Horses are not supposed to burp - but then what was my horse doing?

Scarlett 001

Scarlett 001

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Sep 16, 2003
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During Skeeter's colic episode last night, he did about 3 burp-like noises at various times. It definitely came from his mouth, and actually I was by him for one of them and it did not smell very nice at all.

I thought horses were not supposed to be able to burp or vomit. So what was he doing? Any guesses? I just am trying to figure out what was going on with him last night for future reference.
 
was it choke? pride choked once, got food lodged in his throught, horrible retching noises, had to massage the lump down his throught as vet found it was too far down to bring back up!
 
Horses have a one-wy flap at the back of their mouth, which allows stuff to only travel down. When something gets into the esophagus, it can actually come out the nose (which is why a choking horse drains liquid out the nose--such liquid can also wash back into the lungs). It's possible that the burp was gas coming from the stomach, up the esophagus, and possibly out the nose.

Otherwise, if he did the right combination of swallowing motions and timing, there might have actually been gases coming through his mouth. It'd be complicated, but then, so is human burping (and we manage it unconsciously).
 
I'll bet it was gas coming out the nose (or somehow through the mouth). Gosh, was it ever sad to see Skeeter looking so sorry for himself. The only remotely good thing about this is that it happened while my RI was around, and I learned an awful lot about the symptoms and monitoring his digestive gurgling etc. At least if it happens when I am alone, I will recognize things quickly (good news is that RI lives on the property, so she is almost always available in an emergency).
 
Just wanted to pop in say I hope Skeeter is recovering well today:) My mini shetland had the vet out for colic yesterday too, so I understand how you must have felt. Scary to see them looking so unhappy and in pain:(
 
We had a wind sucker who burped, just like a cow, there are no hard and fast rules with horses!
 
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