Choke in Horses

 

Choke is more likely when horses don’t use slow feeders, and concentrated feeds are not soaked in water. 

 

What is Horse Choke?

 

• Equine choke occurs when food material, or something else your horse eats, gets trapped in the esophagus on its way to the stomach.

 

• The esophagus then becomes partially or totally blocked by this obstruction. The dangers lie with the subsequent chance of pneumonia, esophageal rupture, and resulting inflammation.

 

• Instances of choke can last minutes, hours, or even days.

 

Causes of Choke in Horses

 

Speedy eating

 

• Most horses choke because they have eaten commercial feeds or grains too quickly. The ration may be too big for one feeding, or the horse decides to enter an imaginary eating contest and snarfs down their food too fast.

 

Chewing and saliva

 

• A lack of adequate chewing is also a factor. Horses with dental problems or fast eating habits often forgo the necessary chewing.

 

• Not enough saliva also contributes to choke. This dryness may be in combination with inadequate chewing, dehydration, or other medical problems that don’t give your horse enough saliva to begin digestion.

 

• Food can clump into a bolus, or hard lump, without proper chewing and saliva. Some horses quid and manage to spit these chunks out, while other horses may swallow them, creating an esophageal obstruction.

 

Pica

 

• When horses eat non-food materials, it’s called pica. This condition tempts horses to eat manure, wood, dirt, sticks, shavings, and anything else that is a foreign body.

 

• It’s easy to see how sticks, fencing, and other random things won’t begin to digest and can easily block your horse’s esophagus.

 

Horses that eat fencing create more than just more barn chores.

 

Age and health

 

• Choke can affect a horse or pony of any age at any time. However, youngsters and senior horses are more likely to develop choke.

 

Unseen medical conditions

 

• Horses are not immune to tumors, swollen lymph nodes, anatomical anomalies, or hidden injuries and trauma that affect the esophagus and early parts of the digestive system.

 

• Neurological or muscular disorders or injuries may also interfere with the esophagus’s muscular contractions, called peristalsis, that transport food to the stomach.

 

Primary and Secondary Choke in Horses

 

• Primary choke is when food or anything else eaten by a horse blocks the esophagus.

 

• Secondary choke occurs as a result of an unknown medical condition. This could be an ongoing condition, like a tumor. In other cases, a previous choke creates swelling and sometimes scar tissue that impedes digestion.

 

Complications of Choke

 

• Even the mildest case of equine choke can have terrible consequences.

 

Swelling and rupture

 

• There can be enough swelling in the esophagus to cause pain, interfere with eating, and create another episode of choke in the coming days.

 

• The esophagus can rupture. This tearing happens from the blockage or attempts to move the blockage and is a primary reason NOT to massage the area or force water into your horse’s throat.

 

• A rupture can cause sepsis (a whole-body infection) and death.

 

Dehydration

 

• In some cases, dehydration is a factor or a consequence. With a blockage, your horse won’t be able to drink, further complicating things.

 

Pneumonia

 

• Horses try and swallow to pass obstructions along. Because of this giant roadblock, the saliva and latent food in the esophagus can back up into the throat area and may accidentally enter the lungs.

 

• Aspiration pneumonia occurs when a horse breathes in saliva or food residue due to the blockage.

 

Studies about aspiration pneumonia and choke

 

• One retrospective study found that the longer horses labored with choke, the more likely they were to develop pneumonia.

 

You can read the synopsis here.

 

• Another study examined over 100 horses and found a relationship between an increased respiratory rate and the likelihood of pneumonia.

 

Read a synopsis of this study here.

 

Slow feeders exist for grains and pellets. 

 

Signs of Esophageal Obstruction in Horses

 

• Signs of choke range from the obvious to the subtle.

 

• Your horse is standing still and not eating. Standing still is not usually abnormal, but standing still mid-eating sure is.

 

• You may see a panicked expression, even while standing still.

 

• Your horse may stretch out their head and neck, looking for relief. 

 

• There may be gagging, retching, and weird noises as they try to move the offending blockage.

 

• Some horses yawn, stretch, or cough.

 

• Your horse’s neck muscles may twitch.

 

• They may try and spit out their food.

 

• There may be drool and food bits dropping from their mouth.

 

• You may see frothy discharge that is food colored and looks like drool but out of the nose.

 

• There may be a visible lump along the bottom of their neck at the location of the obstruction. Don’t touch it.

 

Why Equine Choke is an Emergency

 

• The primary reason to call your vet is to comfort your horse and prevent rupture, scarring, sepsis, pneumonia, and death.

 

• This situation is NOT a time to “wait and see.” Call your veterinarian right away.

 

A vet needs to do a full exam – including checking lung function – during a call about choke.

 

What you should do

 

• Call your vet.

 

• Remove all food and water so your horse can’t eat or drink.

 

• Reduce your horse’s stress. You may need to turn off music, move your horse to their favorite quiet and safe spot, or bring your horse’s neighbor in for close company. Or take a pesky neighbor away.

 

• Take your horse’s vital signs. This allows your vet to compare them to their normals and can track pain levels and stress. Start a log.

 

• Follow your vet’s instructions until they arrive.

 

Read more about taking your horse’s vitals here.

 

Treatments

 

• A proper diagnosis will give you a treatment and prevention plan to reduce inflammation and help prevent scarring and other complications. While many cases of choke resolve smoothly, your vet can help determine the cause of the choke and severity of the choke.

 

Your vet can provide:

 

• Pain medications to manage discomfort.

 

• Anti-spasmotic medications to relax the muscles of the esophagus.

 

• Sedatives and muscle relaxant medications.

 

• IV fluids if dehydration is part of the cause or a concern for recovery.

 

• Lavage (flushing) to safely introduce water into your horse via a stomach tube (also called a nasogastric tube) to help blockages pass. This process is much more complicated than forcing a horse to drink with a tube, as the lubricating fluids must avoid the airway.

 

• Some horses require surgical management to remove the blockage.

 

The Recovery Process and Follow-up Care

 

• Aftercare for a choking episode focuses on preventing complications, reducing inflammation in the esophagus, and helping your horse feel better. You will likely have some immediate things to do and some ongoing lifestyle changes to make.

 

A simple thermometer can alert you to possible infections and illness long before your horse tells you. 

 

Observation and vital signs

 

• It’s never been more important to check your horse’s vital signs than after an emergency, which means you need to know their normal, resting vital signs.

 

• Your horse’s heart rate (pulse) will increase during stress or pain.

 

• Their respiratory rate may also increase with stress and pain.

 

• Your horse’s temperature will rise as they develop a fever, which clearly indicates complications and secondary bacterial infections.

 

Feeding protocols after choke

 

• Your horse will need to eat slowly to minimize further damage to the lining of the esophagus. Feed much slower than before the episode.

 

Use slow feeders

 

• If you don’t use hay nets, it’s time to start. If you use hay nets, double up to make this eating puzzle take longer and help prevent choke in horses.

 

• Use special slow feeders once your horse can eat “grain,” concentrates, or commercial feeds again. You can also make one by adding jolly balls or other round toys to a large bin.

 

• Divide your horse’s feeds into more “meals” than before. If their rations were twice daily, make it four times or more per day instead.

 

Grazing

 

• If pasture grass is part of your horse’s regular diet, this is a great way for them to eat.

 

• Use a grazing muzzle to slow them down and create smaller morsels of grass passing through their digestive system.

 

 

Soupy food is less likely to cause a choking episode in your horse. These hay pellets will soak up all of this water in about 5 minutes. 

 

Add water to everything

 

• Your horse’s diet and feeding plan should include soaking forage and feeds. With a lot of water!

 

• Be mindful of soaked hay in summer, as it can get musty and rotten if squished in hay nets for too long.

 

Give medications

 

• Your vet may give you antibiotics, anti-inflammatories, or other meds to keep your horse calm and happy during recovery.

 

• Finish all medications as prescribed, even if your horse looks better.

 

Risk Factors for Choke in Horses

 

• Some risk factors, like tumors, are invisible. Others can be remedied with management changes. Risk factors include:

 

• Dental health – Missing teeth, waves, ramps, and painful hooks in a horse’s mouth create improper chewing.

 

• Age – Older horses and youngsters may be more likely to choke.

 

• Feeding routine – How much pelleted food, grain, or concentrated feed do you offer at a time? Less is better.

 

• Feeding dry food – Dry feeds need more chewing and saliva to digest.

 

• Hydration – A dehydrated horse is less likely to have enough saliva to chew and digest their food properly.

 

• Previous incidences – A past choke episode (or more) will increase the chance of scarring.

 

• Using sedatives – When a horse is sedated, the muscular peristalsis that moves food along slows down.

 

• Conditions like megaesophagus – Megaesophagus is a constant enlargement of the esophagus and slows muscular movement.

 

 

Is choke more common in certain horse breeds?

 

• Choke can affect any horse of any breed, but Friesians are more likely to have esophageal problems that may contribute to choke. It’s also seen frequently in minis and ponies. Feeding protocols are influential in the risk of choke.

 

How to Prevent Choke in Horses

 

• Follow some simple protocols to prevent this emergency:

 

• Dental care – Have your vet provide regular dental examinations and floatings so your horse stays ahead of teeth and chewing problems.

 

• Soupy food is less likely to cause a choking episode in your horse.

 

• Watch your horse eat. Do they eat super fast? What about rations/grain/supplements? Are they trying to break some eating speed record here? There are lots of things you can do to slow down eating.

 

• Feed less food over more meals. Small quantities are best.

 

• Use slow feeders for long-stem hay and all feeds to prevent rapid feed consumption.

 

• Add water to rations for hydration and to increase feeding time.

 

• Soak or steam your horse’s hay to prevent choke in horses and help respiratory health.

 

• Add pasture grazing between “meals” to mimic a more natural routine.

 

• Adjust your buckets! Add BIG rocks to buckets or tubs to create a slow-feeding obstacle course.

 

• Only feed tiny, chopped-up treats.

 

• Take steps to prevent pica! Learn more about why horses eat weird things here.

 

• Discourage wood chewing.

 

This is freshly steamed hay.  Soaking hay is also good. 

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