Horse with displacement of the soft pallet

[MayLeigh]

Hi, I have a Ottb that was diagnosed with displacement of the soft pallet a couple of months ago, he had a very bad racing career and was commonly in last place, but since owning him (for two years) I have only noticed that when he is galloping around for a while he will start to slow down and breath pretty heavy. I was wondering though if it is worth it to get surgery done to correct it, it does not really seem to effect him but I was told if he colics it could cause problems. I was researching and it seems most surgery’s for is do not have a great success rate either.
I have already tried asking a vet but she had yet to call me back months after I called her, I also live in an area with a very limited amount of vets that practice on horses and those who are around I trust very little.
Any opinion would be appreciated on whether I should get surgery or not. Thank you

 

[Rob1585]

It depends is the real answer. Would you mind spending £500ish on an overground scope to confirm that it is that, and then a few thousand on surgery after that which might make him able to gallop for longer? If yes go for it, if no and he can work to the level you want, then don’t do it. It might also be worth checking him for equine asthma as this could be causing his heavy breathing!

 

[Elf On A Shelf]

In racing a lot of horses have their soft palate cauterised - most are now done under standing sedation and it's not a very long preoceedure and no cutting open of the wind pipe is needed. It works to a certain extent and for a normal horse like yours it would work better and last longer as the whole area wont be being put under a lot of pressure every day. With these ones it is usually a case of a week off of work, feed from the floor for a few weeks and then kick on.

Unless you plan on doing high level competition work with your horse then I doubt his wind will ever give him enough trouble to warrant getting the proceedure done. The quick one doesnt' cost thousands as its not a full surgery - open up, sort out, close up. The tie forward/back costs a bit and probably isn't worth your while.

Local vets won't do wind ops so your horse will have to go into vet hospital to get it done.