wind ops

TBminx

New Member
Mar 22, 2013
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Anyone have a horse who has had this done?

Our gelding exracer was hobdayed before we owned him which of course I have read up on but wondered what the recovery involves??
 
Just before he came to me, Joey had an operation for an epiglottic entrapment and a displaced soft palate. In fact, it was the reason he was for sale as he'd been uninsured at the time of the op and she needed the money to pay for it! He had a small "bagel" shaped piece of soft tissue removed that had overgrown. It is a one-off procedure and not known for re-growing, but obviously it is now excluded from his insurance.

Apparently he would have normally spent a week to 10 days post-op at the horspital but as the vet knows his previous owner well, he trusted him home to her care after 24 hours. Joey came home with a gaping hole in his throat - to allow it to heal from the inside out - he was starved for 48-hours post-op and then allowed wet sloppy feed - apparently a large proportion of it would go in the mouth and then fall OUT of the hole as he swallowed! :eek: He healed quickly, had a post-op scope to confirm all OK, healed and successful and she was told he could resume riding. The day after that I went and tried him. In fact, the vet's comments were also part of the decision to buy him - the vet had been most impressed by Joey's laid-back, gentle and placid attitude - very unusual for an "in-patient" apparently!

It probably worked out well for his healing that I was still recovering from my own accident last year so my rides on him consisted of around 20-mins of being led at a walk, whilst my trust and confidence re-built. The first few times I trotted him he would cough a bit, as if to clear his pipes, but as time went on and he got fitter, this stopped. He has been left with noisy breathing - I wouldn't call him a roarer, by comparison, he's a lot quieter, but he does breathe heavily after a canter or gallop, especially if it has been uphill. But it goes off within seconds now that he's fit and I don't think it affects his performance. At speed, I'm very relaxed and kind of let him dictate how far he thinks he's capable of, I don't push him, we're just happy hackers really.

And he has no voice, unfortunately the op damaged his larynx so he has something of a whispery whinny!!!
 
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