Fainting Stallion

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A friend of mine has a young Dutch stallion that literally faints when covering naturally or on the dummy. I remember seeing a post where someone linked to a You Tube video of this occuring thinking it was funny and some of the feedback went into detail of a condition which can prove fatal - I think it had something to do with compressing the aorta. Does anyone have any info on this condition? Obviously my friend would rather geld her stallion than have him drop dead especially if it's a hereditary problem. (Also posted in Breeding)
 
if im honest iv not heard of this condition, but it would seem a sensibile explanation.... although a rather extreme one....
he might also be...... nastalgic (I think thats the right word) where a trigger sends the animal to sleep. As sex is a stressor maybe the sudden increase in cortisol is his trigger? that would require blood tests and monitoring! not sure if that is hereditary or not...
 
It's quite dramatic when it happens - he literally faints and falls on the floor and is sparko for about 5 secs then he just leaps up. Vet doesn't seem to know what's causing it - maybe he's just overwhelmed!
 
Yes I have heard of this before. I had a very interesting conversation with my vet recently about my previous horse I owned who dropped down dead at the age of 12 from a heart attack. He had previously been prescribed depa provera (a hormone type of drug) to try to curb any sexual appetite that he was supposed to have as he was not allowed to go out with the other horses as they were being attacked by a rougue rig gelding and the YO and all the liveries thought it was him. His rig blood test came back negative but it was either the injections or box rest for ever so I had little choice. It was a difficult decision made worse by the fact that I had to sign a disclaimer as the product was not licensed for use in horses, although it had been around for years and years for humans. It transpired eventually that it was not him who was guilty, but he had already had about five injections by then. When he died of the heartattack a year later I never suspected the drug link but many years later put two and two together and thought maybe. And when I asked the vet recently he said the drug and the heartattack bore no relation to each other but asked if he had been gelded late which as it turned out he had (seven), as he was used for breeding. He said that many horses gelded late have a 'fainting' type episode and many active stallions when they mate with a mare have a fainting attack which attributed to heart problems and not enough blood pressure or something. It is not uncommon for horses to die of heart attack when mating. It was very interesting, in particular for me as I had always felt guilty wondering if it was the drug.
 
I had an ex-racer who had a condition which was triggered by random, small things. The vet never got to the bottom of it and she had to be retired from any ridden activities, but he did say it wasn't as uncommon as you might think. Narcolepsy is where they suddenly drop off to sleep and collapse, but it tends not to be as sudden as vaso-vagal syncope - which is the posh word for fainting.
I'd say if you know the trigger, then definitely avoid it as it can be dangerous for the horse and any handlers or other horses.
 
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