What was this?

[cptrayes]

Originally Posted by Miss L Toe

Why would a tie back make him choke?

A tie back is where the vocal chords are tied back out of the airway. Unfortunately this means taht they are also tied back out of the way of the oesophagus and the horse is more likely to breath in food and to regurgitate it back down its nose.

OP if your horse is an ex racer it's quite possible he has a tieback. You can't tell unless you scope them, the external scar is almost impossible to find on my horse.

Precautions are to always feed at ground level, damp (including the hay). Other than that there isn't much you can do except loosen or remove the band, but then your horse may not be able to breath, and some are very stressed by the laryngeal hemiplegia.

[VickyH]

We used to own a horse who was prone to choke, it does sound very much like that's what was wrong. I always added a good dollop of oil to his feed as well as making sure it was quite wet. It is very scarey to see them struggling like that though xx
I used to keep a syringe on hand too, if he got choke I'd syringe oil down his throat and gently massage down his neck too xx

[Footlights]

Thanks for your replies, since that scary incident I have been giving him very wet feeds and it hasn't happened since.

Great advice re oil. Did you just use normal oil such as vegetable oil?

[VickyH]

yep, I always add to my horses feeds anyway but he used to have an extra glug!

[Footlights]

Thanks, I will try this