Dr. Galley,
I have a problem that has turned into a big “family” problem and maybe you can help me with it. I bought a heading horse a couple of years ago that used to be a barrel horse and he was on the race track before that. He has always been a lot of horse for me but lately has been really acting up at ropings away from home. My wife is a barrel racer and she hurt her horse last week and so she took my heading horse to the barrel race (she said it would help calm him down for me to rope on). He placed at the barrel race but after she ran him he bled out of his nose. One of my partners used to work on the race track and told me that once they bleed like that they need to be treated or they can die. I told my wife that she had better not run barrels on him until a vet looks at him. Things have not been good at home since we had that conversation. Can you help me?
Answer:
Wow……I may not be tough enough to help you with this one…….Just how mean is your wife? (JUST KIDDING Ma’am).
While a nose bleed may be the result of a minor injury to the tissues in the nasal cavity, it is probably a condition is known as Exercise Induced Pulmonary Hemorrhage or EIPH. For many years my practice was limited to the racetrack and racehorses that experience EIPH are very commonly seen following a race. Years ago when we first started to see these episodes of “nosebleeds” following a race it was believed that the blood was originating from the nasal cavity or somewhere in the sinuses of the head. As endoscopic equipment became available it enabled the veterinarian to pass an endoscope up the nasal cavity and down the trachea (windpipe) and actually look down the respiratory tract of the horses that were experiencing this problem (EIPH) and it was determined that the blood was coming from the lungs rather than the nasal cavity. Powerful x-ray machines, such as the larger veterinary practices, veterinary schools, and other facilities now have available, also enabled the veterinarians to confirm that this was the origin of the blood. As more research was done on this condition, it was learned that in the vast majority of cases of EIPH the blood originates from the upper areas of the dorso-caudal or upper-back portions of the right lung.
Studies done on large numbers of race horses indicate that a very high percentage of race horses show a small amount of blood in the trachea (windpipe) following maximal exertion such as racing. While blood may be present in the trachea in a small amount this does not always seem to affect the horse’s performance. There have even been numerous reports of human athletes participating in events like the Olympics that have experienced the same condition, especially when training at high altitudes.
In the cases where the EIPH, or bleeding, is slight it may be several minutes to even a couple of hours after the run before the blood finds its way up the trachea and out the nostrils. Very often the horse will have already been “cooled out” and be put back into the stall or be in the trailer before the blood is seen. If a horse has “bled” and blood is in the trachea but has not shown at a nostril and the horse puts its head down the blood often will trickle out one or both nostrils. Figure 1 shows a mild case of EIPH. Naturally, the more the horse bleeds, the more serious is the problem. In the case of a severe bleeder on the racetrack the amount of blood coming from the lungs can be so great that the trachea can even fill up with blood and the horse can actually drown in its own blood causing a tragic accident on the racetrack, but that would be very unlikely in the case of a barrel horse or a team roping horse.
I mentioned that a horse exerting maximal effort is more likely to “bleed” than one that is exerting a lesser effort. Other factors that can cause a horse that is affected with EIPH to bleed include air pollution (smog), particularly dry dusty climate, change to a higher elevation, hyper personality (the horse….not the rider), etc. From what you describe there is a high probability that the horse may even have experienced EIPH during his time at the racetrack.
For 26 years all I did was racetrack practice and following that, I had a clinical practice limited to the equine athlete for another 14 years (yeah... now you know why I appear to have a lot of miles on me). During those last 14 years I had many high quality barrel horses in my practice. Many of them were affected with EIPH (bled after their run) but I can’t recall any that bled badly enough to really affect their performance. In fact, the owner of one horse that went to the NFR three times told me that she never placed on him when he didn’t bleed after a run, and she was reluctant to try any preventive measures for fear she wouldn’t place on him again.
For all of you ropers that are married to or are dating barrel racers let me say that there are usually ways to medicate the horse prior to a run and help to control the EIPH if it is a big problem. (Yeah, I know the question was about YOUR heading horse and not HER barrel horse — but don’t forget how things have been at home).
I can’t recall seeing a team roping horse that bleeds (experiences EIPH). Even some former race horses that were known “bleeders” and that bled badly on the race track, often in spite of efforts to control the EIPH with medication, did not ever bleed in the team roping arena. I actually scoped 2 horses on several different occasions (horses that were known to be bad “bleeders” on the track) after several consecutive team roping runs and was unable to detect any blood in the trachea. These same horses may have shown blood in the trachea following the maximal exertion of a barrel racing run but we have no way to know that.
You should seek the advice of a veterinarian who is familiar with both team roping and barrel racing and have him/her examine the horse, both prior to and after some runs. If they feel that the EIPH is causing a problem then perhaps they will recommend a pre-run medication or other means to prevent and manage the problem. Good luck resolving this problem—both in the arena and at home.