This past weekend, my horse started bleeding from one nostril at the end of our ride, 3 days in a row. This was during a clinic, so the work was harder than we tend to do on a daily basis, but my horse is fairly fit. We did also have a cold snap this weekend, with temperatures down to -15 C, so I am wondering if that has a part to play as well. My vet is coming to see him this week, but I am wondering if anyone has dealt with a bleeder, and any information you may be able to give me on dealing with it. Once they are a bleeder, are they forever a bleeder?
Iād be surprised if he was bleeding from his lungs, which is what a ābleederā is. Chances are he may have something up in his sinus passage, or even just a cut up in the flesh of his nostril. Sometimes they just get poked by a piece of hay up their nose and thatās enough to start a nosebleed, and when they work and breathe harder it reopens the cut.
What popped into my head was gutteral pouch mycosis. A fellow boarder went thru this with a horse some years agoā¦
Yes they are always a bleeder. Though my current riding horse was a horrible bleeder when he was racing, even on Laxis, but never had blood coming out of his nose. The bleeding was only visible when his lungs were scoped. I donāt imagine Iāll ever ride him hard enough to cause him to bleed again though.
Hopefully it was a fluke for your horse.
We had a guttural pouch mycosis horse once, but there was blood smeared all over the walls and splattered on the bedding and his respiratory was labored (he survived, but it looked like a horror movie). If the OPās horse otherwise was not in any distress, which I assume he wasnāt as he was ridden for 2 more days at the clinic despite the bleeding, I would think itās something fairly innocuous.
The cold snap may week have been the issue. I know if you tube a colicky horse in cold weather itās like begging for a nose bleed on top of colic. So before leaping to bleeder, Iād rule thin skin, maybe a scrape or irritation in the nostril made worse by the cold snap
It is worth having your veterinarian check it out. I have seen some bleeds turn into disasters.
I feel I should elaborate a smidge more as I posted in a bit of a rush. When he bled, it was not gushing, but there was a solid layer of blood over the whole nostril, but once that was wiped off, it didnāt really continue, maybe a trickle. He has never bled before, and I have owned him since he was 2, and been the only one to ride him, ever. I know there are other things that it could be, and am curious about them as well, I just have never knowingly met a bleeder, and neither has anyone Iāve asked, so I feel like there are so many questions that I canāt even think to ask lol. Again, he is seeing the vet this week, and after having a day or two off from the clinic, I will be giving him an easy ride to see if normal exercise causes it, (potentially suggesting that thereās a cut or scrape up the nose).
Youād probably have to do a BAL to test cells from the lungs to confirm if heās really a bleeder. Itās possible it was cold/dry weather irritation just in the nose or sinuses. But generally, yes, if they are a bleeder (meaning exercise induced pulmonary hemorrhage) they are always a bleeder though you may not always be able to see blood in the nose.
Probably not a ābleederā in the racing sense of the word, unless heās a TB and you have his papers which are stamped to allow him to race on Lasix, and his race career looks like a bad bleeding issue (stops in his races). Even racehorses who do have an actual problem with bleeding (many who race on Lasix may not actually have this problem to any serious extent- trainers think that use of the drug is performance enhancing -itās not IMO) will need to exert themselves at close to full speed for a half mile in order for bleeding to start. Blood may often not be seen coming out the nose, the lungs bleed internally only, must be scoped to find it. After bleeding, horses will normally cough, lungs have blood in them. Horses who have been bleeders on the track often never have a problem with it again as a show horse- more serious for high level 3 day event horses, obviously. How hard was the work done at the clinic? Half a mile of galloping at 3/4 + speed? More likely something more superficial with your riding horse, may be something like a cut or injury or infection up the nose and not serious, or more serious, like a tumour. Good luck with the vet visit!
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