Would you ride a veteran horse with a pronounced heart murmur?

Orchardbeck

Orchardbeck

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As title really. Vet informed me my old girl has a strong heart murmur. She is 27 but we had been enjoying the odd hack in the woods with a little canter every now and again, which she enjoyed and my young daughters had been riding her on the lead rein in the paddock at home.

Now I'm too scared to do anything with her (especially with the girls) in case she drops down dead on me. Am I being totally irrational?
 
My daughter was advised not to ride her horse by the vet. At first she ok at walk or steady trot, but then reviewed the readings and said no. Ask your vet thier advice?
 
Did the vet tell you what they thought the cause of the murmer was or whether they thought there was a risk?
Heart murmers can be very loud and be almost completely benign or alternatively can be high risk. The vet might not know with out performing an ECG or Echo but whats causing the murmer would decide me on whether I'd be happy riding a horse with a murmer.
 
Depends on the severity of it. Older horses can have a tendency to stiffen up or become lethargic if not ridden. If you're worried, keep to walk and trot only and don't over exert her with too many new experiences that raise heart beat or stress. Gentle and consistent would be best.
 
If she is sensible and enjoys the odd quiet hack then why not if you are fairly experienced and can get off quickly. My husband's horse has a grade 4 aortic murmur which has been scanned and exercise ECG'd. He has decided not to ride him as he is a novice rider and would not be able to get off quickly. The diagnosis was 3 years ago so he is a field ornament albeit one that likes to have flat out hoons very regularly!! He also does a good looking dead in the field so much so that someone came to the house on Friday to tell us we had a sick horse. I thought he was dead as well, I looked out of the window and there was a crow sitting on him - by the time I had gone downstairs and out to the gate (60m) he was up and grazing!!
 
My mum's horse collapsed in May of this year for no apparent reason. He had numerous physical issues so was only in light work to manage (& improve) these issues.

The vet was called and he found a murmur. I don't know enough about them to know to guess as to why but it wasn't there when his heart was checked at his last vaccination. There was no cure and the only option the vet could offer was a 48hr+ stay at the hospital for monitoring/ECG but that would only give a more precise diagnosis; not a cure. If it was a certain type it could apparently be managed with steroids.

The vet advised that the horse was ridden again and common sense already indicated that. My mum was lucky that he threw her clear when he went down (she's 60 and has mild MS) and that they rarely broke out of walk. In total he was field bound for 3wks unridden after the collapse and even with 24/7 movement his physical issues prevailed and he became much stiffer and unlevel again.

We would have kept him as a field ornament forever but the concern that he could collapse on a person when being handled or have a serious injury caused by a collapse in the field was too great. Sadly he was pts in June of this year.

I'm not saying that's what you should do but that's the path we chose for mum's horse (who, like I said, had other physical issues). It wasn't easy but it saved him any suffering so was the best we could do for him with the options we had available.

Wishing you the best, it's not easy.
 
The chances of the horse dropping dead suddenly depends on the type of murmur, so you need to discuss with your vet whether it's safe to continue to ride this particular horse.
 
Depends..... at 27, probably not - I'd go ride something younger and without a compromised heart, but I rode my dressage horse for 13 years with a pronounced heart murmur with no issues other than a slight lack of stamina. He died at 16 of something unrelated. In a long career with horses, I have had two horses collapse and die whilst I was riding them, neither had been diagnosed with heart problems.
 
My friend's horse was diagnosed with a heart murmour this year and he's in his early 20's. Vet said best to retire, not worth the risk to either horse or rider but he was showing very definite signs of tiring easily during work.
 
We have a 26 year old with a heart murmur. The vet has said ok to ride, but not to exert her. She is very forward, and we keep a close eye on her, but she loves being ridden, so is still going. We wouldn't let anyone else ride her now though, as we know her better than anyone.
 
Quite simply, no I wouldn't. I had a 25yo NF on loan when I was 13. He collasped twice unexplained and vet did ECG. Advised heart trouble and not to ride. Isn't worth the risk imo.
 
In short... no. I have seen the results when a pony (only 9 years old) dropped dead with his young jockey. Heartbreaking for all concerned.
 
I have been on a horse when it dropped dead underneath me. I have seen two horses die of probable heart failure with riders on board. Getting off safely is simply not an option.

I would not ride your horse.
 
Thanks for all the advice everyone, I really appreciate it. You've kind of confirmed what I know in my heart anyway, I just needed to hear someone else say it. I'm gutted as I feel like I've missed out on the last few years with having kids but then again she obviously hasn't been to for anything strenuous anyway. We've had some really nice woodland rides this autumn, but I think I have to leave it at that now, so I can keep those memories. I keep her at home so we'll just keep going as we are until the inevitable happens, she enjoys a canter round the field each morning with her little pony friend and I'm not going to stop that, it is a joy to watch even if some days she is a little bit stiff.

My heart is breaking, but I have to keep everyone safe xx
 
I'm going to go a bit against the grain here, and say that you should ask your vet for more information. Some murmurs and/or irregularities are cause for concern, and others not so much---and the strength of the murmur isn't the only factor. Your vet, having actually heard this murmur, would be in the best position to advise you if it warrants further investigation and/or a change to what you do with the horse. At her age, it may well be that the vet will advise retiring her, but a forum can't do that, really.

My endurance pony (mid-teens) occasionally shows a low-grade murmur (1 or 2) at vettings, including vet gates, at a ride. Never once has a vet spun us because of it, or advised further investigation (and it's the equine sport where listening to the heart is critical for determining the vet's decision to allow the horse to continue). There's a particular German term for the tendency of very fit horses to have heart irregularities of some sort; I'll try to find the English term somewhere...does anyone know? Granted, I'm guessing that's unlikely to apply to a 27yo horse used only for light hacking!

Whatever you find out and whatever you decide, I wish your mare many happy healthy years! :)
 
Thank you Spookypony, we also used to do endurance up to 32km and never once was any heart murmur or anything else picked up at any of the vettings. My husband has just said almost exactly what you and others have said re vets advice -I'll give them a call in the morning, it's just the worst case scenarios are going round my head...
 
Auslander said:
The chances of the horse dropping dead suddenly depends on the type of murmur, so you need to discuss with your vet whether it's safe to continue to ride this particular horse.
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^^^this

I continued lightly hacking my old boy until 29, we even still had the odd blast. Vet's advice was it was unlikely to happen. I figured that if he was going to drop dead out hacking, that would make him happy. He didn't, his heart started failing one day so we said goodbye to him.
 
Only your vet can really advise how high the risk is in riding. With mine when she developed a severe murmur there was a chance of fainting type episodes, she got to a stage where we deemed that too dangerous to continue ridden work - you need to consider the risk to yourself should the horse collapse & fall on you and also potentially road users or other riders who could be affected should a medical event happen.
 
spookypony said:
Is your profile pic your mare at a ride? Looks lovely! :)
I really hope the vet has either good news, or at least non-bad news for you! :)
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Thank you very much, we were at the 2009 Cumberland Challenge on that one, but I've had three children since then so she's had an easy time of things the last couple of years.
 
I figured that if he was going to drop dead out hacking, that would make him happy
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My horse died happy all right, in the middle of a hack. He also knocked me out so I lost two hours and didn't have a clue where I was even though I was close to home in a familiar place. The fall deafened me in my right ear so I wear a hearing aid and gave me concussion for weeks. I count myself lucky to be alive and not more hurt.

I understand what people are saying about asking the vet, but with my experience you wouldn't get me on a 27 year old horse who has developed a heart murmur which it never had before. Unless it was small enough to have my feet on the floor :D
 
Our old mare was diagnosed with a 3/4 heart murmur at aged 26, but was told it wasn't necessarily anything to be concerned about due to it's type and that she was fit. But, even though she'd just accompanied a 3 day eventer on a XC fit test the day before and showed zero signs of any issue, I did subconsciously slow her down afterwards and retired her to happy hacker. The vet couldn't understand how she was as fit as she was, at her age without any issues, and without it being picked up before which I guess is why he said to not unduly worry.

She was also diagnosed with Cushings about 6 weeks afterwards, which I wonder made the murmur more pronounced.
 
My first horse had a heart murmur, diagnosed when I rescued him at 23.

The vet said he was fine to hack, he died whilst out on a hack. Luckily I was only walking and I realised immediately that he was dithering. Jumped off him and he collapsed.

For him it was probably a lovely way to go but for me it was very traumatic and took me a long time to stop blaming myself for taking him out that day.

I know that he'd of most likely gone in the field anyway but if I was in that situation I wouldn't do it again. Especially as you are potentially putting yourself at risk if they collapse on you.
 
Orchardbeck said:
As title really. Vet informed me my old girl has a strong heart murmur. She is 27 but we had been enjoying the odd hack in the woods with a little canter every now and again, which she enjoyed and my young daughters had been riding her on the lead rein in the paddock at home.

Now I'm too scared to do anything with her (especially with the girls) in case she drops down dead on me. Am I being totally irrational?
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No I wouldnt take the risk.
 
I wouldn't see a problem with the girls having a sit on and being led round the paddock as this is what my 30 year old mare did when she was retired. She liked coming in for a groom and a fuss and kids loved sitting on her and being led around. Providing the kids are small and not heavy and bothersome then I don't see a problem. However I wouldn't want to risk going out hacking and never did once my mare wad retired, we went for walks down the lane to trim my dad's grass because she loved it and loved getting out and about :)
 
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