Heart murmer

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TigerLilly

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Hi i am looking for a bit of advice i have just had the vet out for my boy as he has a bit of a cold but the vet also found out he has a pronounced heart murmer i am quite worried about this can anyone shed any light please Thanks
 
I would get it investigated further before getting too worried about it. My friend's horse has a heart murmur and he has no problem going hacking and out to shows although she does have to make sure he doesn't get too stressed or excited. Although it can be a serious condition it doesn't have to be the end of everything. Once you find out how seroius it is, you can control it better and get it treated properly. Let us know how he gets on. xx
 
Yep get it checked out - at Rocks vetting 2years ago i was told he had a heart murmour - bought him anyway then got it checked out - vet at liphook said it was more of a squeek and that many young horses have them and grow out of them - hes a fighting fit horse with plans to event him BE next year and murmour doesnt even exist anymore!
 
My vet did not think it was worth getting it investigated as he is 16 he did say he was going to keep a check on it every 3 months or so and i have to keep a eye on his performance etc
 
If it's any help I was born with a heart murmur! It has never stopped me doing anything. I used to row very competitively and it has never stopped me (and that must have put serious strain on my heart!). To be honest, I didn't even know until I have a routine knee opp at 11 and my parents told me. Apparently it's just a valve that doesn't open and shut smoothly, but doesn't stop it functioning. It's quite common.

If your horse is 16 I wouldn't worry about it at all. He's got this far with no problems. It's not the sort of thing that gives you heart failure.
 
Thank you for your reply i have been told this by a couple of other people and it does kind of put my mind at ease thanks
 
Your horse isn't unusual...a substantial number of horses have murmurs (it's just sounds made by blood turbulence usually).
It might even be due to his cold...as some colds and viruses can temporarily affect the heart.
I wouldn't be that worried about it if I was you - he's probably always had it
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Delia had one after a virus - never stopped her doing anything but did sound horrible.

Cairo had one, but it went away - vet again thinks he had a virus.

Get it checked out, but hopefully it will be nothing to worry about.
 
Definitely don't panic. My last horse had one that was diagnosed when vet was out treating a colic - he would have been 11 or so. He had never showed signs of any problems before that and after the diagnosis we did loads of RC sj and xc plus Intro and PN eventing. It never bothered him for a moment. My vet just kept a bit of a check whenever she was out to vaccinate etc.
 
I bought a horse with a grade 3 heart murmer - which is quite high. When I bought him, he'd been turned away for four months and the vet said the murmur might be due to the fact that he was very unfit.

True enough, I sold him 2 years later, he was in full work, had a 5* vetting and no murmer was apparent - passed with flying colours!
 
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