Soft Pallet

[Lou2006]

Just wondering if anyone knew anything about soft pallet problems in youngsters. My 18 month old Welsh Cob makes a noise off and on, changes from day to day and the vet says probably his soft pallet and he's likely to grow out of it. I've tried to research it on the internet but only found problems in older horses that needed corrective surgery. So I was hoping people had experience of it in youngsters and could share thoughts.
Thanks.
Lou.x

 

[vicijp]

If your vet scoped him he could pop the soft pallet and see if there is any paralysis there. Horses rarely grow out of these things, and they quite often get worse.
Noises in the wind can be caused by various viruses/throat infections, so may be worth scoping him to see if he has a bug down there.

 

[Lucy_Ally]

Horses that suffer from soft palate problems can do so for many reasons, it can be due to the anatomy of the soft palate or the epiglottis (which keeps the soft palate in the correct position), there may be problems in the muscles or nerves of the soft palate, excessive poll flexion and excitability have also been linked. In a youngster I would be more inclined to think that it was an anatomical problem (I seem to remember there being a paper on soft palate displacement in a yearling arab), which he may or may not grow out of.

What noise does he make? If it is a gurgling or snoring noise then it is quite likely to be his soft palate. A rough roaring or whistling is usually indicative of problems in the larynx.
Does he make the noise at rest as well? Does he have problems eating (i.e does any food come back out of his nose or does he cough a lot when eating?). If yes to these then he may have a permanent paralysis of the soft palate and the outlook for this isn't as hopeful.
Does it effect him when he runs around, i.e. does he ever pull up quickly when cantering around in his field, where he looks like he has hit a brick wall? Soft palate displacement will often cause sudden but temporary breathing difficulties and race horses that have it will often suddenly pull up towards the end of a race. This is known as intermittant dorsal displacement of the soft palate (DDSP).

To know for sure you need to have the horse scoped (like Vici said), usually the soft palate will only displace and cause a noise during exercise so this would need to be done on a high speed treadmill, there is little point scoping a standing horse for intermittant soft palate displacement.

 

[Lou2006]

The noise is sort of like a rattle, maybe sounds like a blocked nose? It's hard to describe. He seems to do it at all times, but it comes and goes over the days. He hasn't been making much noise at all today, but a few days ago it was very loud. He seems to be having no trouble eating and definitely no food coming out of nose.
When I asked the vet about it she didn't seem worried at all and just said if he's still making a noise when he's 4yo then we'll scope him. But now I'm worried. If it is a permanent problem will he be able to get by, just as a field companion? As I said he doesn't seem in any discomfort from it.
How much does it usually cost to have them scoped?

Thanks.
Lou.x

 

[Lucy_Ally]

I am not sure how much scoping horse costs - I think this will depend on your vet.

If your vet doesn't seem worried then I wouldn't get too worried either, it could well be that he grows out of it. If he has no problem eating then it is unlikely to be permanent. Operations to tighten up the soft palate can often work (around 60% success rate), but it depends on what the problem is and at the moment the cause is often not known. I would follow your vets advice, if it gets worse or he has problems eating then I would get him scoped sooner rather then later.
Good luck with him.

 

[Lou2006]

Thank you. He was making hardly any noise today, watched him eat his feed, no problem. And trotted him about a bit and ran like a loon taking him back to the field to try and get him going, and he made hardly any noise, definitely not struggling to get his breath or anything like that. So I'll just see how it goes and get the vet if he gets worse.

Thanks again.
Lou.x

 

[Lucy_Ally]

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