Anyone here have informed on "broken winded " horses??

Ive got one it doesnt affect him at all. And a friend had one, best hunter ever, hunt all day but sounded like a steam train! They aren't really 'broken' winded, its just the turbulance of air round the vocal cords makes the noise. It might affect them in that they cant get enough oxygen into their lungs at a 35mph gallop racing, but wont affect leisure riding.
 
We've rehomed lots of broken winded horses from the racing yards i work on. They all go on to successfully do other stuff without being affected in any way.
 
Who determined it to be broken winded ?

There are many problems that inhibit breathing, high blower, collapsed larynx, copd etc. What actually is wrong with it.
 
It's the old fashioned name for RAO (recurrent airways obstruction), which used to be referred to as COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease). Put simply, it's an allergy to the dust and spores found in the stabled environment, causing a cough, nasal discharge and reduced exercise tolerance. It can be fairly mild, but can also be pretty serious, with the horse unable to tolerate much work. There's tons of info online about prevention and treatment.
 
People are confusing broken winded with roarers. Roarers make a noise that might or might not affect the performance. Broken winded horses have a heave line along the bottom of the belly where you can see they are using their belly muscles to breathe. They often have an obvious 'double' intake of breath in two stages. This is the 'broken' bit of the expression. It can be a result of a bad virus or dust allergy. They are very limited, athletically, if they are using their stomach muscles to breath when at a standstill.
 
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If it's COPD, we've got one, had him since he was 8, he's now 21, he evented and hunted in the early years, now he's just a hack, not because of the COPD but because he's a nut job. His COPD has never gotten worse even though the vets said it would, we manage him quite easily, dusty bedding gets dampened and he never gets dry hay. When he's on his toes he has a line down his belly that looks like it's cut out of stone, occasionally he has a snotty nose and that's about it. When we got him the vets said the more exercise that clears his lungs (eg good gallops) the better, which suits him down to the ground.

If it's a roarer I've got one of those too, he had a tie back but still made a noise on a hard days hunting. Hunted like a champ and never had a problem, retired now due to KS and I think his wind sounds a bit worse if he has a gallop round the field, could just be me being paranoid though.
 
ycbm said:
...They often have an obvious 'double' intake of breath in two stages...
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This just reminded me of ours in his younger days, if you heard this it meant he was going warp speed and you could say good bye to any semblance of brakes.!
 
A roarer and a horse with COPD are two very different things which require very different management. We had a showjumper that roared and it never affected his performance at all, just made a lot of noise! COPD is dust allergies and can take quite a lot of looking after, and in most horses I know has reduced the amount/quality of work they can do quite dramatically
 
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