Noisy breathing cantering

McNally

McNally

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My newer horse I've had since August but didnt ride for ages due to no saddle etc He's been brought into work slowly, lots of road work- In fact mostly road work at the minute as the nearest bridleways are too muddy for anything faster.
The few times i have cantered him i have been slightly concerned at his breathing- he seems to struggle where i dont think he should.
Yesterday i found a nice dry field and cantered slowly but i could hear him breathing and *think* i heard bit of a wheeze
He's just turned 14 and ive tried hard to get him fit- My other horse is also 14 and in less often work (ridden about 4 times a week as opposed a to 5/6) but he copes far better with things breathing and recovery wise.
There is a long gradual hill nearby where i take them for a trot up and one struggles the other finds it easy (the other is half "retired" due to lameness problems)
I'm worried I have very slowly got to the stage that i like this horse and am starting to see and improvement in his "moving off the leg" and temperament both things that were issues at first and i was really enjoying riding again ( I LOVE riding the other one but worry constantly about his lameness!)
Any ideas or is this really a vet problem- He dosent have classic dust allergy symptoms and recovers fairly quickly from exercise.
 
Are you sure he doesn't just have a bit of a cough/chest infection? I'd get the vet out to have a look and see what they think if he's wheezing.
 
Well this is the thing he never coughs- I've had a copd horse and one with asthma before and its not like that. I just feel by now he's fit enough to do a canter easily-but it feels like im riding a very unfit horse :-(
 
My 16 yr old mare was like this back in the summer, she would be really out of breath even after a short burst of exertion and I had the vet check her out. She found a slight wheeze in one lung and suggested I put her on a herbal acute respiratory supplement for a month to see if it improved and it did.
 
Hi, this sounds remarkably like my horse, except he does it to a much greater extent. He was diagnosed as a 'roarer' also known as broken winded. When I first got him I thought that he was just unfit, as he was puffing a little more than usual and thought that it would stop when I got him fitter, but it didn't.
Have a word with your vet and see what he / she thinks. There is a minor operation that can be performed thats called a 'tie back' where a small incision is made in the neck, which is quite successful. If your horse is a whistler or roarer, no supplements will make it totally disappear - I have tried countless! Although they may ease it slightly. Hope this helps :)
 
I had a horse who did this. The vet told me it wasn't a very big deal. Is your horse a little unfit? Because sometimes they do this because they are a bit unfit. If not, sometimes horses just like to do this because it is very rhythmical and if horses are paticularly young they find this helpful to maintain their stride or just to clear dirt and dust from their nostrils because they are going faster. I think your horse will outgrow it and stop it - My horse did after about a month. Hope I helped! :)
 
Lots of horses make a noise, it tends to get worse with age but may never cause a problem unless you want to do lots of fast work. Your vet will need to scope your horse to find out what's causing the problem
 
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