My horses’s nostrils are really muddy. Like, clumps of mud that I can pick out with my fingers. I’ve been cleaning out the front part with a small moist sponge but I can tell there’s more up in there. What’s happening and how can I get it out?
If your horse is breathing normally, I would leave the inside of his nose alone.
I wipe the inside of my horse’s nose out in summer when ground is dry and dusty. I find if I don’t, he tends to cough when warming up. I assume that’s due to breathing in the dirt that is in his nose.
While I wouldn’t try to get anything up there to clean up higher if your horse is breathing normally, I would try to limit the amount of dirt/mud he is inhaling while eating. Can you feed him in a hay net or something to keep hay off ground? When it was really muddy here, I put my horse’s feed in a large rubber tub. He still tosses it around but the little particles that drop off get caught in tub so he inhales those off the rubber rather than the mud.
I might be a little too concerned about every little thing with him, but it does look annoying!
Feeling dumb, of course it’s from him eating off the ground… Unfortunately, I board, so I don’t have much say over how his food is provided. I’m hoping to move him soon, but until then I’ll just try to keep the outer part as clear as I can.
Just like they tell us humans about Q-tips:
Never put anything smaller than your elbow in your ear.
Same goes for noses - let well enough alone if breathing is not affected.
You may even see some clear or milky discharge, but those are okay too as long as they don’t persist beyond a day or two or become discolored (yellow or green) or smelly.
This is hayfever season for horses too & a little sneezing is not uncommon.
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Don’t feel dumb. We’ve all been there with our horses.
If it’s something you are really concerned about, could you talk to barn owner/manager/staff about throwing his hay in a different spot in his pen?
I always wipe my horses noses out with baby wipes for extra sensitive skin once a week. Sometimes a lot of dirt and gunk come out. My gelding loves it, my mares is okay with it and the youngest mare is learning to tolerate it.
My one mare is on puffers (Ventolin and Flovent) and if I’m going to open up her lungs, I want the cleanest air possible going into her lungs.
