Probably nothing but just wonder what the general opinion is...

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LouLou3

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Hi everyone - I am probably being completely paranoid but my horse has been a bit sensitive when doing up his nose band.

I've only had him since sept - used to ride him before I bought him and he was fine...so thought it was probably just him settling in and perhaps as a nervous new owner I was trapping some of his unclipped winter hair as I did up his nose band (clutching straws really as I was and always am careful and considerate when putting on tack) SOOOO anyway, he was ok some days and other days not so got the vet in to check his teeth - they removed the remains of a wolf tooth and he was fine from then on that was until last weekend. He played up something chronic when I put his bridle on - when I go to do up his noseband and sometimes his throat latch exactly as before.

I checked him over and saw that he is a little swollen under his jaw - no hard swelling or lump but the gullet part (sorry if thats not the correct name) seems to protrude and be raised. Not sure if this is normal but I've never noticed it before - have looked at the other horses on the yard and I can only see theirs when they are chewing. Perhaps the reason he gets arsey as I do up his noseband is because he is in pain under there...

He's eating (like a horse!!) and is not losing any weight - he has a slightly runny nose but I've looked at images and symptoms of strangles and don't think but I'm new to all this so would appreciate any thoughts.

Hope this is a good description and sorry if I am just being paranoid.
 
Take his temperature, should be between 37.4 - 38.6. He would have a really high temp if he had strangles, would be reluctant to eat and would be quite drepressed.

maybe this is unrelated to the probs with his tooth before, could it be a fly bite that caused the swelling? Maybe give it a wash with some hibiscrub and search through the hair to see if you can spot anything.

Try riding him without a noseband for a week and then if your still worried and the swelling hans't gone down give your vet a ring.
 
when I first started reading though your post my initial thought was that it must be teeth - if you've had the vet out and there was a problem - it maybe that even though you've got the wolfe tooth sorted that the horse is antisipating pain and is so used to pain when the nooseband is done up that he/she is still not happy about it being done up because they are expecting pain. If this is the case then it will take alot of reasurence and time to get them out of the habbit.
Of course it could be something compleatly different!
Good luck in finding out whats wrong
 
Some times they do just take an adversion to things, sounds like you have done all the right things and he could just be playing up. Ignore the bad praise the good.
 
Many horses need their teeth doing every 6 months so it would be wise to get them checked again, particularly after the winter. This is because people tend to feed more hard feed in winter and also use haynets when stabled, both of which cause unnatural wear on the teeth.
 
Also regarding the swelling - when some horses eat usually when they are eating short grass they take in alot of air - this causes tempory swelling in this area
 
What bit do you use? Has the horse had a yank in the mouth (even by accident) lately?

I would get the vet or qualified edt to have another look iiwy. If he has fleshy cheeks then doing a noseband up may push the inside of his mouth against his teeth, which could be uncomfortable. He could have an ulcer, bitten his tongue, etc but you really need to look thoroughly inside his mouth
 
It looks like it is where he tongue is - directly beneath it and runs the entire length of it - its the entire thing just looks like the entire area has relaxed or drooped
 
Id be inclined to do away with the noseband for a while. If you are in a cavesson it serves no useful purpose anyway if correctly fitted.

The only thing not mentioned that I can think of is that you have (dont panic) some sort of seasonal sinus thing going on and your horses head is tender anywhere that there is a large cavity.

I think this is worth mentioning to your vet and dentist as you havent had the horse through a summer yet. It could be an allergy thing so would be worth getting to the bottom of now while you still have symptoms. It might be an infection rumbling from where he had the bit of tooth removed.
 
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