Permanent tracheotomy

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Dottyfordylan

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Does anyone have any experience of a horse with a permanent tracheotomy? Research,photos and videos seems very limited on the web, ideally looking for first hand day to day experience rather than the veterinary stuff...
 
bonny said:
A tubed horse ?
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No, like people can have. This is one of only a few pictures I can find,
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I think you probably do mean a tubed horse, used to be fairly common with racehorses but is now banned ? If so then I used to look after one, not really a problem once the operation site has healed.
 
It's banned now in racing, mainly because people didn't like the look of it although it certainly saved some horse's careers. It was phased out so that horses who had already had it done could still race but I think there are none now. Didn't seem to bother the horses but they do make an alarming noise when galloping and you have to be careful around water, for obvious reasons.
 
35 years ago at Fontwell Racecourse my Mother wouldn't let me put my £1 bet on a tubed horse ( it also only had one eye but that's another thread...!).

It romped home well ahead of the others , a 25-1 winner ! Although I had missed out on what was a fortune to me then, I was rather pleased this little fella had won.
 
They do tieback operations instead now.

Have you been offered a tubed horse or just curious??
 
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Didn't Party Politics win the national as a tubed horse ?

As someone has already said, plenty of horses had their lives saved in the past. However it was also the undoing of a pointer at Upton on Severn who fell and galloped straight into the River Severn before I could catch him.

I would think the procedure is outdated now with tie backs and modern respiratory medicines available.
 
CPT horse in question is my own, wont go into details on here as its complicated, but he was taken on knowing something was wrong and needing ivestigating. Vet and surgeon have recommended the trach because they feel the other ops wont give results as he has a few issues going on ( inc nerve damage and ddsp)

this is the boy in question

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If everything else is right about him and he doesn't have a pond in his paddock and you don't want to do BE with him, I'd go for it. I've seen one, also done for nerve damage, and it was no problem. In fact the horse fixed his issues and it was subsequently able to be removed as well.

If you are desperate to do any other affiliated stuff then I would check out their rules. I know BE won't allow them if there is water on the course, it was in the rulebook decades ago.
 
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I've just thought of one issue you might consider. I have one horse here who would pull at the collar and plug on another horse and I couldn't possibly trust him not to damage it. So you might have to be very careful about who he goes out with? I don't know how robust these things are. I suppose you could always coat it with cribox!
 
Ive never seen it on a horse but worked with plenty of humans with them, in humans we have whats called a swedish nose that sits on the end to stop dust getting in and trap warm moist air to provide some moisture to prevent the secretions becoming to dry, do horse trachys have something similar ?
 
My father did not look after a horse with one but said he had been told they were a bit messy and needed daily cleaning. This was over 30 years ago tho.

Humans have tubes to insert that have a flap that closes so that you can speak. I imagine a horse with a trache can't neigh, nicker etc??

What a lovely looking horse.
 
Thanks folks, i certainly dont intend to BE in fact im not bothered about jumping particularly. He will be used for dressage as thats what hes bred for, ill be having a good chat with the vet and surgeon about the nitty gritty but its great to get some feedback here
 
Dear OP
Yep, we had our Irish Draught tubed years ago by Spike Kirby. Afterwards our horse hunted for 3 seasons with the Beaufort.
It turned his life around and although it is a huge commitment with cleaning and exercising, (we had to ride him 5-6 days a week).
Also be careful when you turn him out that he doesnt catch it on the fence. Our horse only ever lost his once and that was in the field.
Go for it!
 
Have looked after one for a bit after a tube was put in. This was a brass tube. They get gungey and horrid though this may improve afterwards. It needed cleaning every day and they smell. This was a non riding horse a tieback failed. My friend worked with a few racehorses that had them. If you are prepared to look after them it may save your horses life. It doesn't look pretty though we called this horses his brass medallion! If you want any other limited info pm me. I did also see it done. HAve heard of one in a cow also!
 
JEZA said:
Dear OP
Yep, we had our Irish Draught tubed years ago by Spike Kirby. Afterwards our horse hunted for 3 seasons with the Beaufort.
It turned his life around and although it is a huge commitment with cleaning and exercising, (we had to ride him 5-6 days a week).
Also be careful when you turn him out that he doesnt catch it on the fence. Our horse only ever lost his once and that was in the field.
Go for it!
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That's interesting. What was the reasoning behind the need to exercise? I'm guessing that it's to keep the pipe blown clear?
 
Dear cptrayes
yep, it was to keep lungs working well, but mostly because he couldnt go in the field for fear of catching it on something which was the only way he lost the tube.
OP - we also had to have him re-tubed after a couple of years. i cant remember why. Im sure it was done in a different place and he had 2 holes in his neck!
It never seemed to bother him, and his life was so much better than before he had it done when he was gasping for breath.
We had the breast bar in the trailer well padded so there were no, sort of corners, he could accidently catch it on.
 
JEZA said:
Dear cptrayes
yep, it was to keep lungs working well, but mostly because he couldnt go in the field for fear of catching it on something which was the only way he lost the tube.
OP - we also had to have him re-tubed after a couple of years. i cant remember why. Im sure it was done in a different place and he had 2 holes in his neck!
It never seemed to bother him, and his life was so much better than before he had it done when he was gasping for breath.
We had the breast bar in the trailer well padded so there were no, sort of corners, he could accidently catch it on.
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thank you for all the input. Dodger is booked in for the op on the 22nd fingers crossed. I'm hoping to keep a blog in case anyone has to go through the same thing as first hand info is so limited.
 
Stealing daughters login oops.. but to share my experience of this fairly rare thing.

I had a talented pony who was tubed in the 1960's. He could not be turned out as he generally removed his tube so needed daily work, he also had a bar above his stable door to prevent him catching the tube on the door... a bit like human piercings the hole tries to close if the tube is removed for a longish time. If you do turn out a metal detector to find the tube is advisable! Mine (ancient style I assume) had a plug that you removed for work and the whole tube needed taking out every two to three days for cleaning and sterilising. Not pleasant but even as a teenager, manageable.

If your vet recommends it then don't worry too much but do be prepared for a lot of comment/critisism from fellow competitors, I commonly heard 'why's that pony got a hole in its neck' when it was a far more common procedure
 
3bh said:
Stealing daughters login oops.. but to share my experience of this fairly rare thing.

I had a talented pony who was tubed in the 1960's. He could not be turned out as he generally removed his tube so needed daily work, he also had a bar above his stable door to prevent him catching the tube on the door... a bit like human piercings the hole tries to close if the tube is removed for a longish time. If you do turn out a metal detector to find the tube is advisable! Mine (ancient style I assume) had a plug that you removed for work and the whole tube needed taking out every two to three days for cleaning and sterilising. Not pleasant but even as a teenager, manageable.

If your vet recommends it then don't worry too much but do be prepared for a lot of comment/critisism from fellow competitors, I commonly heard 'why's that pony got a hole in its neck' when it was a far more common procedure
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Thank you, this is a very hard desicion but im hoping he will have a new lease of life he's only three so deserves a chance. Most of all im hoping that being able to breath properly will allow him to put on condition as its a battle I am currently not winning. I fully expect pointing/staring and critisism but we won't be venturing out for a while yet so we will both hopefully be well adjusted by that time ;-)
 
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