heart defect in comp horses??

[prudunce]

Had a horse vetted b4 purchasing 2day,only to be old it has a irregular heartbeat?it beats twice then a 3 sec silence,then it beats again,obv failed vetting eventing BUT has anyone known a horse compete withh bad heart,im doing research for the poor sellers who had nO idea the horse had this,plus i really liked the horse

 

[prudunce]

me again,this stupid keyboard misses letter,shence bad spelling on my posts)
Spoke to vet and she called it an irregualy irregular heartbeat.Surely the horse is ok to do light exercise?ive been jumping&schooling her.really gutted as they may have her PTS.Wud she really keal over one day??

 

[AutumnRose]

Earlier in the year vets found a heart mumor in my mare who was eventing at the time (albeit only at PN). What they need to do is get a heart scan done, because there is a huge variation in how it affects them.

We were told with T that it wouldn't effect her in anyway and the only way we would ever know if it started to take a toll was if she was harder to keep/get fit and took longer to recover from fast work. Advised us to keep on eye on this but she could easily go her whole life with it never bothering her.

It's quite common in race horses apparently. The vet who did our scan is a heart specialist and said there are plenty of horses that race and compete to top level with no problems.

It does effect purchase price though obviously!!

 

[AutumnRose]

Just seen your update!! They really need to have a scan, as i said above lots of horses have irregular heartbeats and race/event etc. It depends whats causing it, having horse PTS sleep is very drastic!!

 

[oofadoofa]

I sold a horse a couple of years ago that had a murmur, the purchasers had it vetted and the vet picked it up, I had no idea it had one until then. The vet said that becauase it was on the right hand side it wouldn't affect the horse, but if it was on the left hand side that would be more serious. My old horse also has an irregular heartbeat. One vet told me that it was a split heartbeat, in that the two valves that should beat together beat at slightly different times. I have also been told by vets that these things often go unnoticed because most yards aren't as quiet as mine! Anyway, was speaking to the vet about my old boy one day and he said it very rarely affects the horse's performance to have an irregular heartbeat. Maybe it is worth speaking to another vet and getting opinions?

 

[kerilli]

umm, Over To You has an irregular heartbeat iirc...!
depends if it's Regular Irregular or Irregular Irregular. The former is okay, i believe, the latter not. I had a 4 yr old horse vetted for eventing in '90 and he had an RI heartbeat, didn't worsen with exercise (very very important), he passed, went on to 2* eventing, never had a heart problem of any kind in the 17 years i owned him. hope that helps.
ah, just read your 2nd post. Irreg Irreg is worse, i was told. should be okay for hacking or dressage though, surely, pts sounds very drastic imho. poor horse.

 

[prudunce]

your kidding,well this vet just said NO without testing further,i was obv very upset.She called it an irregualy irregular beat.Just waiting for bell equine(my vet)to call chat b4 i send horse back BUT i dont want to get squished under a falling horse IF she was to collapse,shes 12 ish,is this likely to happen when doing fast work.THIS horse buying business is a NIGHTMARE!!!
Oh and if i decide to keep her,wt is her value?? 1K??as i cant get insurance for her heart??suppose everything else woulld be ok?how much are scans on hearts??

 

[AutumnRose]

Have just PM'd you with details of my scan

 

[Governor]

G has a RI heartbeat.

3 - pause - 3 and so on, if I remember correctly. The vet said he also sounded to have a big healthy heart, double checked it after exercise and said it was unlikely to hamper him.

 

[kerilli]

i'd want to know what it sounded like pre-exercise compared to post-exercise, definitely. no idea how much heart scans are, but your vets should know. there should be a serious reduction in price obviously.
fwiw i know a few people who have had horses with no previous diagnosis of heart problems which have suddenly dropped dead, one while out hacking at walk, one while cantering, two after finishing xc. it's just one of those things, unfortunately.
best of luck, feel very sorry for the horse now.

 

[kit279]

Irregularly irregular heartbeat is most likely caused by atrial fibrillation. I know because I used to keep a horse with a bay with AF and when the horses were shifted around without my knowledge, I'd find out which bay to put my horse in with by feeling her pulse. FWIW the horse was defibrillated (ie. jumpstarted to get the heart beating altogether) but became too lively for the owner so was retired to grass. She can still be ridden but gets quite tired. The risk with AF is that it is the most likely of all heart defects for the horse to drop dead but for a hacking home, it would prob be ok. High level competition would most likely be out.

 

[MrsMagoo]

Hey hun - oh what a pain she failed, but it was a risk with her knowing where it come from lol....You sure you'd want to buy it anyway knowing that?? I know you like her, but thats not worth buying her for espec with all the other troubles you've had at the mo - isnt it worth finding somthng fit you can insure/compete etc?? x

 

[dressagecrazy]

I have a retired dressage horse with Atrial Fib & Tachycardia. I sent him to Mark Patterson (Bushy Equine) to have Qunidine treatment to try to convert the heart back to sinus rythm.

While he was there they found he had Tachycardia as well as the A Fib. Mark told me to retire him as the chances of him suddenly dropping dead through the severe Tachycardia where to high.
On top of this the Quinidine treatment for the AF failed. It was extremly invasive & dangerous causing colic & a very un-well horse for about 2 weeks after the treatment.

I would say the only way to find out what your dealing with is by getting a propper diagnosis. Its one vets opinion atm not enough in my mind to justify pts at the moment without all the facts.

 

[Orangehorse]

I thought lots of horses have irregular hearts, it is only if it is still irregular after exercise that there is a problem. It can also be affected according to how fit they are. I have know one or two people who have taken a chance with horses that had "suspect" heart vettings with unfit animals that went on and were OK. But obviously you have to speak to the experts and take their advice.

I once had a 7 year old pony turned down by the vet with a bad heart, not something you would expect. I was so upset but the vet made my daughter get off it! I thought it was just going to be a routine vetting, as we had had the pony on trial and she had been lovely.

 

[Daffodil]

OH dear - poor you. My old mare, who died some 10 years ago, an ex-racer and totally neurotic, verging on bonkers, had a regularly irregular heartbeat, which the vet told me was fairly common in ex-racehorses and would be absolutely no trouble. I only hacked out with her anyway, and never did anything more complicated as she could be so difficult, but the heartbeat was never an issue with her.

 

[prudunce]

Thanks 4 all your posts, obv i was sad y.day and feel for this poor horse who seems fit and well BUT after tears and sleeping on it i know shes no good for me as i want to event,so its a defo NO NO!(shes being collected today). The owners had no idea as didnt have her vetted prior to buying her,plus they bought her from that Tom in Dartford,who i know is in trouble for selling bad/LOU horses. This horse has obv been a right-off and sold for peanuts to this Tom bloke who then has sold her on for 2k to these poor people!Who then genuinely sold her to me(dont worry,i hadnt paid for her,phew)
Such a shame on-top of the other hassel im having with another dealer who wont refund me and i have a lame horse i cant sell!!!! arrrrrrrrrrrrrhhhhhhhhhhhhh!(who did pass a 5stage when i bought it)very complicated at mo without naming who it is!