BonneMaman
Well-Known Member
Anyone on here have any experience of these operations and what would they mean to the average riding horse's ability to perform??
Hobday - Tieback
- Thread starter BonneMaman
- Start date
lannerch
Well-Known Member
Yes my chap has had it done. It means you know would never know he ever had a problem ( he events ) obviously not all that have the op are as lucky however it's a common op with a high success rate!
BonneMaman
Well-Known Member
Thanks Lannerch - anyone else?
Is it only performance horses ie racehorses/eventers that have it done due to strenuous exercise??
Is it only performance horses ie racehorses/eventers that have it done due to strenuous exercise??
lannerch
Well-Known Member
No it's done to any horse deemed necesary obviously it is dependant on the degree of larangeal paralysis and whether this compromises the work they are asked to do whether that be a lot or a little. It would be too high a risk IMO to subject a horse to the op for purely cosmetic reasons
flaxen
Well-Known Member
Having worked in equne practice I have assisted in lots of these. We have only ever done them in race horses and eventers though, usually pleisure horses dont do enough strenuous exercise to warrant doing them and both are usually done at the same time.
After care is vitally important post surgery, horse must always be fed from the ground- your horse had had one side ( usually left) of its larynx tied open therefore it is unable to close it properly and is at a high risk of choking if fed hay and feed up a height, it must always be fed damp feed/ hay for exactly the same reasons and sugar beet and chaff is a no no too as they tend to choke easier on it.
The hobday wound needs cleaning regularly daily until it is completly healed and make sure that the discharge from it ( there will be a lot to begin with) doesnt scald your horses chin, we used to clean them 3 times a day at least and smear vaseline from the surgery site to the end of their chin. They have iv antibiotics for a few days post op then change on to oral/ paste antibiotics and bute.
You will find that horse that has had a hobday usually cant neigh properly.
The ones we did used to go home on a months box rest.
It wouldnt affect a general pleasure horses ability to work having had it done.
Hope this helps.
After care is vitally important post surgery, horse must always be fed from the ground- your horse had had one side ( usually left) of its larynx tied open therefore it is unable to close it properly and is at a high risk of choking if fed hay and feed up a height, it must always be fed damp feed/ hay for exactly the same reasons and sugar beet and chaff is a no no too as they tend to choke easier on it.
The hobday wound needs cleaning regularly daily until it is completly healed and make sure that the discharge from it ( there will be a lot to begin with) doesnt scald your horses chin, we used to clean them 3 times a day at least and smear vaseline from the surgery site to the end of their chin. They have iv antibiotics for a few days post op then change on to oral/ paste antibiotics and bute.
You will find that horse that has had a hobday usually cant neigh properly.
The ones we did used to go home on a months box rest.
It wouldnt affect a general pleasure horses ability to work having had it done.
Hope this helps.
Rose Folly
Well-Known Member
Our latest livery is a successful ex-steeplechaser. He has had a tieback. The sad thing is that he can no longer whinny.
I feel this is a real infringment of horse rights. He can't call his friends, indicate pleasure, or tell me when he's in trouble. He tries, bless him, and all that happens is a gusty blowout of air. It's the equivalent of being mute. Not a happy state and I think you should think hard before you have it done.
I feel this is a real infringment of horse rights. He can't call his friends, indicate pleasure, or tell me when he's in trouble. He tries, bless him, and all that happens is a gusty blowout of air. It's the equivalent of being mute. Not a happy state and I think you should think hard before you have it done.
flaxen
Well-Known Member
Rose Folly
"I feel this is a real infringment of horse rights. He can't call his friends, indicate pleasure, or tell me when he's in trouble. He tries, bless him, and all that happens is a gusty blowout of air. It's the equivalent of being mute. Not a happy state and I think you should think hard before you have it done."
If he had not had it done he would have been an UNSUCCESSFUL ex steeple chaser as he wouldnt have been able to gallop to the best of his ability, and this is what racing is all about. A slow racehorse gets sold quickly.
"I feel this is a real infringment of horse rights. He can't call his friends, indicate pleasure, or tell me when he's in trouble. He tries, bless him, and all that happens is a gusty blowout of air. It's the equivalent of being mute. Not a happy state and I think you should think hard before you have it done."
If he had not had it done he would have been an UNSUCCESSFUL ex steeple chaser as he wouldnt have been able to gallop to the best of his ability, and this is what racing is all about. A slow racehorse gets sold quickly.
cptrayes
Well-Known Member
mine was a pleasure horse. Lots of "pleasure horses" have owners who like a gallop and they need it done. I know of two other pleasure horses that have had it done, I think it's more common in other vet practices than you are aware of.
my vet and surgeon did not give this advice and my horse eats from a wall mounted hayrack with no problems at all.
Mine does
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cptrayes
Well-Known Member
Horses with laryngeal hemiplegia are often stressed by their knowledge that they are unable to breath in an emergency "run for it" situation. Not uncommonly they are difficult to keep weight on, a problem which disappears after the op. I am aware of several horses, my own included which developed a very big event line in the feet dating from the operation, and tighter growth after it. When I questionned the surgeon about this his opinion was that the stress hormones he was subject too had affected his foot growth. It was either that or the lack of oxygen.
This is a welfare issue of far greater concern than the loss of a whinny!
It was the making of my horse. He lost a lot of spookiness out hacking (he was extremely dangerous to hack out alone until the op was done, and changed radically as soon as he was back in work at six weeks). He was able to hunt after 10 weeks and was one of the fastest in the field
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MizzPurpleKitten
Well-Known Member
My boy had a tie back at the tender age of 4, he went on to compete successfully at BSJA up to and including Grade B Level until the ripe age of 20, when I retired him from the SJ ring and started on Dressage (less strain on his legs and he doesn't get as stupid on the flat as he does to a fence so it's also safer and more enjoyable for all involved!). He has no problems at all from it and you'd only notice if you felt his throat (little bit of scar tissue) or heard hios 'odd' whinny.
For the record I don't think the lack of a whinny is too much of a problem, my boy has no problems calling to his friends, telling me when he's happy or when he's distressed it just doesn't sound like a normal whinny (it's very deep and almost sounds like a very gruff dirty old man laugh!) but you can hear it a mile off!
For the record I don't think the lack of a whinny is too much of a problem, my boy has no problems calling to his friends, telling me when he's happy or when he's distressed it just doesn't sound like a normal whinny (it's very deep and almost sounds like a very gruff dirty old man laugh!) but you can hear it a mile off!
lannerch
Well-Known Member
Mine too manages to whinny sounds like a starting motor but is still just as effective.
He has always been fed as normal ie with a manger and with a haynet and was also at the vets after the vets. If the op is done well the tie back is sufficient to allow the air flow but not large enough to allow food to pass in the wind pipe
He has always been fed as normal ie with a manger and with a haynet and was also at the vets after the vets. If the op is done well the tie back is sufficient to allow the air flow but not large enough to allow food to pass in the wind pipe
Rose Folly
Well-Known Member
It's 1am, and I know exactly why I'd like our tie-back horse to have a whinny. He was down by the house just now, distressed, huffing his silent whinny which I could hear only because I was about a yard away from him. He'd got separated from his friends in the big pasture - very hilly and of an E-pattern. Because his friends can't hear him huffing for them they're not replying, and he's now gone galloping off into the night, towards the steepest decline of all - in his very considerable top gear! If he could whinny the mares would have answered, and he'd have stayed put.
NB One danger of hobdaying nobody mentioned happened to a hobdayed horse of ours when I was a child. He drowned out hunting, when they were crossing the local river and he got into deeper water above the hobday line. Not a very happy day!!
NB One danger of hobdaying nobody mentioned happened to a hobdayed horse of ours when I was a child. He drowned out hunting, when they were crossing the local river and he got into deeper water above the hobday line. Not a very happy day!!