what is it when a horse has broken wind and what are the symptoms?

its the old fashioned name for COPD [chronic obstructive pulmonory disease] its abit like asthma[sp]. it can be indused through similar causes , dust cold,damp etc the airway becomes compromised [ usually the irritants cause the sensitive lining of the air way and lungs to swell and there is an inhilation noise.
can be helped by drugs like Ventipulmin. It severe cases they use an inhaler to ease the swellings.
 
One horse on our yard is a roarer, which I think is the same kind of thing? Basically he makes a rasping noise if worked too hard. He's not really bad, can do a decent amount of canter work in the school etc, but she has to be careful with long canters out hacking and if doing XC he has to kind of go at his own pace a bit. But it doesn't cause him any major issues and he isn't on any particular medication, so I guess he is not to bad a case?
Equally my mare has very mild COPD, but that basically means she coughs if bedded on straw or fed dry hay in a stable, and is best off living out with less dust in the environment. She snores as well! Never caused any problems when riding though.
ETS Agree with AmyMay, pony sounds like it needs a vet.
 
a 'roarer' is different than COPD this is the partial paralysis of the vocal cords so that they partially obstruct the air way and vibrate as the air being in and exhaled passes them. These horses often have a tie back operation where the little sack either side behind the vocal cords is cut and the resulting scar tissue adheres to the skin and pulls it back into place.This has limited sucess and may break down or need to be done again.
The compromising of the respiratory system is one of the most common performance inhibitors and the reasons are many and varied.
Hope the vet is helpful
 
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