[xduckehx]

So.. a couple months ago, after riding Vinny and cooling him out, I placed him in a stall to give him his small amount of grain and noticed a small trickle of blood that had come from his nose. Panicing, I cleaned up his face to only find whatever it was, had stopped and it was not affecting him at all. I asked a few people with experience around me and they said it may have been the humidity, and it was a one time thing.

Tonight though, we went for a ride on the track with some trotting, a canter in each direction, and plenty of walking. once he had a few minutes to cool down, I walked him to his stall for his bit of grain. After having his head dropped to eat for a few minutes, he looked over the stall and thre was blood smeared from both nostrils. Not a large amount by any means, but enough that it was visible from 20 or so feet away, and made his nose red. He was not in any pain or discomfort, I cleaned his face again and it was not continuing.. it's like his head being down just drained it out or something?

He's 4 yrs old, and this was by no means a "hard work out", so I'm left dumb founded by what is causing this... has it happened to any of you? Or any suggestions/ideas as to what it could be?

Whether it has anything to do with this or not, I'm going to pick up some "Wind Aid" to aid with breathing when it's overly dry or humid.

Thanks for any and all help!

[shaiarabs]

you need to stop working the horse and arrange a visit to the vet to have him scoped

good luck

[scaputo]

When I rode at the track, I would come across a "bleeder". You need to have the vet out...until then, I wouldn't work him hard at all...here is a bit of info from the net..

It is not uncommon to hear that a racehorse has "burst a blood vessel" during a race, and horses that do this on a regular basis are often referred to as "bleeders". But what is the problem — which blood vessels are broken and what are the effects?


It has been recognised for centuries that a small number of racehorses have nosebleeds during or shortly after races. Only recently has it been realised that the source of this bleeding is not the head, but the lungs.
It is important to differentiate between nosebleeds due to exercise-induced pulmonary haemorrhage (EIPH) and those that occur in horses at rest and are unrelated to exercise. With the latter, it is likely that the bleeding is originating in the upper airways. Since there are one or two causes of nosebleeds that can be serious and even fatal, it is advisable to ask your vet to examine horses who have nosebleeds at rest to rule these out.

[Crazy4Apps]

Could also be cancer. Most cancer horses will bleed when there not worked but my old App would bleed only when worked and I though he was just a bleeder (I was raised around the track and knew a good bit about bleeders cause my favorite mount when I was younger was a bleeder.) Though it is uncommon outside the TB breed I figured anything was possible. I had the vet come out after the third time it happened and he checked him out and we found out he had cancer.

[horsesR4life]

It sounds like EIPH, i dont know the cure, or how to work around it except to not run him anymore, or if EIPH is minor and non life threatening. Get a vet to check him.

[xduckehx]

ok, one thing lol.. we have a track at where I board, but it is not a racing facility, and he is not a thoroughbred. Vinny is a warmblood, and this was not during a "hard work out", neither was the time before hand. The first time it happened (beginning of summer, the small drip), was after only a walk/trot for maybe 30 minutes. This time it was getting dark out quickly, so in total we were only out for maybe 40 minutes (mostly consisting of walk, and some standing around).

this was definitely not a large workout either, generally we've been doing "track trots" for warm up and then doing a dressage lesson, or walking out, a track trot once each way and then a canter, THEN heading into our lesson. If he's a "bleeder" (which, Lex was a bleeder when he was on the track as well, my TB), I'm not understanding why he's bleeding breifly while only doing small, low key excersises?

Could the temp have anything to do with it? The first time it was very, VERY humid.. this time it was rather humid after a very dry period?

[xduckehx]

p.s. thanks for all of the ideas.. i'll try to give my vet a call this afternoon

[alaskahorse]

I used to compete with a girl whose barrel horse got a nose bleed every time her ran. She would give him a shot in his jugular vein jsut before competeing, she said that is kept him from having nose bleeds. I guess he was bleeding from his sinuses but not sure, I could call her and ask her if you liked. Also getting your horse vet checked is neccessary, to determine where the blood is coming from and the cause, before you can decide on how to treat it.

[shaiarabs]

it could be a few things mate, blood from one nostril might have been a stick injury, but the fact that he bled from two nostrils the second time is screaming a problem, I would be making sure the vet looks at his gutteral pouch as well, it could be a sign that there is something wrong there

if he was a thbred he would be bleeding in the lungs like alot do, but being a wblood there is much more going on

best of luck let us know how you go

[charming]

Any update?