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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 408
| the tragic loss of Kalee Chandler and her horse has definitely shaken our horse community. We are aware that the accident was caused by her horse having a fatal heart attack and there was nothing anyone could have done or anything that could have been done to prevent such tragedy.
Nevertheless, I wonder if there are warning signs that our horses are at high risk of a heart attack. If so, what are they? What should we look for?
By no means I want to be insensitive to the recent events so if this question comes across that way, I apologize
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 Expert
Posts: 4121
Location: SE Louisiana | This should be interesting. Homeboykris, the 9-year-old gelding that won the 1st race at Pimlico the other day, then dropped dead of a heart attack, should have been noticed if people can see something like this coming on. This horse was surrounded by professionals.
It's a terrible shame about Kaylee. We all trust horses to look after the kids, but this was not the horses fault. |
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Sock Snob
Posts: 3021
| i have seen it happen at a couple of shows. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 408
| Are there any vets here that can tell us what are some of the warning signs? |
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 Don't Wanna Make This Awkward
Posts: 3106
Location: Texas | I wonder this aswell.. I've seen a horse drop at the end of the alley before from a heart attack and die before a vet gets there.. It is terrible.. And with kalee's situation even harder. The only positive thing is the little girl got to take her horse to heaven with her. |
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 Warrior Mom
Posts: 4400
| I didn't want to come across as being insensitive, but how old was her horse? I'm just curious. I had a few people ask me today how old the horse was and I didn't know. It's very tragic and my heart is very heavy for the family. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 408
| I've wondered the age of the horse as well, not that it matters much as it can happen at any age ?? |
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Don't Wanna Make This Awkward
Posts: 3106
Location: Texas | I "believe" I saw somewhere that the horse was 19, this could be totally me just mis remmebering things and who knows how accuarate the source was, but I do believe this is an issue seen mostly in older horses, obviously there will be exceptions though. |
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  Warmblood with Wings
Posts: 27846
  
Location: Florida.. | Its sudden. I dont think there are any signs ..
I know a calf ropers horse dropped and he was 10.. |
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 Undercover Amish Mafia Member
Posts: 9991
Location: Kansas | I highly doubt it, it's just like a human except a man/woman is able to vocalize the pain and which horses can't. |
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 Expert
Posts: 2097
Location: Deep South | Did a vet examine the horse? I know it was reported as a heart attack, but were any tests done to verify that or was it assumed just by what was observed by the people who saw it happen?
** I am in no way insinuating foul play like some have accused on Facebook. Just asking. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 915
Location: SE KS | My husbands horse died of a heart attack, he was walking the fence line moving cattle, the horse reared up and came over, he was able to get clear & received a broken wrist. Very scary the horse was 14. |
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| My dad's rope horse died of what we believe to be a heart attack. He was out just loping circles on him one day and he went down. It was scary. I believe he was in his teens, so it was unexpected for sure. One thing that we noticed him doing before this happened was he would sit like a dog a lot out in the field. He would lay down or roll and then while getting up he would just sit there for a while (maybe 1 to 2 minutes). We didn't think anything of it till after but I believe it was probably some how health related. I've since heard that this could have also been a sign of uclers.
I cannot begin to imagine what this family is going through. They are in my thoughts and prayers. |
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 Expert
Posts: 5290
| Same here, I have seen it happen and yep, if they are moving slow or standing they often just rear up and over. When I was in HS at a HS rodeo a head horse was backing into the box and reared over backwards. Looked like he was box sour but heart attack just hit him. I guess all you can do maybe is have your vet see your horse once or twice a year and pull blood like we do for humans. Maybe we can see something coming. But its pretty random. |
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 Own It and Move On
Location: The edge of no where | I don't think there is any way to predict when it's going to happen. My heart breaks for Kalee's family. I've only seen it happen a few times, but they went down with absolutely no warning and it happens fast. |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 993
Location: Northern California | Can't tell on people all the time; pretty hard to predict on a horse. A bazillion factors could come in to play. Pray for peace for their family, above all!!! |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 851
Location: West Texas | It can be pretty impossible to tell, unless you are specifically looking for it, you may or may not find anything. We had a horse get lethargic and go off feed. Took him to a good vet with good equipment. Actually two vets looked at him. They found nothing and even checked the heart. The next day, he was dead standing up. Vets performed an autopsy and said his heart exploded. They said there was no way they could have known and nothing they could have done even if they did. I have known many many horses to die of heart attacks. Most of them it is no warning and instant death, often times while running. This is so tragic, but there is nothing anyone could have done to change the outcome of this tragic event. My heart is broken for her family. |
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 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 425
Location: California | I feel like I have been hearing about these heart attacks WAY more often. Is this just due to social media now? Or is it really happening more often? I had also been wondering the same- if there was a way to tell or help it from happening.
I couldn't imagine what any families are going through who have had this happen.  |
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 Take a Picture
Posts: 12838
| A friend's horse dropped dead at the gate after finishing his run. (He had just walked though the gate) He was about 12 years old. I truly think he was running on fumes when he turned the third barrel and just tried to keep the little girl who was riding him safe. |
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Regular
Posts: 57
| Most of the time their heart just explodes in their chest. Sudden death can also be caused by an aneurysm. |
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Folks on-line