Has anyone else got a horse that frequently chokes????

Lexie81

Lexie81

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Hi all, my mare who is a 9 yr old WB x ID choked on her haylege today for the second time in a week. She also choked back in May, also on her haylege. When she choked in may it was quite dramatic with her retching, throwing herself on the floor and looking awful, i called the vet who told me they would come out if she didnt clear it herself in half an hour,she did clear it and after following vets advice on witholding hard feed and haylege for 48 hours, she recovered fine and that was the end of it.
She then choked on her net of haylege last weekend. At present she is still out 24/7 with hard feed in the evening and only really havign haylege when she come in, in a net while she is being groomed etc...i used the gullet rubbing techinques the vet explained before and within minutes she had cleared it herself. Today though was much worse. i tied her up with a haynet and literally within 3 mins she was choking. retching, laying down, heaving, gunge running from her nostrils and glassy eyed totally quiet and out of caracter, very scary. Emergency vet was called but was dealing with a colic case so was unable to come straight away, she suggested a hosepipe in the mouth but she was having none of that!
eventually after much panic and stress on my part she suddenly cleared it after about an hour and wanted to graze, by this point vet was only 10 mins away so she came and gave her a shot of bute and some for her feed over the next few days, listened to her heart and gut and observed her grazing for a while.

can anyone help me as to some tips to prevent this in future? she has never choked on her hard feed, only haylege. i used a haylege net but vet said it may be worth trying the haylege on the floor ( when she comes in at night she always has it on the floor it is just of she is tied on the yard she has a net) as she gets really cross with the net and fights it trying to get the haylege out......she is booked for her routine teeth and jabs next monday anyway but on vets suggestion today i am going to call them tomorrow and ask them to move it forward to one day this week and have her sedated to get her teeth really well check etc.....it was really scary and very traumatic for my poor horse ( and me!!!!!) and would really appreciate any advice.......large glass of vino to anyone who manages to read my ramblings!!!
 
Mine did - started after a gastroscopy to check for ulcers. Has she had anything like that done recently? He doesn't do it now, but used to have all feed soaked for minimum of 24hrs and have hay/haylage from a very small holed net to stop him getting large amounts. Also could never be given carrots/apples etc. Now he is fine :)
 
I have got a 20 year old TB that can do this occasionally but mostly did it on pelleted feeds like Pasture Nuts or Sixteen Plus cubes.
I now soak her cubes with double the amount of water - as in a jug of cubes to 2 jugs of water and leave til next day, makes a nice mush but she hasnt choked since.

She has done it on the odd occasion with hay too but seemed to be after she had eaten her hard feed (unsoaked before) and then tucked straight into the hay without a drink first.

I have had her teeth checked, she is 20 and hasn't got the best teeth (never has) even though they are done every 6 months.

As far as the hosepipe thing goes, I have found a large syringe filled with water a few times does the trick, mine is ok with a hosepipe but I did wonder if it would make matters worse with that volume of water so I found the syringe better and she seems to be fine with that.

Be careful about massaging the throat as you can damage things if you are not careful and make it sore and swell a bit making it more likely for another choke.

It is awful to watch I must say, I panicked when I first saw her do it, my mare only seems to be doing it for about 10 mins before it clears though.

BTW to add before anybody thinks I am neglecting her - I have had the vet check her over and there is no apparant reason for her doing this and soaking her feed seems to have sorted the problem.

I think you are doing all you can by the sounds of it and I agree I would get her teeth checked as soon as possible.

Let us know how you get on.
 
Thanks, the syringe is a really good idea as she is fine with a wormer so should be fine with that too....where did you get a large syringe from? Would like to have one in the first aid kit.....i havent soaked her haylege but that is something i was thinking of, will ask the vet what they think when i see them later this week. She has speedi beet in her feed and it is quite soft and moist so i think thats why she hasnt choked on her hard feed....
 
Mine did all the time, on hard feed, hay and haylage. Mine seems to have been cured by putting the food on the floor and I changed my haylage because I used the stuff the yard provided which was quite fine strands and almost stringy texture and since he has had thicker and shorter cut strands hes been fine. Hope you sort something out with your mare. He only ever choked when the hay was in the rack and feed in the feeder/fed out the hand. He hasnt choked at all since being fed everything off the floor! Hope that helps :)
 
My friends horse used to always choke & she had the vet out & they said it was because she had to much muscle on the underside of her neck. The muscle is alot smaller now & she doesn't choke anymore. My sister in laws horse has just started choking recently & vet said it was because she is changing her teeth, she's 3yrs old.
 
Mine is the same with unsoaked hard feed plus I ALWAYS soak hay as she can 'mini-choke' if she nicks dried bits off the floor, she is due to have teeth done asap but not sure if it will make any difference.
 
Yep i have a 6yr old mare that just the sight of loose haylage and she gets choke, have to, make sure she has haylage in a small holed net.
If they do keep syringing water down their throat to help them swallow and lubricate the throat.
One horse had it toady and managed to repaint the stable in snot, he was fine and back eating in no time.
Best advise is dont panic
 
Thanks everyone for the tips. R.A.H that's really interesting as my mare does have quite a bit of muscle under her neck too, and i had wondered if that had any thing to do with it....
She really grabs at her haylege and gets really frustrated when she cant get it out of the net, i wonder if it is because the haylege is so nice and tasty and she rushes, going to discuss it with the vet but may change on to soaked hay from the floor instead.....
 
My mum's horse chokes occasionally (well, more than just occasionally). She has to have hard feed soaked, from the ground, and away from other horses to stop her rushing. Carrots and apples are always in nice long slivers and she never gets dry cubes as they get stuck more easily. She also has to have her hay damp and from the floor - she rushes haynets like yours does and gets angry with them when she's hungry, which makes her bad. I also make sure she gets her soupy feed before she starts her hay as then she doesn't rush the hay. She's fed hay in the field so it has to be in lots of piles so she doesn't get too close to the other horse and rushes then too.

Just lots of little things to try to help really. And I NEVER leave her straight after feeding her - I always keep an eye on her.
 
My horse choked on hay the other day - was staggering about, heaving and green mush coming out nose etc.

Rang vet and they told me to march him round as fast as I could in walk (no trotting) for 15 minutes, and that the movement should clear it. If not they would come out. I marched him round and it cleared after 5/6 mins (but I did the full 15 mins just to be sure!!) They also said not to rub at his throat etc as it could make it worse/cause secondary problems.

Interestingly, another horse had choked earlier in the day (on hard food), and vet had said to leave her in stable and give her 30 minutes to clear it herself. So I guess the treatement depends on what they are choking on? :S
 
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