nose bleeds

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debonhorse

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yesterday i was all groomed up, tacked up just putting on my safety gear when I noticed my 17 year old, ex racehorse t/b had blood dripping from 1 nostril, she had not banged her nose in the lead up to this. She had been a lot quieter while being groomed thn usual, but once tacked up she did seem rather more excited about going out for a ride than normal.(neighing and pacing her stable) My friend who was riding out with me used to work in a racing stable, said she saw this quite often among the racehorses,and it was something to do with them bursting a blood vessel in their lung. has anyone else heard of this? how common is this (this is my first experience of owning t/bs)and is it dangerous.?? we went on a quiet hack out just walking and trotting and she seemed absolutely fine.
 
It is reasonably common. I would suggest monitoring it and if it is happening regularly, increases in regularity or amount of blood or if her behaviour changes the get a vet to have a look. If it is infrequent and doesn't seem to upset her at all then I would mention it next time you have a routine visit.
 
Hi My TB is also 17 and had raced all his life as NH and Pointer.... He does have bleed one side very rarely (possible 2 every month, mainly during winter) when we do strenous work ie hunting or he has been a loon in the field (don't you love'em!) but other wise he's in perfect health... I am not overly worried about this but if it changes ie more excessive or heavier bleed than usual i would have it checked out... BTW my vet does know about this.
Your mare probably had good sneeze or galloped about in the field... but keep monitored...
 
Actually, I forgot to mention, that just before I brought her in the dog chased her (their usual play!!) around the field and then she chased him for about 2 mins at high speed. This was probably what caused it.
Thankyou for your reply, I feel a little less stressed now.
 
My 17yo 1/2 tb has done this for years esp after hoonying round field or very strenuous work when it's warm - he rarely does it in cold weather.

Vet advised me if only one nostril and only thin trickle not to worry but if it didn't stop in 5 minutes or got heavier he would scope him
 
As far as I understand it, like Miller said, if its one nostril and not heavy, then it shouldnt be too much to worry about. This usually means its a blood vessel around the nose area which could have been banged at an earlier point (in the field for example) or could be through excitement.

If its from both nostrils then you start looking at bleeds coming from elsewhere (lungs for example) and you've got more of an issue. In these cases, if there is NO obvious reason for the bleed, then generally you want to have a vet out to take a look.

Just be sensible... if it stopped quickly, was from one nostril and the blood was quite pale red, its likely superficial. If the blood ever gets darker or you have issues with both nostrils, then id get it investigated.
 
A friend's horse had a couple of nosebleeds from one nostril while we were riding, we thought they were just as described above. However one day I was bringing my horse in from the field and her horse was bleeding from one nostril, I got back to the yard and told her. By the time she had got to the field you couldn't see any bleeding, but by running a cloth around that nostril you could see he had been bleeding. He went on to have sinus surgery.

So maybe try checking out that nostril sometimes and see if there have been other episodes that you haven't been aware of. Don't want to scare you but it seemed worth mentioning.
 
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