Dealing with choke

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igglepop

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The horse i share has had choke several time since i begane sharing her. The vet has shown us how to deal with it but has said nothing about preventing it. Any suggestions would be great.
 
Hi when i got trojan he was in poor condition and ate like it was going to be his last meal, he still is a very greedy pony 12 years later. He had choke 4 times in the space of 2-3 years. I became rather paranoid about adding carrots apples etc to any feed, is it too large too small etc etc. Hasn't had choke for years (touching wood now). Is your horse young, what are you feeding.

Frightening to see, but luckily enough never needed the vet.
 
She is a 10 year old ex race horse. She is fed on livery penils and carrots or apples (not my choice) she does not rush food or seem overly fussed by it. Should also say when i say several times it around once a month. I suggested adding chaff into foor as livery pencils look hard what would you think about this?
 
Are you meaning pelleted food? If so then ot should always be fed with a bulker such as chaff or sugarbeet.

If she is a greedy eater putting a couple of large rocks in her feed bin should slow her down.

My 5yr old got choke a few months ago - it's scarey but generally clears reasonably quickly - still don't know what he ate but I think one of the grazers gave him some hay over the fence. It took a couple of hours for him to come right with some help from the vet, a muscle relaxant and a mild sedative.

Have you had her teeth done as if they are sharp she may not be chewing properly. I would be insisting that she be having well damped feed with plenty of chaff in it to slow down her eating - even supplying the chaff if it is not the normal feed for the yard.
 
Is your horse young, what are you feeding.
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Bad teeth - combined with greed - the most common cause of choke. Small holed haynets and bricks in a dampened feed will sort out the greed aspect but teeth need to be checked and done BY SOMEONE COMPETENT!!! We've just done a mare who had suffered choke before foaling - she had HUGE hooks right at the back and she couldn't be heavily sedated enough in late pregnancy to reach them. It is difficult - sometimes impossible - to get hooks right at the back without sedation - unless the horse is an absolute angel!
 
Feed a mash like Fast Fibre or Calm and Condition [Allen and Page], it is silly to keep feeding the same feed that causes the problem. no horse needs apples and carrots which are sugar treats and create greedy gobbling issues!
 
igglepop said:
She is a 10 year old ex race horse. She is fed on livery penils and carrots or apples (not my choice) she does not rush food or seem overly fussed by it. Should also say when i say several times it around once a month. I suggested adding chaff into foor as livery pencils look hard what would you think about this?
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The pellets need to be soaked for at least an hour prior to feeding, so that they become soft and mushy - and I wouldn't be adding chaff, as that can acerbate the situation - unless you are adding something like Alfa A. The feed should then be fed generally 'sloppy'. I would certainly remove all items that aren't necessary, i.e apples and carrots. Once a month is an awful lot.
 
A horse getting choke so frequently is unacceptable. To continue with the same feeding regime, knowing that it causes a problem is irresponsible and arrogant. Not directing this at OP but it needs sorting.
 
My mare has poor teeth, is greedy and is prone to choking. However as long as i don't feed dry food she is fine. Whatever she eats resembles soup, whether its chaff, pellets or mix. I was recommended by a vet to make her food resmeble slurry, the wetter the better. She only choked once since, when i simply did not add enough water.
Fast fibre is great stuff and very quick to use.
 
Thanks for the advice i will insist on the food being dampened and pass on other things. I will also insist on dentist again and i think i will also argue that if dampen food does not work we will need a different vet as the one we have said it was one of those things and you could not prevent it. I feel terrible that i didn't ask people on here before.
 
Maybe worth having the cause investigated ie getting a scope. My TB chokes (couple of times a year) for no common cause, teeth regularly checked and fed sloppy food. However, he was scoped for ulcers and vet found two large polyps which she felt were likely the cause of the choke. Worth checking as that really is very frequent!
 
Thanks will suggest to owner, we have now got her on soaked hay and feed (horse not impressed with soaked feed bit can learn). I have passed on everything that has been said, i just wish i had seen it before, when i posted this it was the first time i had seen it, before i had only seen the mess in the stable. Feel terrible hopefullly this will solve it.
 
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