Passage time may be as short as 15 minutes when the horse is consuming a large meal. If the horse is fasted, it will take 24 hours for the stomach to clear. How long does it take for food to pass through a horses gut? Any of these scenarios may Read more…
The technical term for choking down is dorsal displacement of the soft palate (DDSP). Trainers who say that a horse “swallowed his tongue” or “flipped his palate” are also referring to this misalignment of soft structures in the horse’s throat near the larynx. What does it mean when a horse Read more…
Choke is a relatively common condition that occurs when food or a foreign body blocks the horse’s esophagus (gullet), which is the tube that takes food from the back of the mouth (pharynx) to the stomach. Choke may be partial or complete. What does choked down mean in horse racing? Read more…
If your horse coughs occasionally, there is normally nothing to worry about. This is a perfectly natural way of keeping their airways clean from dust or small debris. Some coughs, however, may be an early sign of an inflammatory condition that deserves prompt action. When is a cough serious for Read more…
Signs of colic If this is the case, it is not necessary to force the horse to walk, as tradition often dictates, although movement may help move the impaction along the tract. If the horse does start rolling violently, however, the horse should be walked until veterinary help arrives. Does Read more…
Treatment involves surgical resection of the lipoma and strangulated bowel, although strangulated intestine is not always non-viable. Studies indicate that approximately 75% of horses are discharged from the hospital following surgical treatment, but the long-term survival (> 6 months) is closer to 50%. What is a strangulated obstruction? Strangulating or Read more…
What treatment is necessary? A choking horse should not be allowed to eat or drink, and should be kept as calm as possible until the obstruction can be cleared. Some chokes resolve without treatment, but in many cases a veterinarian must administer sedatives or muscle relaxants to loosen contractions of Read more…
I am very hungry. (idiomatic, hyperbolic) I am very hungry; short form of “I’m so hungry, I could eat a horse.” Where does I could eat a horse come from? Origin. The origin of the idiom is not known, but it has been used since the 19th century. It is Read more…
Horses were revered in ancient Greece as symbols of wealth, power, and status. On stunning black- and red-figure vases, in sculpture, and in other media, Greek artists depicted the daily care of horses, chariot and horseback races, scenes of combat, and mythological horse-hybrids such as satyrs and the winged Pegasus. Read more…
Socrates explains that the job of a person’s soul is to learn to control the bad horse so as to drive his soul-chariot to the summit of heaven and witness eternal beauty in the company of the gods. Most souls don’t succeed and are dragged earthward by the conflict between Read more…