Drooling horse

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Gorgeous George

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Hi all, just wondering if anyone else's horse has come in from the field drooling lots of saliva? This happened to George a few weeks ago & it was like I had a giant St. Bernard dog on my hands! He was totally normal in himself, eating well, normal temp, rests etc. I spoke to the vets & they thought it was something he'd eaten causing an allergic reaction & to give him piriton for a few days. We also moved him into a different field & it stopped.

The fields are really one big field that is split into 3 & they rotate every week & it is just this one field that causes a problem & the other horses in the field aren't really affected, it is all a bit mysterious, the only thing that has changed is the hawthorn hedge on that field has been cut recently & there are rose hips on the ground & I wondered if they were the cause?

George seems completely fine & unconcerned by it & my vet isn't concerned but it would be nice to know the cause or if anyone else has experienced a similar problem?

Thanks.
 
My friends pony had a bit of green dribble one day when I was holding him for the farrier. I told her and we kept an eye on it and then he didn't want to eat a couple of days later. Vet called (typically on a Sunday) and it turned out he had a small stick wedged in his upper jaw, straight across his upper palate. Poor chap.
 
Grass slobbers? This can be caused by a large quantity of clover in the grazing or hay. Red clover contains a very small dose of cyanide and I believe that this can cause slobbers but I'm not certain. I think its red clover rather than white but I may be wrong. The only reason I know about clover is because it can also cause ataxia like symptoms as i researched it in depth when my horse was diagnosed with EHV and I thought he had wobblers but was looking for other causes of ataxia.

I would check the clover content and see if it is because of this. Here is a link to grass slobbers: which explains why your horse may be drooling : http://horses.about.com/od/basiccare/p/Slobbers-Or-Slaframine-Poisoning-In-Horses.htm
 
a few months ago i bought my mare in and she was drooling and didn't seem able to eat...she wouldn't even eat grass and I couldn't get her mouth open to look. vet came , had to sedate her and found a large lump under her tongue which he thought was a bee or wasp sting. gave her pain relief and she was almost back to normal the next day. my vet said that if they are drooling its usually to do with the tongue, and he was right...perhaps your boy is eating the sharp bits of the hawthorn and is making his tongue sore....
 
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