Ontario Agriculture

The network for agriculture in Ontario, Canada

Each summer DVM students from the Ontario Veterinary College at the University of Guelph delve into practical experience at veterinary clinics across Ontario and additional locales. These blog posts are an opportunity to tag along with them this summer. Here student veterinarian Kate describes "choke" in horses.  Check out all the student blogs here

Sally went out to feed her horses; Sugar, Frosty, Big Mac and their new addition Red, a 2-year-old warmblood gelding. Afterwards she noticed Red was out in the field pawing the ground. When she got closer to Red she noticed he was coughing and a lot of mucous was coming out of his mouth and nose. She knew she should call the vet.

One physiological anomaly in horses is that they cannot regurgitate. Their esophagus only moves food and water in one direction towards the stomach. So if anything becomes lodged they cannot bring it back up, causing the horse to “choke”. It is important to note that in horses, choking is an obstruction of the esophagus and NOT the airway, so horses are still able to breathe. The cause of choke in horses varies. The most common cause of choke is swallowing food or other material which is too big, dry or coarse, or which swells rapidly once chewed. This causes its passage down the esophagus to be slowed or stopped. It can occur in greedy horses that attempt to swallow hay without chewing it thoroughly or feeding dry grain or pellets. Be careful when deworming and feeding grain right after as a reward, as the thick dewormer may cause the grain to stick in the esophagus. And beware of big chunks of apple and carrots. Horses with poor dental health are also at risk because they may not grind or chew their feed properly.

The most obvious signs of choke are discharge of saliva and feed material from the nostrils and or/mouth, depression and apparent difficulty in swallowing. When first ‘choking’ some horses will panic, make repeated unsuccessful efforts to swallow, cough and ‘gag’. If the condition has gone unnoticed, the horse may become dehydrated and severely depressed. The horses often look like they are colicking.

Red’s obstruction ended up being so severe, that he needed multiple visits to reduce the choke. He was treated with pain medication, muscle relaxants and sedatives to help in the meantime.

When Dr. Walker and I arrived the next day, Red still had the obstruction, although much of it had been reduced. We gave him a heavy sedative and waited for 20 min. The hardest part after giving the sedative is waiting. You want to quickly get involved and start helping the horse, but if you do this before your sedative has an effect then the horse’s adrenalin renders it useless and he is more difficult to handle.

Once Red was sedated, Dr. Walker passed a stomach tube up his nose and down his esophagus to the obstruction. Then we lavaged the blockage with warm water by funneling it down the tube. We could see we were making progress as more food stuff came pouring out his nose with each lavage. Dr. Walker gently kept feeding the tube forward until there was a slight pop with the tube and gurgling sounds could be heard. We had made it to the stomach; the blockage had been cleared. The gurgling sound was the gas in the stomach that was echoing up the tube.

“Smell that” Dr. Walker said as she pointed the end of the tube in my direction. She wanted me to know what stomach gas smells like so you know when you are in the stomach. At the same time Red had a big cough and as a result launched his stomach contents up the tube and right in my face as I went to smell the gas. No one said that being a Veterinarian was going to be a glamorous job.

Once it was all cleared and Dr. Walker was sure that the tube was passing smoothly, we rehydrated Red with some electrolytes and water right to his stomach with the stomach tube already in place.

We left Red still a little woozy from the sedation. Red was held off any food for another few hours and then slowly returned to feeding with soft, small and frequent meals. Horses that choke, especially in severe cases like Red, are at risk of aspiration pneumonia. The clinical signs and antibiotics were discussed with Sally.

With a smile and wave we headed out from the barn and on to our next call.

Follow OVC on Twitter at @OntVetCollege

Views: 116

Comments are closed for this blog post

Agriculture Headlines from Farms.com Canada East News - click on title for full story

Falling Number is an Important Indicator of Wheat Quality

Falling Number is a critical test performed to assess wheat quality and the effects of sprout damage. The analytical team at Cereals Canada performs the Falling Number test as part of its routine testing, including its annual New Crop Harvest Assessment, and shares results with customers and buyers of Canadian wheat. “During crop years that have wet harvest conditions, Falling Number testing becomes a priority to ensure the quality and reputation of Canadian wheat is maintained,” says Elaine Sopiwnyk, Cereals Canada vice president of technical services. “Consistently producing high-quality wheat with a desirable Falling Number helps Canada build a good reputation with buyers and processors.” The Falling Number test indirectly measures the activity of the enzyme alpha-amylase in wheat, caused by pre-harvest sprouting. Sprout damage occurs when wet field conditions occur at or near maturity. The kernels absorb moisture and begin to germinate or sprout. Sprouting itself is subject to l

USask researcher honoured with top pulse crop award

The award is presented annually to an individual, company or organization that has made significant contribution to Canada’s pulse and special crops industry. Warkentin is a renowned plant breeder at the Crop Development Centre (CDC) within the USask’s College of Agriculture and Bioresources. He leads the Field Pea and Soybean Crop Breeding and Genetics program as the Ministry of Agriculture Strategic Research Program (SRP) Chair. His research is centered on developing high-performing pea and soybean cultivars tailored for Western Canada and northern U.S. regions. With a strong foundation in both conventional and genomic breeding techniques, Warkentin aims to enhance crop resilience, disease resistance, and end-use quality. His work is instrumental in meeting the evolving needs of the agricultural sector, particularly as demand for plant-based protein continues to rise globally. Through his breeding efforts, he ensures that farmers have access to varieties that are not only producti

Signature Series research podcast: The future of wildfires with Dr. Colin Laroque

Laroque, a professor in USask’s College of Agriculture and Bioresources and the head of the Department of Soil Sciences, is an expert dendrochronologist. In other words, he is an expert in “tree-ring analysis,” which allows him to read the rings of trees to get a better understanding of our environment over years, decades and centuries. In recent years, the number of wildfires in Canada and around the world have increased, with more area being burned and more effort being dedicated to managing them. As Laroque puts it, the environment is changing, but those changes take long periods of time before they can be understood as trends or a “new normal.” For Laroque, the questions are not whether this more regular and severe wildfire season is here to stay, but whether we’ve reached the apex of what the future holds for this “new normal.” On this episode of the USask Signature Series podcast, we answer the question: “What will increasing wildfires do to our environment, and is there a

Saskatchewan Engages With the Mexico and United States on Agricultural Trade and Development

Agriculture Minister Daryl Harrison will lead a trade mission to Mexico to strengthen our trade, research and investment ties with some of Saskatchewan's long-standing Mexican partners and to help companies and industry organizations in the province maintain and strengthen their relationships with Mexican stakeholders. The mission will reinforce the province's international reputation as a reliable supplier of high-quality food, feed and value-added commodities. The mission will also promote research, investment and other collaborative opportunities in Saskatchewan's value-added sector. "Mexico continues to be a vital partner for Saskatchewan, particularly in the agriculture sector," Harrison said. "This mission will open new avenues to promote provincial agriculture export interests, bolster relationships with stakeholders and advance discussions with Mexico on priority agriculture issues." As part of the mission, Minister Harrison will be participating in the 2025 Tri-National Agr

Trade battle puts soybean farmers at risk

The leafy soybean plants reach Caleb Ragland's thighs and are ripe for harvest, but the Kentucky farmer is deeply worried. He doesn't know where he and others like him will sell their crop because China has stopped buying. Beijing, which traditionally has snapped up at least a quarter of all soybeans grown in the United States, is in effect boycotting them in retaliation for the high tariffs President Donald Trump has imposed on Chinese goods and to strengthen its hand in negotiations over a new overall trade deal. It has left American soybean farmers fretting over not only this year's crop but the long-term viability of their businesses, built in part on China's once-insatiable appetite for U.S. beans. “This is a five-alarm fire for our industry,” said Ragland, who leads the American Soybean Association. If no deal is reached soon, some farmers hope the government will come through with aid as it did during Trump's first term, but they see that only as a temporary solution. Trump

© 2025   Created by Darren Marsland.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service