Why Does She Keep Choking?

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lelly

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My young horse keeps choking now and again. Its happened since I got her a year ago but I thought it was because she was just being greedy. She was underweight and hungry so was eating too fast. I can't feed her any short feed that hasn't been well soaked and is very wet. I have spoken to the vet about it and they haven't found anything wrong with her. She did it again this morning even though her food is very wet. It, so far, has cleared with massage but is painful for her. Anyone else's horse do this?
 
How are you feeding? could that contribute?

My pony gets choke if fed from a height higher than his knees for example so things like hook on mangers are a no-no
 
Has she had her teeth done? Often it can be a sign the teeth need doing or are not right, I would make sure you soak any hay she gets and make feeds very wet, it can often be more common when the horse is out on sparse pasture for hours then comes in to a big haynet or feed so I would make sure she get enough to eat at regular times so she is less likely to bolt her food, choke is not a nice thing to keep happening so I would get the vet back again because its not normal for it to be happening all the time.
 
I would make sure she is fed some hay an hour before her short feed to make sure she is not just plain hungry, is she desperate for the grub?
Or you might think about a less palatable food [thinking Fast Fibre mash].
I wonder if you were to make up a gruel from some micronised linseed and hot water, would this be "slippery"
I would make sure she is not "starving" before feed.
 
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Saf is prone to choke. We have it manageable now and she hasn't done it in about a year. In her case it was caused by her scoffing her food down, teeth regularly checked. Solution in her case was to feed her only soaked feeds (which she doesn't get much of anyway), seems fine with dry hay providing she feels that she has enough not to have to rush.

Very very scary the first time it happens. Had the vet on the phone telling me what to do but fortunately didn't have to attend as managed to clear it herself. Subsequent occurrences have cleared fairly quickly which a bit of a throat massage.
 
I knew a mare that had recurrent choke and our vet felt that she might have a larger than normal guttural pouch which made her more prone. I think he said that mares were more prone to it too.

She was only ever given hay or haylage in a small-holed net and never from the floor, which often brought on choke. Feeds were given sloppy. She, too, was a "greedy" eater so we used ploys to slow her down.

I'm only typing in past tense because I'm not in daily contact with her now but I know she recently had a severe episode but is now fine and well and eating and working as normal for a 21 year old.

It is very scary when it happens but can be managed and I'm sure your vet can advise more. One thing you might try is putting something large into her feed bucket or manger so that she has to pick around it, rather than diving in. I've only ever used large swedes for this (might not be good if she's likely to take chunks out if it) but have known people use breeze blocks or bricks, just to make it more difficult and, therefore, slower to eat.
 
Thanks for your replies everyone. She doesn't do it with hay just with her bucket feed. I have tried feeding from the ground and from a manger and she still chokes. She lives out with ad lib hay and never runs out so isn't hungry. I don't even think she is pigging it down now she just seems to be eating steady. I've even tried all sorts of different feeds but still the same. I thought I had cracked it until it happened again this morning. She seems better on speedy beet, grass nuts and micronized linseed as a slop but still choked today. I give her a small amount for her vits so not getting a huge amount. I have spoken to the vets and she's been in twice and they can't see a problem. I will have to speak to them again. The dentist looked at her teeth at Christmas but she's only two so didn't need anything doing.
 
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My horse recently had an episode of choke although I believe he may have had it before but had cleared it before I found him.
My vet said feeding from a height is better for those prone to choke. I now always feed from a door bucket and his feed is very, very wet. I feed speedy eat but soak at least overnight now just to be safe.
It really is horrible when it happens and very distressing for the horse x
 
I had a mare prone to choke. She had a very bad experience when the vet tried to treat her very first episode (blood everywhere) and was always prone after that. A different vet suggested that there may have been some scarring from the original treatment. Sloppy feeds helped, but she was always most likely to choke February/March time when she was also prone to asthma attacks. I don't know if there was any connection between allergy and choke, though.
 
Is your mare in need of feed? if she isn't I'd take her off it. If she needs supplements I would be using a handful of soaked grass nuts (A handful of already soaked, not dry) then mixing supplement into it.. keep it small.
 
Is she happy when she's fed? Sounds daft but is there anything that either disturbs her while she's eating; can other horses get close to her where she's eating or are they going past her box at the same time as these can all be caused by anxiety. Do you have large lumps of rock salt in her manger so she has no chance of just hoovering it up? I choke if food/liquid hits the back of my mouth so I'm just wondering if a more solid diet that she couldn't just suck in than slop would be better in this case.
What is she like if you give her a nut from your hand?
 
In a horse of that age it's actually possible she has a congenital or developmental issue contributing to it. Providing teeth are ok I would move on to scoping to check for any laryngeal problems or scarring to the oesophageal lining. It is possible that she's anxious, but particularly considering her age, I'd move to scoping her and further investigation. One I looked at that had recurrent choke episodes over 6-9 months actually had a small piece of blackthorn embedded in its oesophageal wall!
 
Maesfen said:
Is she happy when she's fed? Sounds daft but is there anything that either disturbs her while she's eating; can other horses get close to her where she's eating or are they going past her box at the same time as these can all be caused by anxiety. Do you have large lumps of rock salt in her manger so she has no chance of just hoovering it up? I choke if food/liquid hits the back of my mouth so I'm just wondering if a more solid diet that she couldn't just suck in than slop would be better in this case.
What is she like if you give her a nut from your hand?
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We had an elderly cob who started to have choke episodes, the dentist thought that it could be caused in her case by lack of some teeth. she had quite large feeds of soaked grassnuts and Speedibeet, she was less likely to choke if a good amount of grass chaff was added to her feed.
 
My young horse sadly died after a severe choking episode. He seemed to suffer several small episodes- eyes rolling back in his head then spastic coughing with food finally flying out half chewed. Advised by vet school to add chaff to well soaked feed, mix well and feed with large round stones in the bowel at chest height. Several caps were also removed from his teeth which was inhibiting his chewing.
Thought we had solved it until someone else fed him dry unmollassed chaff without the stones in his bowl. He choked straight away and died in trailer en route to vet school. PM found chaff in the lungs and airway :(
 
One of mine was prone to choke, I cured him by putting three large brick sized stones in a rubber bucket and feeding him from that - he couldnt grab enough at a time to choke on - worked for years.
 
Thanks for your replies everyone. I forgot to add she does have chaff in her feed. I could try the stones in her manger but as I said I don't think she is rushing her feed down now. She isn't anxious when eating she just stands there relaxed with her hind leg resting the other two are eating in another paddock so not near to her. She's eaten fine this morning and probably will for a few weeks now and then bang it will happen again. She does only have a hand full of feed, soaked overnight, for her vits and she needs the micronized linseed for her feet.
 
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