hotellie
Well-Known Member
my mum think my horse came in with them the other day and said they were nothing to worry about and i was just wondering i anyone had any more info on them????
grass glands
- Thread starter hotellie
- Start date
magicchett
Well-Known Member
Having not looked this up I cant really give a great answer, but...
My aunts horse used to get(not sure about now) this in the spring/summer in a particular field. He would blow up like a hamster, the vet said it was just a reaction to the type of grass or what ever was in the field (ie pollen or something like that) and that he should be turned out somewhere different until it subsided with the seasons...
I think im refering to the same thing!?
My aunts horse used to get(not sure about now) this in the spring/summer in a particular field. He would blow up like a hamster, the vet said it was just a reaction to the type of grass or what ever was in the field (ie pollen or something like that) and that he should be turned out somewhere different until it subsided with the seasons...
I think im refering to the same thing!?
joannemarson
Member
My mare has just started with this. Somedays she comes in and shes fine, others she looks like a hamster. Apparently if you hang haynets up high it helps to drain it away. They usually go down within a few hours. When i first saw them i had a complete panic as its never happened before but this her first spring in a different yard. I had to get my friend down to look at her as i was convinced she had some life threatening disease!!!
Some people say its worse if its windy which is wierd but seems to be true with my mare.
Some people say its worse if its windy which is wierd but seems to be true with my mare.
cellie
Well-Known Member
Friends horses had it when they were short of grazing it was anticipation of tea time feed.They both blew up together so she panicked and thought they had strangles.Has your horse enough grazing .
Box_Of_Frogs
Well-Known Member
My old Highland x who was extremely fond of his tummy used to get this in the spring. I was told it was because after a long winter of hay/haylage, they attack the new grass and eat and eat and eat and the salivary glands under the jaw have to work overtime and so swell up temporarily. It always goes down so I wouldn't worry.
SpruceRI
Well-Known Member
It's their Parotid/salivary glands I believe that swell up. All my Chestnut mares get/got the swellings. Whereas my grey Shettie gelding doesn't really.
Was told it's due to the change in grass quality and nothing to worry about.
Was told it's due to the change in grass quality and nothing to worry about.
catembi
Well-Known Member
I asked my vet about it & he said that it's an allergy to a specific type of grass & isn't anything to worry about it. I got completely obsessed with it when Cat was ill (with something unrelated that I thought *could* be related) & o/h & I drove ourselves distracted electric fencing off various bits of field, but nothing we did made any difference.
The vet said it was harmless & that you would never be able to find exactly what was causing it ie there are prob 100's of v slightly different variations of grass/plants in the field that you couldn't even tell apart.
When I had a 5 * vetting on my new horse, a different vet from a teaching centre pointed out that the horse had 'grass mumps' & also didn't think that it was a prob at all & he didn't put anything on the vetting cert.
I still hate it when it happens tho cos it looks really gross & uncomfortable.
The vet said it was harmless & that you would never be able to find exactly what was causing it ie there are prob 100's of v slightly different variations of grass/plants in the field that you couldn't even tell apart.
When I had a 5 * vetting on my new horse, a different vet from a teaching centre pointed out that the horse had 'grass mumps' & also didn't think that it was a prob at all & he didn't put anything on the vetting cert.
I still hate it when it happens tho cos it looks really gross & uncomfortable.
jen1
Well-Known Member
My horse got this the first spring/summer I had him, I also panicked thinking it was strangles then a (much more knowledgeable than me) friend said it was grass mumps!! They went down fairly quickly and can't say I have noticed them again so maybe what ever it was that set them off isn't in the field any more??