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 Expert
Posts: 1612
  
Location: Cocoa, Florida | My 4 year old mare just recently started making this hiccup noise when I saddle her up, usually right before I girth her up. At first I thought she had the hiccups becauSe that's exactly what it sounds like but I've noticed she only does it right before I cinch her.
Has anyone had a horse that does this? Is she sucking in air? It's the strangest thing I've ever seen/heard!
Here's a video she does it shortly after video starts
http://youtu.be/8QzbGUBLJ5k |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 464
| I've got one 21 years old, been doing that most of its life, off an on. Used to really worry me. I figure it ain't killed him yet, it probably won't. |
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  Twin Sister to Queen Boobie
Posts: 13315
 
Location: East Tennessee but who knows?! | Look up Thumps in horses.
I've had two horses that have done the exact same thing. Both times I had dosed them with extra electrolytes because we were competing - they were already on a decent premix feed.
From what I've read it is due to an electrolyte imbalance -- which is what causes hiccups in people as well. Both of mine were fine after a while but I didn't give them any more electrolytes.
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Expert
Posts: 1612
Location: Cocoa, Florida | Fairweather - 2015-01-20 8:23 PM
Look up Thumps in horses.Â
I've had two horses that have done the exact same thing. Both times I had dosed them with extra electrolytes because we were competing  - they were already on a decent premix feed.
From what I've read it is due to an electrolyte imbalance -- which is what causes hiccups in people as well. Both of mine were fine after a while but I didn't give them any more electrolytes.Â
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She only does it when I saddle and cinch her though? I feed whole Oats with beet pulp and DAC racehorse formula vitamins and DAC oil, I don't think she's lacking anything? |
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 Worst.Housekeeper.EVER.
Location: Missouri | I don't think it's thumps (Synchronous Diaphragmatic Flutter) if it's just happening once as it shows in the video. Mine had SDM along with hypocalcemia. Although I know thumps may or may not mean impending doom, mine was a very sick horse. Also, I think thumps occurs with the heart beat.
Sorry to be of no help. It's a little weird for sure! 
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Veteran
Posts: 139
Location: Abbotsford B.C. Canada | I would consider the following and you can discuss with your vet .
When a horse starts exercise especially harder work or the actual run, the potassium level in blood actually rises initially, so you may want to look at dehydration but give electrolytes the night before you haul to a show or very early at the show (5-6:00 AM like a race track guy) rather than closer to run time.
Unless there are specific issues, you may actuially be encouraging excessive water intake close to the run time by using electrolytes within say 3-4 hours of running. Do it earlier. In fact you could sandbag your horse that way.
I suggest endurance people actually may wish to delay the first dose of electrolytes for a race an hour into the race or at the first 10 mile post depending on how much sweat is lost The horse may have had an oz early in the early AM but allowing plenty of time for the horse to drink , rehydrate as needed, get rid of any excess and then start the race .
Do you think your horse is a bit cinchy and is sucking in air or swallowing an air bubble (a little bit) by tensing up expecting to be pinched?
As the one girl says her horse has not died after years of this but something is causing this to occur.
Do you use ulcer meds?
Just suggesting a few angles to look at or get a real expert's opinion on. Maybe it will add to the discussion.
Cheers,
Coastal Rider
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 Accident Prone
Posts: 22277
Location: 100 miles from Nowhere, AR | I've got one that did that when I bought him. He would get the hiccups for a few minutes every time I went to cinch him and that was the ONLY time he hiccupped. I'm guessing it was a reaction to being tightened too quickly in the past and he was anticipating and anxious. I did 2 things for him and he eventually quit. I did him up slowly and in stages, and I would feed him a treat just before I started pulling the cinch to get him relaxed and chewing. It took some time, but he did eventually stop doing it. |
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| Its a form of thumps. Usually an electrolyte imbalance or off in CMP which is calcium, magnesium and potassium. I would try the electrolytes and go from there. |
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Expert
Posts: 1612
Location: Cocoa, Florida | I think my argument against the thumps would be that she only does it when I saddle her up |
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 Take a Picture
Posts: 12838
| Calcium imbalance. I had a weanling who would do that when I would halter her and start to lead her. It would scare her to death and me too. I keep loose minerals out and I guess she was not getting enough.
started putting the loose minerals in her feed and that helped. |
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Expert
Posts: 1612
Location: Cocoa, Florida | I keep her on DAC racecourse vitamins twice a day and a free choice mineral block and salt and her feed, The only time she ever does this is before I girth her up. |
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 Expert
Posts: 1631
Location: Somewhere around here | Three 4 Luck - 2015-01-20 9:56 PM
I've got one that did that when I bought him. He would get the hiccups for a few minutes every time I went to cinch him and that was the ONLY time he hiccupped. I'm guessing it was a reaction to being tightened too quickly in the past and he was anticipating and anxious. I did 2 things for him and he eventually quit. I did him up slowly and in stages, and I would feed him a treat just before I started pulling the cinch to get him relaxed and chewing. It took some time, but he did eventually stop doing it.Â
Agreed. |
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