Roaring?

[Kristin]

Brought a new team of belgians home a couple weeks ago. They are a mare and a gelding, somewhere around 12-15 years old, and out of condition. Took them out to disk for the first time this week and after two passes the gelding sounded like he was having an asthma attack — a whistling, wheezing noise on the inhale, so loud one of our guys heard it from halfway across the field.

A neighbor pulled up and said, “His wind’s broke!” But he’s not coughing, not noisy on the exhale, no sign of runny nose or infection, and it stops when he’s rested. Is this roaring? And if it is, what can I expect from him as far as work goes?

-Kristin

[cherprit]

Hi Kristin,
I’m no expert, but I did have a cross country horse years ago that was wind broke and did just fine. that said, here is Dr. Beth’s answer (from rural heritage). She is a wonderful vet that even emails you back!

Response by Beth Valentine, DVM, PhD at 2004-09-18 16:05:15
Roaring in horses is due to partial paralysis of the laryngeal muscles, causing a reduced airflow because one side (usually the left) of the larynx doesn’t open the way it should. The technical name is laryngeal hemiplegia, and it is the arytenoid cartilage motion that is visualized in the endoscope. Roaring is caused by damage to the left recurrent laryngeal nerve. This damage is common in large breeds of horses and may occur when the length of the neck is expanding rapidly during growth. It may also occur simply because this nerve is so long in big horses. Damage to the nerve can also occur due to infections or trauma in the area of the neck, so it is possible that the prior strangles infection contributed. Whatever the cause, there are surgical procedures that can help to open the airway. Some are fast but not as effective, some are more effective but the surgery is longer and more complex. And, you are right, none are guaranteed to succeed (although most do). All of the different procedures in common usage result in a permanently opened left side of the larynx, so a horse may be at more risk of aspirating food material. With what you describe in your mare I would be a bit concerned about this. I would not want to consider surgery until you see if she really needs it – a lot of horses with mild laryngeal paralysis can function at low levels without problems

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