What causes nosebleeds?

[megan_marie]

About 3 days ago i found my boy in the stable with a minimal bloody right nostril nothing major at all, but he's never had one before, so obviously i found it a little odd. I couldn't see anything on him that indicated that he had banged himself, but i'm guessing he could have. By the time i found it though, the blood had turned old and brown, so he must have done it earlier in the day. He was absolutely fine in himself, happy, eating, drinking, nothing at all had changed. I hacked him that day, absolutely fine. Decided to keep an eye on it, no sign of another nosebleed the next day, and I rode him again doing some fitness work, everything still good.. he then had a rest day & again no sign of any nosebleed, so i assumed the first nosebleed was a one off thing.
But today, after doing some flat work in the arena, nothing strenuous, but once i had finished i immediately noticed the right nostril had bled again. The blood was red but it was an extremely light nosebleed! So i'm intrigued to know what can cause nosebleeds? It has only been the right nostril that's affected, and he's never had one before, so it's all so out of the blue! Probably going to ring the vet tomorrow, to ask them what they think/let them know. I know they're common if a horse does bang themselves, and some get them exercising but isn't it more common in racehorses or horses doing strenuous exercise! Any ideas? thanks

 

[Pinkvboots]

I had a mare that started getting nose bleeds she had 3 each time it happened it was overnight as I would find blood on the walls of the stable in the morning, my vet recommended I have her scoped and they found nothing wrong so I don't know why she had them, she lived for another 4 years without having another one.

 

[Dr David Marlin]

There are 3 common causes - after exercise its commonly caused by rupture of blood vessels in the lung (EIPH). At rest its often due to either bleeding from the guttural pouches due to a fungal infection or due to head trauma.