Heart Murmer

[cloang]

Does anyone have experience of an heart murmer? Just had a vetting done on a pony for my daughter and vet said she had a heart murmer, but he was pretty sure it was not serious. However, for insurance purposes I would need to have a scan done (cost approx £200.00). Any opinions please:(

[Tots N Dots]

a lady I know has horse with a heart murmer, she cant ride her as the vet said she could have heart attack under the strain, it is probably more serious than the ponies, but if it was one that gets worse you could be letting yourself in for problems in the future? plus if your daughter grows out of the pony in the future or she wants to start doing cross country etc which may be too much for the problem (sorry dont know daughters age) you could have problems with rehoming the pony? if it was me then I would think that there are plenty of ponies out there without a heart murmer, sorry if that seems blunt just my opinion, feel free to dissagree :D

[Mehitabel]

as your vet has heard it and thinks it'd bne ok, i'd be guided by that. when i once rode one for a vetting a heart murmur was picked up - vet said it was severe enough to affect fittening for 3 day eventing, but nothing below that. one of our school ponies has one too, and vet has cleared him for our work but not much above that.

i have one too, and i'm fine. :)

[Tots N Dots]

i have one too, and i'm fine. :)
I wouldn't discount you for having one :D but wouldn't want you to be giving someone a piggy back everyday :D :p :D

[Mehitabel]

not if it were a severe one, no - but doctors have cleared me for piggybacking as much as i like! i was a professional rider for a long time, and was fine with that level of fitness, but chances are i couldn't be an olympic sprinter if i felt that way inclined. they can vary so much in severity, that it's really impossible to advise without knowing the individual.

i would quiz the vet more about it.

[Jessey]

I was told last month our oldie has a murmur, the vet said that it is a fault on the valve outside the heart (not in the heart) so there is no concern of heart attacks. Basically in our case it is the 'back flow' valve that's not working properly....once the heart has done it job to pump the blood then this other valve should shut to stop and blood running back towatrds the heart when the valve in the heart opens again for its next cycle, but its not closing fully and is allowing a very small ammount of blood to come back, but not enough to put any strain on the heart. (blimey thats in real lay terms, but thats how I understood it :rolleyes: )

I was told he would be fine doing light/medium work but no eventing or anything, can't say that bothers us at all, phoenix is in his 30's and retired :p

If you really like the pony then I would say get the scan, maybe the current owner would split the cost with you?

J x

[DITZ]

i had a low grade murmur picked up on a vetting, it didnt affect my insurance though. Vet said that in order to pass the vetting I needed to have the scan done so i chose to have him fail the vetting. Murmurs vary according to severity, mine was 2 on a scale of 1-5 - wouldnt cause problems on a day to day or competition programme but would struggle round Badminton (but then so would I!:D )

[bevy]

When I was looking for a new horse, I went to see a beautiful Selle Francais which I had vetted. He told me it had a heart murmur and not to buy it. He did also say it might be fine but it could just keel over and die. I didn't buy it because I checked with my insurers and they said they wouldn't cover it for anything other than being kept at grass(based on what vet had said).

[cloang]

Thank you all for your replies, Ponies owner and I have decided to go halves on having a scan done - so will see what Monday brings:(

[Jessey]

Out of interest, how old is the pony? I think heart murmur's are meant to be less trouble in smaller animals then really big ones because there is less strain.

Hope it all goes well Monday, Let us know how you get on.

J x

[cloang]

She is 6 years old and 12.2hh, and is a first pony :D Perfect temprement for my daughter, passed the rest of the vetting with flying colours and even the vet commented on what a sweetie she was. Very disappointed at the moment:(

[Bay Mare]

Out of interest, how old is the pony? I think heart murmur's are meant to be less trouble in smaller animals then really big ones because there is less strain.

It depends what is causing the murmur. The 'murmur' is just the sound that the vet hears when he listens to the heart, it is the sound that is made when the blood flow is disrupted in some way.


the vet said that it is a fault on the valve outside the heart (not in the heart) so there is no concern of heart attacks. Basically in our case it is the 'back flow' valve that's not working properly....once the heart has done it job to pump the blood then this other valve should shut to stop and blood running back towatrds the heart when the valve in the heart opens again for its next cycle, but its not closing fully and is allowing a very small ammount of blood to come back, but not enough to put any strain on the heart. (blimey thats in real lay terms, but thats how I understood it )


The valves are in the heart, they are the 'junctions' between the different chambers (atrium and ventricle). Heart attacks are to do with the plumbing of the heart, it's when the arteries supplying the blood flow to the heart are furred up or even blocked (I've just written about it in another post so won't repeat myself!).

A 'leaky' valve needs to be checked quite regularly as if it becomes worse and leaks more this can affect the heart muscle. It does put a strain on the heart if it leaks too much because there is more blood in the ventricle (the main pumping chamber) than there should be so it needs more force to pump it out.

There are 'innocent' murmurs for which no apparent cause can be found. Anything else really does need to be monitored.

Please let us know the results of the scan, I hope that it all goes well and that there's nothing at all to worry about.

[Pink's lady]

the vet said that it is a fault on the valve outside the heart (not in the heart) so there is no concern of heart attacks. Basically in our case it is the 'back flow' valve that's not working properly....once the heart has done it job to pump the blood then this other valve should shut to stop and blood running back towatrds the heart when the valve in the heart opens again for its next cycle, but its not closing fully and is allowing a very small ammount of blood to come back, but not enough to put any strain on the heart

The valves are in the heart, they are the 'junctions' between the different chambers (atrium and ventricle). Heart attacks are to do with the plumbing of the heart, it's when the arteries supplying the blood flow to the heart are furred up or even blocked .

Sounds like Jessy means the aortic value, between the left ventrical and the aorta. This value should slam once the ventrical is empty and blood bounce back off it - that's what gives you the 'pulse' in the periphery -the shock wave of the blood back flowing and hitting the arotic valve. It's not ideal that the ventrical re-fills with aortic blood, but not serious - all it means is that the blood going round the body is marginally less oxygenated than it should be (it's being diluted with 'old' blood). As long as it's only a little back flow.

Cloang - there are many causes of murmur, many of them not serious. Murmur is just the sound you get when there's some disturbance is the blood flow - usually due to a faulty value. Which value dictates seriousness.

A huge percentage of the population (human and equine) have some level of heart murmur, but few are ever affected by it.

Get your vet to disscuss it. And £100 each isn't much to pay to test an otherwise perfect pony;)

[Bay Mare]

It's not ideal that the ventrical re-fills with aortic blood, but not serious - all it means is that the blood going round the body is marginally less oxygenated than it should be (it's being diluted with 'old' blood). As long as it's only a little back flow.

Well, actually, it can be serious depending on the regurgitation. If the regurgitation is significant then the heart muscle can become hypertrophied and, eventually, fail. The fact that it is a small leak at the moment doesn't mean that it will remain small, it must be checked at regular intervals as it could get worse. The best thing at the moment is to wait for the results of the echo and take it from there.

[Mary Poppins]

My horse has a heart murmour. This has ruled out any kind of strenous work at all - we can't go on canter hacks or jump etc. She has got leg problems so can't do fast work anyway so it doesn't make any difference to us. We are happy just walking around the fields.

[teabiscuit]

my cat had a heart murmer diagnosed- the vet said she wouldn't live very long. She was 6 months old at the time. She died two years ago aged 13!! RIP Susie, she was an ace cat. Nothing to do with your horse i know, but it just goes to show, with all due respect, vets don't always get it right.
My horse had a heart murmer picked up last year but vet said it was nothing to worry about-i think it depends exactly what's causing it.

[Wally]

Murmurs can be caused by all sorts of things, my son had one, but it was described as "innocent" and it's never stopped him from piggy backs!

Be guided by the scan, if it's innocent then be guided by the vet's opinion.