Anyone had a horse with a heart murmur?

[Mary Poppins]

The vet came out to do a routine check on the horses and found my shire to have a heart murmur. Apparently this is nothing to be too concerned about and she can carry on as normal as her workload is very light. She only hacks out in walk with the odd trot every so often. Any fast canter work or jumping has been ruled out but we don't do that anyway.

I just wondered if anyone else had a horse with a heart murmur and what differences you had to make to their everyday care. I am hoping that it won't make any difference...

It's typical in that I had some good news that I can ride my pony again (who has been lame for 6 weeks) and now my horse has a heart murmur!

[Bay Mare]

Hiya

There are different causes of heart murmur. A heart murmur is the sound that the vet hears when he listens to the heart rather than a specific condition. The murmur is usually caused by a disruption in the flow of blood. Some are 'innocent' and are just there with no ill effects whereas others can be caused by a problem with the heart valves so the care and usage would be different depending on the cause. Has he said what he thinks is the cause of the murmur? Is he going to investigate further?