Would you take on a horse wit ha heart murmur??

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Milanesa

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Said horse free to good home- but would you take it on? It has been preofessionally checked, and although the murmur is rare, it is said it is at no greater risk than any other horse...Horse 15h chestnut mare (i know!), 9 yrs old, would ideally be for happy hacking....thoughts people?
 
One of William Fox-Pitt's horses had a heart murmer, they only found out once it had been shortlisted for the Olympics. So yes, I would too:)
 
Yes I would, I had the vet check over my old horse a month or so ago and he said he had a heart murmer. I said well what should I do about that? he said, nothing, its just that he might tire a bit more easily.

Horse is 30......:D
 
Spudlet said:
One of William Fox-Pitt's horses had a heart murmer, they only found out once it had been shortlisted for the Olympics. So yes, I would too:)
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if its ok for him then it can't be bad! i dont have much of a problem with it, so glad other peeps feel the same!
 
Mine has a stage one heart murmur picked up in a 5 stage vetting.
Basically its a heart squeak that can be heard through a stethescope when Buffy is stood at rest. Basically she has such a big heart that when she is just resting it just slogs along and squeaks.
It is classed as a stage 1 heart murmur but it goes away when ridden.
For me it would depend on the severity of the murmur. Obviously if it had a stage 4 heart murmur then no I wouldn't take it on, but I did buy Buffy despite her stage 1 heart murmur!
 
Damnation said:
Mine has a stage one heart murmur picked up in a 5 stage vetting.
Basically its a heart squeak that can be heard through a stethescope when Buffy is stood at rest. Basically she has such a big heart that when she is just resting it just slogs along and squeaks.
It is classed as a stage 1 heart murmur but it goes away when ridden.
For me it would depend on the severity of the murmur. Obviously if it had a stage 4 heart murmur then no I wouldn't take it on, but I did buy Buffy despite her stage 1 heart murmur!
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was clasified as a stage 4...does not go on exercise/rest etc, it is a strange one that the specialist said she has only ever seen one other with, but i know horses history of past 3 years and it has competed etc with no problems ....
 
My friends horse has a murmur, tb it is, makes no difference to him whatsoever. I think the only thing is weight gain but think the horse was neglected in previous home.

I only pointed out the weight gain, as my daughter (10 months old) has a heart murmur and she had weight gain problems.

That has not been verified by a vet however and doesn't affect the horse, he goes jumping, x- country etc etc so yh wouldn't be a problem.
 
I <3 My Teddi said:
My friends horse has a murmur, tb it is, makes no difference to him whatsoever. I think the only thing is weight gain but think the horse was neglected in previous home.

I only pointed out the weight gain, as my daughter (10 months old) has a heart murmur and she had weight gain problems.

That has not been verified by a vet however and doesn't affect the horse, he goes jumping, x- country etc etc so yh wouldn't be a problem.
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she is also not the fattest horse in the field lo, i said to the vet is this not to do with the murmur he said no but i am convinced it has something to do with it! thank you for someone lese who thinks the same, i have see na few with murmurs and all were not great at keeping weight on!
 
I bought my old mare who was 13 at the time and failed a vetting with a heart murmour. Vet said if she had of been 5 he would advise me to look elsewhere for the money but as she was older and it was unlikely to affect her seriously ( we wanted her for BSJA and she was a really experienced schoolmistress) to give it a go. We offered on her though and i had a lot of fun with her until she did a suspensory lig and is now retired at 20.

I would say if its reflected in the price give the horse a chance. :)
 
I would investigate the horse's history a bit more.
Has the murmur been getting progressively worse over time do you know? A grade 4 murmur is getting up the scale a bit. I would want to compare with the last couple of check ups to be on the safe side.

My horse went from a grade 3 at 27years to a grade 5 at 29years. Obviously his was age related so slightly different to your horse.
Grade 3 he was fine, no trouble at all
grade 4 a bit of trouble keeping weight on and advised only very light hacking, but I retired him to be on the safe side.
grade 5 significant impact - a lot of trouble keeping weight on, you could see the backflow of blood up his jugular where his heart wasn't working properly and he occasionally went a bit light headed at rest but could gallop up the field with no ill effect if the mood took him :). Extra care was needed in the winter as heart conditions get much worse in the cold.

Given my experience I think you might be right about the light condition being related to the heart.

Hope this is helpful.
 
Just to add, my horse did not have a murmur at all until old age :mad: laid her hand on him
*shakes fist at old age*
 
pony person said:
was clasified as a stage 4...does not go on exercise/rest etc, it is a strange one that the specialist said she has only ever seen one other with, but i know horses history of past 3 years and it has competed etc with no problems ....
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Can I ask who the specialist is? I have a horse with a rare type of murmur who is seen by Lesley Young - apparently the only one she knows of. Just thinking my horse may possibly be the other horse your specialist is talking about. Do you know what sort of murmur your horse has?
 
Yes my best polo pony has a heart murmur. It was stage 3 when I bought her and is now stage 1 after playing a lower level of polo. She is 20 yrs old but people say she looks 8!

We always make sure she is gotten fit and never does any fast work unless she has been through a fitness regime fast. Keeping them fit and lean (not ribby but muscly and no fat) as the more fat around the heart the greater the risk.

As long as you plan to manage the horse well, keep it fit then I would jump at the chance. Why is it free though? x
 
zoon said:
Can I ask who the specialist is? I have a horse with a rare type of murmur who is seen by Lesley Young - apparently the only one she knows of. Just thinking my horse may possibly be the other horse your specialist is talking about. Do you know what sort of murmur your horse has?
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hey yes it ws lesley, she has a grade 4 diastolic murmur, mwith modearte aortic valve regurgitation..
 
H.K.D said:
Yes my best polo pony has a heart murmur. It was stage 3 when I bought her and is now stage 1 after playing a lower level of polo. She is 20 yrs old but people say she looks 8!

We always make sure she is gotten fit and never does any fast work unless she has been through a fitness regime fast. Keeping them fit and lean (not ribby but muscly and no fat) as the more fat around the heart the greater the risk.

As long as you plan to manage the horse well, keep it fit then I would jump at the chance. Why is it free though? x
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lol hkd, it is a polo pony too! free because of the murmur-rather a good home foc than someone buy it and try and get their moneys worth if u see what i mean...
 
RebelRebel said:
I would investigate the horse's history a bit more.
Has the murmur been getting progressively worse over time do you know? A grade 4 murmur is getting up the scale a bit. I would want to compare with the last couple of check ups to be on the safe side.

My horse went from a grade 3 at 27years to a grade 5 at 29years. Obviously his was age related so slightly different to your horse.
Grade 3 he was fine, no trouble at all
grade 4 a bit of trouble keeping weight on and advised only very light hacking, but I retired him to be on the safe side.
grade 5 significant impact - a lot of trouble keeping weight on, you could see the backflow of blood up his jugular where his heart wasn't working properly and he occasionally went a bit light headed at rest but could gallop up the field with no ill effect if the mood took him :). Extra care was needed in the winter as heart conditions get much worse in the cold.

Given my experience I think you might be right about the light condition being related to the heart.

Hope this is helpful.
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hey rebelrebel, yes i was thinkign to get anothr scan done this year to compare with last years, as the specialist suggested then we can see if there has been any deterioration, very useful post thank you!
 
I'm going to put it out there and say NO not in a million years! I've seen two horrific falls on the gallops where horses with murmurs were kept in work and despite fabulous fittening regimes and super care both dropped dead in a hack canter. They were in two seperate yards but my vet has always said there are enough horses out there without heart murmurs!!! That being said if there is an underlying reason that can be fixed that is a different story eg a friend of mine got a horse with serious liver issues and his heart had a murmur...12 months on liver issues resolved and heart is fine.
 
pony person said:
hey yes it ws lesley, she has a grade 4 diastolic murmur, mwith modearte aortic valve regurgitation..
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That's my horse then! Grade 4/5 at the moment and still in work. Going to see Lesley in June for a check at the race school. His improves when worked. If you want any more info then just pm me. I've had my horse with this murmur for nearly 7 years and see Lesley every year.
 
I'd go for it. Heart murmers can be related to fitness as well.

I bought a horse, which when vetted presented a grade 3 heart murmer. He'd been turned away and only back in work for two months. When I sold him three years on, when he was fit - no murmer was in evidence and he passed the vetting with flying colours.
 
I have a mare that only showed a heart murmur when she got impaction and spasmodic colic at the same time, time off and all was fine.
I keep her weight regular not fat and not thin, at her last vacs different vet from same practice could no longer hear the murmur and asked if i was sure she had one.
But a level 4 not sure i would take the risk, there is still the chance if working hard the exertion could make the heart give out
 
zoon said:
That's my horse then! Grade 4/5 at the moment and still in work. Going to see Lesley in June for a check at the race school. His improves when worked. If you want any more info then just pm me. I've had my horse with this murmur for nearly 7 years and see Lesley every year.
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wow zoon, this is amazing! yes i need to have her re-checked i think to see if there has been any degenaration, if you have had yours for 7 years then thats great news, yes she was unsure as there aren't many other horses with this type, but if yours has similar and has been ok with no further degeneration then thats good news! how old is your horse, is it also fairly young?
 
"Heart murmur" doesn't tell you anything really. You need a vet to diagnose properly and make a judgement call as to what kind of work, if any, the horse is suitable for.

Heart murmurs can vary from low grade ones that do not get worse with exercise and have no effect on the animal or its ability to be ridden, to severe ones that can cause the horse to drop dead at any moment. Without knowing what is causing the murmur there is no way to tell!
 
i took on a youngster who was so well bred but had quite a murmur,he was flat racing and quite a lad- he was excellent for hacking and i loved him to bits,he eventually went to the Shocomohle,forgive my spelling, jumping yard abroad.
 
pony person said:
hey yes it ws lesley, she has a grade 4 diastolic murmur, mwith modearte aortic valve regurgitation..
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Sorry, I hadn't see this when I posted above!

I am not a vet, I think this is too complicated a topic for lay people to advise you, the only thing I would say about aortic valve regurgitation from my experience with a dog is that it tends to get worse. But perhaps the prognosis is entirely different with a horse.
 
Heart murmurs are caused by turbulent flow of blood within the horses heart, and can be caused by many many different things.

It is not always a sign of disease or concern - "flow murmurs" are actually sometimes present in horses simply for the fact they are fit. Some heart murmurs are congenital, and again prognosis vary depending on the exact nature of the condition, then some heart murmurs are due to disorders of the heart valves and could possibly be degenerative.

Basically, what I'm saying is that there are many many different reasons for a horse having a heart murmur, and yes some horses are completely fine, whereas others may have an impact on the horse. So the main thing is to get your vets opinion and the implications of that possible condition.

The only thing I can liken it too is having a lame horse - say Mrs A had a horse that was brought in from the field that was hoping lame - completely non weight bearing. She was really worried and called the vet. The vet came and found a foot abscess. It recovered and Mrs A was back in the saddle in no time. A few years later Mrs A's friend Mrs B got her horse in hoping lame from the field, again completely non weight bearing lame. Mrs A told her friend not to be worried as her horse had the same symptoms and it was fine. They got out the vet again, but this time the horse had fractured its leg and had to be PTS.

I know this might seem like a stupid analegy (and possibly is?! makes sense in my strange little head lol. Also I don't seem to be able to spell....) but what I'm trying to say is that a heart murmur is a general term like a horse "being lame" and can have several different prognosis' depending on the acual cause. Also to throw it out there - with regards to the grading of heart murmurs, it is not ALWAYS the case that louder = worst, but obviously again each individual case is different so take your vets advice! (although I can only think of one that this is the case - again just trust what your vet says not what some berk (i.e. me ;)) off the internert says :))

Oops just re-read your original post and seems I've gone off on a bit of a tangent as you said a specialist has checked it and said it was ok. Well if that is the case and you like the horse go for it!!
 
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