viewing a horse with paralyzed larynx

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cbateman

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Hello!
I’m viewing a horse tomorrow which sounds perfect for me as I’ve lost my confidence and have had to sell my horse as he was too much for me. I didn’t expect something to come along this quick but it has and its actually from the same person who I mum got her horse from (absolutely lovely people)…only issue is the horse has paralyzed larynx…I personally have never had a horse with it and they are selling him because sadly her husband has died who’s horse it was (not a riding accident may I add!) and they are over horsed and feel he would be wasted as they mainly hunt and he struggles with a full day hunting, she said they have been out jumping last couple of months and he won! They only thing is that he gets out of breath after a couple of classes so need a few minutes to chill out and get his breath back.
I personally am only going to do hacking, sponsored rides, maybe some intro dressage and 2’3 jumping to be honest just having fun and getting my confidence back! So I won’t be doing full mind blowing stuff.
I am riding him tomorrow on a hack and wondering what I should be asking regarding his paralyzed larynx and has anyone bought a horse with paralyzed larynx and how they have got on?
I personally can’t find anything on the web except treating it?
Thanks for ready as I know its long!
 
Did you say they are selling because they are over-horsed? That would worry me a bit.

The larynx thing, unless I wanted to event, wouldn't really be an issue! Mine makes a bit of a noise in canter but never had an issue with his stamina. I very nearly got a 'proper' dressage horse who was a roarer, until they confessed they could only hack it in draw reins!

Do your research and ask your vet, but this wouldn't rule out the horse for me :)
 
From what you have said the horse is able to do some gentle exercise because there is sufficient oxygen in the bloodstream for a limited time, like someone with asthma. There will be a relationship between the general fitness of the horse and its ability to work. So at the moment if he is in full work he will be as good as he is going to be. Re competing, you can do the minimum of a warm up, more walking, a bit of trotting, one or two jumps, then more walking.
You can ask them if they have any objection to your vet getting the vet history, really you need to know if the condition will get worse, worse case scenario is that there is some degenerative condition.
If it were me, and you like him, and everything goes well, you can ask for a month's trial Loan With a View To Buy as they will struggle to find someone to take him.
 
Pigeon said:
Did you say they are selling because they are over-horsed? That would worry me a bit.

The larynx thing, unless I wanted to event, wouldn't really be an issue! Mine makes a bit of a noise in canter but never had an issue with his stamina. I very nearly got a 'proper' dressage horse who was a roarer, until they confessed they could only hack it in draw reins!

Do your research and ask your vet, but this wouldn't rule out the horse for me :)
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thank you so much! they have a tendency to buy from sales but they have had him for 2 years and hes 12 (I met him when I viewed mums horse originally) texting vet now....
 
Slightly different but I have a friend with a driving shetland with a paralysed larynx. He's a feisty wee thing (pony, not friend) and it doesn't slow him down at all - still goes all day if given half the chance and would probably be unstoppable if he could actually breathe normally. He just needs a breather every so often to make him stop and relax, but still does indoor driving comps and local club events without a problem.
 
Bonkers2 said:
I think OP means by over-horsed is they have too many horses, where as most people would use "overhorsed" to mean they can't ride it!
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Ah!! Okay, yes, that makes more sense haha! I was thinking 'if a hunting family is over-horsed by him he may not be a wise choice'!! :p
 
I would try the horse and see how you feel on him .
Then if you like him get advice from a suitable vet ,this condition can progress.
I would consider this type of issue in one of MrGS's horses however I would want it scoped while worked before purchase so a vet could see exactly what's going on and advise
 
I watched a TV show on a racehorse who was a roarer it was really interesting to watch. He eventually had to have surgery though. I would be cautious and also be realistic about how much you will want to do.
 
thankyou everyone for your advice! I am curious to know why it hasn't been treated. and I may look into how much but the percentage of horses having it solved after procedure is quite low!
 
cbateman said:
I would normally get a 2 stage but they would fail because of it wouldn't they?
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If you explain to your vet what you want the horse for, they'll advise on its fitness for purpose and how it will affect the horse - they'd fail it if you wanted a 4* eventer but may advise isn't not too much of an issue for a leisure horse.

They can also check the horse over for any other issues too.
 
Just to say my GRand prix dressage horse got all the way up to adv med without the surgery . We only had it done then cos judges were interpreting the noise as tension ... He had the surgery and recovered v quickly... For low level stuff I wouldn't bother with surgery either.
 
I doubt it would be an issue for what you want to do if you are mindful of just how much you are doing. Sponsored rides - take it easy and make sure he is plebty fit enough for what is reauired. Jumping - try to be one of the first in the ring and the last in a jump off uust to give him time to gather himself again.

If everything else is right it wouldn't put me off in the slightest
 
I have a large Gelderlander who used to make an incredible noise even when just trotting. He was a rescue.

My vet scoped him and he had level 5 laryngeal paralysis, and I was given the option of leaving him be, based on me only being a happy hacker, or taking him for surgery. The vet said he'd more than likely be 99% ok without surgery, but there was a remote chance that he could black out.

I didn't fancy taking the risk, so he had tieback surgery nearly 8 years ago and was a different horse. The noise disappeared and he had more energy all round.

He's now retired (totally unrelated) and at 23 is living a very happy life.

So, in your case, just as long as you know the degree of paralysis and recognise the fact that the horse might require surgery one day if the workload proved too much, I wouldn't necessarily be put off. But I'd demand a fair price and a thorough vet examination.

Good luck!
 
I would have thought that if he was a candidate for tie back they would just do it if that is the only thing preventing him being good hunter, it is a pretty routine these days, though obviously only routine for a senior surgeon. Of course the cost might be too great.
 
like another poster my horse has the same issue, the vets advice like the other poster again was that for what i wanted to do , just a bit of hacking it was nt necessary, so i just left him. He flys around like a loony in the field and sounds like a steam train, but other than that it does nt seem to affect him. having said that mine was 18 when i got him and i think if i had wanted to do more or had he been younger i would maybe have thought differently.
 
My first eventer made a heck of a noise, the previous owners had him scoped and the vet thought he was getting sufficient air, so I left it. He was bought to do Pre Novice, but he took me up to novice then his next owner to Int and CCI*. He was always noisy, quite slow XC, but neither of us pressured him, he was allowed to take his time and he really enjoyed his work, and TBH the noise had the added benefits that 1. My mum could always pick him out in a crowd (both the noise and huge dish with one leg) and 2. the noise helped me keep a rhythm to a fence!!

If he is perfect in all other ways I would have the vet examine/scope to have a look, and if that is OK then kick on!
 
Red-1 said:
My first eventer made a heck of a noise, the previous owners had him scoped and the vet thought he was getting sufficient air, so I left it. He was bought to do Pre Novice, but he took me up to novice then his next owner to Int and CCI*. He was always noisy, quite slow XC, but neither of us pressured him, he was allowed to take his time and he really enjoyed his work, and TBH the noise had the added benefits that 1. My mum could always pick him out in a crowd (both the noise and huge dish with one leg) and 2. the noise helped me keep a rhythm to a fence!!

If he is perfect in all other ways I would have the vet examine/scope to have a look, and if that is OK then kick on!
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That's so reassuring and what a way to find a positive in a negative 😃
 
When I bought dublin, at his vetting it was noted he had a paralized larynx, only partial left laryngeal paralysis , vet said he would be fine for what we wanted him to do , he was 8 then, but over the years, he started doing more stuff like workin hunter and SJ classes, and we started to notice he was puffed after two rounds, so when he was 12 we had him scoped, and he had total paralysis , and the hobday and tie back was the only way to help him breath better, of course I had to pay as we knew it was an existing condition...but it was worth the £1800 ..he is a changed horse, recovers quickly he does make a noise when doing fast work, but has so much more get up and go in him.. So be aware, in years to come the said horse may need the op.
 
If you want another positive heres one!
My initial problems with my horse were a lot of bucking and it took a while to sort out, he only ever tried to take off with me once and he ran out of steam long before i was knackered, it was really easy to sort out because when he tried to slow down i pushed him on , just for a tiny bit, but it was one of the easiest problems to solve, out of the many he had when we bought him!
 
Bonkers2 said:
Hobday is quite unusual these days, I would have thought one op would be enough, the hobday is not really suited to leisure horses which are turned out.
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Why ?
I have know loads of hobdayed horses leading completely normal leisure horse lives .
 
And another positive - my loan horse has this, his owner only found out when he was scoped for ulcers. I don't think he'd go XC, but we do normal leisure riding with no issues whatsoever.
 
I bought my now 22 year old nearly 13 years ago and he had one side of his lyrnx paralysed ( left if I recall correctly). As I upped his workload and he got fitter it became more notable so I decided to get it operated on when he was 10.
The reason most horses get this operation as 3/4 year olds is because it often isn't obvious until they come into work. As a 10 year old it can be more tricky as the cartilage in the back of the throat, where they attach the wire too, is much more brittle. In my guy's case after a few days at the horspital he was scoped only to find out the wire had tore out of the cartilage and was essentially flapping about and had became infected. A second operation was done a few days later once the infection was under control.
Due to the broken cartilage the wire was placed much lower down this time, only tying back the bottom half of the left side. This means that in trot and particularly in canter he still has mechanical noise, as the top section still flaps with increased breathing. However he was able to be hunted and cross country jumped till the cows came home.
In hindsight knowing how much pain and box rest he put up with I am not sure if I would of put him through it if I had the choice again.
Even without the operation he would probably have been able to most of what I wanted to do. If you are being realistic about what you want out of him, and he is good in every other way, I certainly wouldn't hesitate taking him on.
 
We took a risk on a 4 year-old horse because he had a fabulous temperament and fantastic limbs and frame, but had a partial paralysis of the larynx. He has hunted good and true, albeit making a bit of a noise, for four full seasons, never missing a day and jumping everything in front of him - he finished every season looking as good at the closing meet as at the opening meet. We found he needed a slower fittening programme than the others, but that was all. Last year we finally decided to have the op on him as we felt it should be done before he got too much older, and because we had moved hunting country and he now had longer and harder days. He's now just completed his 5th faultless hunting season with my husband. At the time of buying him I was very unsure, but an experienced friend said that if he was right for us in all other ways, the larynx could be sorted out, and that is exactly how it has worked out, and I would give the same advice to anyone else.
 
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