Lolita
Well-Known Member
I was looking at a horse for sale and it said the horse "makes a noise". Sorry if this is a dumb question but was does this mean and does it effect the horse? Thanks
Makes a noise?
- Thread starter Lolita
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classicalfan
Well-Known Member
Could you ask them to be a little more specific?
Usually when a vendor says this it means the horse is a 'roarer' or 'whistler', sometimes also referred to as 'broken wind'. In other words, when the horse is working he makes a noise due to a lack of tone (in places it can be flaccid) in his wind-pipe and the inhalation or exhalation of air causes this noise.
It isn't life thereatening but many people don't like it. There are operations available and they often work well but soemtimes they don't and the horse is unable to be ridden afterwards as his breathing is severely comprmised.
Usually when a vendor says this it means the horse is a 'roarer' or 'whistler', sometimes also referred to as 'broken wind'. In other words, when the horse is working he makes a noise due to a lack of tone (in places it can be flaccid) in his wind-pipe and the inhalation or exhalation of air causes this noise.
It isn't life thereatening but many people don't like it. There are operations available and they often work well but soemtimes they don't and the horse is unable to be ridden afterwards as his breathing is severely comprmised.
cptrayes
Well-Known Member
This should mean that the horse makes a whistling or roaring noise on breathing in. This is usually caused by some level of laryngeal hemiplegia - paralysis of the left hand side of the vocal cords. It can be corrected with a tie-back if it is severely restricting the amount of work that the horse can do. It is often progressive, so even if it is not restricting the horse now, it is not unlikely to do so in the future.
A VERY high percentage of horses over 16.2 make a noise when in fast work. Many of them cope fine with it, they are just noisy. I have evented one and he was fast in spite of it. I've also had two others who couldn't sustain a decent canter. One could not be operated on due to an old septic strangles site, but the other has been tied back and it was the making of him. But it costs £2,500 which will be impossible to insure if you buy the horse with a noise.
The problem is that the nerve for the left hand side of the vocal cords goes from the brain, down the neck, round the heart and back up again to the back of the throat, and somewhere in that pointlessly long journey it gets damaged and can no longer transmit signals properly to open the throat to get more breath in. Don't ever talk to me about "intelligent design"
!
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