Visible jugular pulse

[alildoc]

As i was finishing up a trail ride this afternoon, my 24 year old gelding starting breathing very heavy and for about 10 minutes he had a visible pulse on both sides of his neck. The pulse was noticeable quite high up on his neck, closer to his head than shoulder. We hadn’t been riding particularly hard, mostly walking with a little trotting. I did let him run up ‘his hill’ but he does always run in this one spot.

After about 10 minutes he was acting normal but i’m quite nervous that this means he is having heart issues. I’ll be calling the vet but was hoping someone else may have some experience with this?

[Equisis]

No real advice other than a suggestion that you make note of his pulse and respiration if this happens again (and when he’s normal, if you don’t know what his “normal” is). Was he hanging his head while this was happening, or was it in a normal position? Generally speaking, a visible pulse in the upper part of the neck is not normal, but you need your vet to examine him to determine what is going on.

[AKB]

Don’t hesitate to take him to an Equine board certified internal medicine DVM for an echocardiogram. Medication can make a big difference in for him if he has heart failure.

[alildoc]

Thank you both. Good to know there is a possibility for medication if it is heart failure. I am having his regular vet look at him and will take him to New Bolton if he needs an EKG. He seems his normal self again today, normal pulse rate, normal respiration - me not so much! I’ve had him for 21 years and will do whatever he needs to keep him around for as long as he’s happy and comfortable.

[TBKite]

Was his head above or below his withers at the time?

[alildoc]

Above his withers. When his head is down, I can sometimes see his jugular pulse but I believe that’s not as much of a concern? With this episode he was breathing quickly and shallow and had a pronounced pulse.

He had anaplasmosis a few weeks ago and had two courses of IV antibiotics, poor horse can’t catch a break. Not sure if this is at all related to his past infection or treatment, but i’ll update on here after we get a diagnosis. I also may just be over reacting to every little thing he does at this point - I brought him home a few months ago and spend most of my free time sitting with him and making sure he’s happy.

[TBKite]

If his head was up you are right that is more concerning. You can also try holding off his jugular with one hand and sweeping the blood below it toward the heart to empty the vein, then watch to see if the emptied part refills (it shouldn’t).

I wonder if he had a brief period of disturbance in the heart rhythm, which then resumed on its own. He doesn’t sound like he’s consistently in failure. Curious to see what the vet finds.

[Bluey]

We had a seven year old half Arabian half paint gelding that became very sick and his vein was pulsing like you describe.
He was my pony horse to start colts and train race horses to be ponied, he was a wonderful horse.

The vet diagnosed him with leptospirosis and it had affected his heart.

His heart rate was so high they could not measure it and he went into heart failure.
Vet treated him for some hours, then he was fading fast and our vet decided he was suffering and not going to recover and let him go.

With your story of anaplasmosis, I would be checking things over very carefully, to be sure nothing is being missed, as I am sure your vets are already doing.