Long term problems after Tie Back if aspirating food and water?

[mastermax]

Hi could really do with some advice please. could anyone tell me what the long term effects would be on a horse that has had a tie back op done but has food particles coming down his nose and sometimes water. He doesnt cough during work but is at the moment underweight. He is a beautiful horse and have planned to buy him for dressage and hacking. I just dont have any previous experience of this. Your help would be very appreciated. Many thanks

 

[cptrayes]

He may have been tied back too far. He will have increased risk of upper respiratory tract infections (mine does but he does not snort food or water down his nose) and coughing from getting food into his windpipe. He should be fed only from the floor, which will cause problems if he needs food when he travels.

I don't think it's a huge deal but I'd want a lot knocked off the price. He will probably never be insurable for respiratory tract problems.

 

[toomanyhorses26]

my ex racer used to do this when I very first got him - found the best way of managing it was to keep him fit - probably fitter than he needed to be for the job he was doing,feed from the floor at all times,limit any form of sugar beet,pencils,baileys no 1,carrots ,apples etc as they just mash down as such and are more likely to go astray,lots of fast work to get lungs really working - hunt around for insurance as I managed to get mine insured so he wasnt covered for any illness directly associated with the tie back but he is still insured for copd etc

 

[classicalfan]

Often the coughing and respiratory problems increase with increased musculature of the neck, especially if the horse is asked to bring his neck up high and be a littel overbent, as is very often seen in dressage riding. If you concentrate on keeping him comfortable and correct without raising the neck too high nor asking for too much bend then he should be fine.

 

[mastermax]

Thank you so much for the advice, its all really helpful. I have been feeding him all his haylage off the floor and his feed in a bucket off the floor. Someone advised that every week I should spray an iodeet solution up each nostril to disinfect and clear out any debris.
I had been putting Baileys No1 in his feed though as a high fibre non heating weight gain. Any suggestions as to what to feed him would be great. Currently I have been feeding a heaped scoop of fibre nuts, heaped scoop of mollichaff, and a scoop of Baileys No 1 soaked and in a mash twice a day and as much haylege as he can eat off the floor.

 

[cptrayes]

Mine definitely manages cubes more easily than mixes or straights. Perhaps high oil conditioning cubes? Or just add rapeseed oil from the supermarket to cheap own brand ones, that's what I do.

I am unconvinced by the idea of spraying anything up his nostrils. One it may make him hate you touching his nose Two, when mine came out of hospital I had to thread a pipe right up his nose to flush the stitch out with antibiotics/anti-inflammatories (can't remember which or if both). If you just squirt up the nostril from the bottom I doubt it would do much.

 

[toomanyhorses26]

I fed my racer - endurance mix ,alf a and barley - appreciate this could potentially be quite a potent mixture but it worked for him. I found that the type of sugar beet in the mix was fine for him but if I fed straight sugar beet he couldnt really cope with it very well. I have found that the conditon as such is more about managing it rather than treating anything. I havent ever put anything up my horses nose for it and even when he did have a chest infection - he was given oral anti bs and an expectorant for treatment . It doesnt have any impact on day to day life for him - he bsja's,shows at county level,hacks for hours on end etc