Chewing hay & spitting it out?

[Sandylou]

This winter my boy has taken to chewing his hay and spitting it out. It's not every mouthful but probably about a quarter of his net.
He had his teeth done by an equine dentist last May. I'm waiting for a call back from the ED later but until I hear from her does anyone have any other ideas?
Thanks

 

[ossy]

Its proberly Quidding, if you google that it will come up with a few good websites with info on it. My horse does this all the time.
90% of the time its usually a sign of dental pain of some sort, so a check from the ED will be recommened it might just be some sharp edges have developed causing it.

My horse has always done it since she was foal, she's had wolf teeth removed and has her teeth done every 6 months as a precausionary as people seen to doubt me when I say its just a habit she's always had. Its usually nothing too serious.

 

[brighteyes]

Teeth. I had a mare do this and she had bilateral slab fractures of her two back upper molars. EDT regularly visits. Ours was shocked to find what they did, mare was spitting out loads and got worse.

 

[TGM]

Almost certainly a teeth problem, so dentist required as soon as possible. If he is starting to lose weight because of this, then as a temporary solution you could replace some of his hay with some form of hay replacer - grass chaff, soaked grass nuts etc.

 

[Fantasy_World]

I would agree with the teeth. Any horse that is quidding with hay/haylage or any kind of feed is likely to have a problem with their teeth. My mare ended up having her teeth done last year which was less that twelve months than the previous year. a 9 month gap in total. Depending on the horse's age, condition of teeth and quality of fodder then no horse is ever going to go a set period in between dental check ups, they will vary.

 

[Sandylou]

Thanks everyone
Teeth are at the top of my list so will have the ED as soon as she can fit me in!

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

teeth is one thing, there are other, some mystery ones when you can find the reason.


1. I would make sure his teeth have been done by a dentist rather than vet.
2 could have abscess in his mouth also
3 ulcers
4 unknown reason

If a horse starts quidding, a vet visit should be scheduled immediately. The vet may need to float the horse's teeth, which means that the vet will use a power tool, rasp, or file to file down the sharp areas of the teeth and make them even again. This should ease the discomfort of the horse, resolving the quidding behavior. The vet can also check for signs of an infection in the teeth, gums, or jaw which might explain the quidding.

Horses who have experienced chronic neglect may retain quidding as a lifelong habit, because they are so accustomed to dental pain. Even with caring dental treatment, formerly neglected horses have difficulty abandoning the behavior. Quidding may also be accompanied with nervous habits like licking or chewing at the stall, sometimes indicating that the horse is frustrated. In these instances, you may need to feed your horse a special diet to ensure that he or she gets enough nutrition; a veterinarian can help with this.

In cases where quidding is a learned behavior, rather than a response to a medical problem, sometimes a horse will recover with time. An equine psychologist or behavioral consultant may be able to help with this, but it is still important to ensure that the horse gets supportive nutrition while he or she is treated for quidding.

 

[TGM]

Leviathan, t is usually the done thing to post a link to credit the author if you are copy and pasting someone else's work:

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-quidding.htm

 

[Sandylou]

Blimey....googling can be scarey eh?!
As far as I know my boy hasn't suffered neglect. He did come over from Ireland as a 4yo so I couldn't say for sure.
He is well in himself and not losing any condition so I think ED is my first port of call. If she can't find anything then I will call my vet.
Thanks for doing the research for me

 

[Slinkyunicorn]

Leviathan, t is usually the done thing to post a link to credit the author if you are copy and pasting someone else's work:

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-quidding.htm

PMSL

 

[fidleyspromise]

I've had EDT out to my horse.
She's had the sharp edges filed down etc, and with her, if she's standing by herself eating hay = no quidding.
When she's munching beside another horse = she quids.

Get them checked out but it may simply be a habbit for him now.

 

[C&C]

Last summer my horse started doing this one eve, but it was every mouthful! I phoned vet and it turned out the roof of his mouth was extremely swollen....to this day we (or the vet) dont know what caused it but i am guessing it was a sting in the mouth as the bee's were very dopey at one point.

He was given an anti inflammatory and i had to take his hay away for a few hours (he had been sedated as well). I returned at mid night and he was right as rain and when i gave him his haynet he ate it properly. The roof of his mouth took a good 3 days to return to normal.

 

[PonyIAmNotFood]

How old is horse? I know one who is old and can't chew hay properly anymore, he does this so has a hay replacement.

 

[Marydoll]

This is almost always a dental or oral problem.
What age is your horse ? it could be, loose teeth if younger (baby) or older, more likely teeth need floated to even out the sharp edges, mouth may be ulcerated if this needs done.
The only other time ive seen this was in my aged mare who'd had a stroke and she could chew and form a bolus with the hay, but didnt then know what to do with it , she'd forgotten you also need to swallow it, and it would just fall out of her mouth, she needed short forage and wet sugar beet until she started to recover, she can now get wired in and eats her hay no problem now, she also had a loose tooth that needed to come out, it was removed with no problem.
I always use my vet who has a real interest in equine dentistry and is always on courses for it, then if the horse needs sedated for any reason, hes already there.
I also trust him in my horses mouth, if i couldnt use him id get an EDT

 

[Sandylou]

Thanks for the replies everyone.
For those that asked - my horse is 6.

 

[Sandylou]

Oh also, forgot to add...
I watched him eating his hay for a while tonight and it seems like he crams loads in at a time and then spits it out but as before it's not every mouthful. He ate his chaff and carrots with no problems at all.

 

[fatpiggy]

My horse was quidding more than she was swallowing so I'd already changed her to a soaked hi-fibre and chop diet with just a small haynet for entertainment value. Then her back tooth fell out (she has lost about 5 I think now) and whoopee, she is not quidding at all now!!

 

[joeanne]

If a horse starts quidding, a vet visit should be scheduled immediately. The vet may need to float the horse's teeth, which means that the vet will use a power tool, rasp, or file to file down the sharp areas of the teeth and make them even again. This should ease the discomfort of the horse, resolving the quidding behavior.

Nope.....dentist every time.
A dentist spends a blooming long time studying the mouth/teeth/etc in order to qualify.....a vet spends about 3 weeks out of the entire qualifying period.

 

[Kelly11]

Hi my horse is doing this now he’s all of a sudden got swollen glands I got the vet out she said it could be an allergic reaction have him a steroid injection a day later they was swollen again he had a week worth of antibiotics he’s now spitting out his hay and the grass he chews it then opens his mouth and spits it all out I’m unsure what’s going on but I now have the vet back out again today

 

[Pinkvboots]

Zombie thread 8 years old lol!

 

[Shilasdair]

Hi my horse is doing this now he’s all of a sudden got swollen glands I got the vet out she said it could be an allergic reaction have him a steroid injection a day later they was swollen again he had a week worth of antibiotics he’s now spitting out his hay and the grass he chews it then opens his mouth and spits it all out I’m unsure what’s going on but I now have the vet back out again today

Dead thread walking! But - I'm going to answer you anyway.

Could be a lot of things
1. Is the hay and grass ok or is there something wrong with it?
2. Allergy as the vet suggests which might take time to reduce, even with steroids.
3. Could be a disease for example strangles which is a bacterial infection (and characterised by swollen glands, but also usually with discharge from the nostrils and other signs of sickness). Vet would probably have flagged this.
4. My best guess - that your horse has sharp teeth which are hurting him and making it hard to chew fibre like hay and grass. Book yourself a qualified equine dentist as soon as you can to get him checked out and treated.

 

[brighteyes]

Mine did this - had a slab fracture on a molar.

 

[Gloi]

Find a vet who is a dental specialist. They can sedate and investigate the issue filly and do specialist work such as X rays and filling diastemas.