Long story short - I have a mare  that makes a noise when she does anymore than a trot.  I had, had her scoped -that particular vet  said no obstructions etc... that was last year.  When asked to lope more than a couple of large circles she becomes quickly hot headed (strong in the bridle, eventually will slam out of her hind leads  etc.)  She had also had other issues going on ... have spent the last few years trying to put her back together (dumb, yes for sure - issues unknown prior to purchasing).  The scope last year deteremined whether or not I proceeded with bone cysts on her stifles...but because she was clean I proceeded. Suprisingly she did heal and is moving fairly well from that aspect .

Threw her in the trailer when I went south to Oakridge recently and had her scoped again - she does not have full paralysis so she is not a canidate for tie back surgery. They said that I could laser a vocal cord to give her more "airway", at this point I am unsure what to do .  I am unsure due to sinking more money in, what if it makes no difference, what if she is still a hot head, what if she still cannot get enough air etc.  I am  sure I have left out all sorts of details but I tried to spare you the long story. 

ALL experiences  welcome  - please share.   Share how your horse acted prior to and after - share why you chose not to do it?   Share away. 

Thank you in advance! 

I’ve had a laser trim done after tie back (at Oakridge) . It ended up not helping, but it was because, as we were re scoping it was found that she has partial paralysis of her pharynx, nothing could be done to,change that.

i don’t want to be negative but the flapper is in front of the vocal cords. I don’t see how you’re going to get anything but minimal relief with the laser trim,at best. It’s a lot like my situation, pharynx was collapsing (in front of the flapper and vocal cords) so it really didn’t matter what was improved behind the problem.

Thank you so much for sharing! I was concerned about that. What did you end up doing if anything?

I have a bleeder.  We did this on him about 3 years ago.  He had a lazy arytenoid.  The were hoping that cauterizing one vocal cord would give him a bigger airway.

It did..  his airway is huge.  It did not stop him from bleeding.  The procedure was not expensive.  They did it through a scope under sedation.  He was on stall rest for a couple weeks.

Had to put a catheter up his nose with meds daily.  That was interesting.

The only side affect is that their whinny changes.  

The mare was retired to be a broodmare. There was no way to fix the paralysis. She wouldn't have been able to breathe normally making a run.

The vocal cords are just below the arytenoid cartilages which is the part of the larynx that collapses in with recurrent laryngeal paralysis.  

Lasering the vocal cords and the laryngeal ventricles can somewhat increase your airway diameter and can reduce airway noise in some horses.  

Did you do a dynamic scope or a regular standing scope?

She wasn't sedated or anything - she was standing (both times I had her scoped).   She doesn't have any paralysis - she has a slight flutter but she does make a noise  after excercising for so long.  I think this is a contributing factor to issues I have been trying to fix over the course of a few years. Since I have owned her I have done maybe a handful of exhibitions and entered her ten times or less.  All along I felt like she was a run away which really isn't her personality. She is a very nice mare that could have a bright future but long story short I have 3 nice horses (her included) that I am sick and tired of "chasing" what the real problems are (all at the same time- so you can imagine the expese) and I was quoted $850 for the surgery but I just spent 4k collectively on the three I took (this is just penny's considering what I have spent) at this point I am disgusted and I don't want to pull the trigger on something if it really would just be a waste of money... and yet another horse on stall rest etc..   but I would consider doing it if people were sharing positive experiences.   I am sorry I sound whiney - I don't mean to. I have been out off and on over the course of three years trying to figure out these issues. I am burnt out on the expenses, surguries, stem cell and on and so forth.   With nothing to run and I really have no intensions on having three broodmares at one time  and most importantly I  am not a millionaire.    

Trying to make a more eductated decision instead of just jumping in doing it because of my feelings. 

airway noise does not in itself mean that it affects performance.  I totally understand being overwhelmed with vet bills...it sucks.  If you wanted to know if it was truly affecting her airway diameter and causing performance problems, I would spend the money on dynamic endoscopy. That way you know exactly how small her airway is getting when the noise is made.  I have one who makes noise, she has mild pharyngeal wall collapse. But its not very severe and she doesnt have performance issues. 

Thank you for sharing!