Equine nose bleeds

Equine nose bleeds are actually very common events. The medical term for nose bleeds is epistaxis. Though frequently just a one time event, they can also be the indication of serious disease. Equine nose bleeds can occur as a result of extreme conditions in a race. A blood vessel bursts inside the breathing apparatus in the head and blood flows down into the windpipes causing the affected horse to pull up and be unable to continue to gallop effectively. No one knows exactly what causes equine nose bleeds and effective treatment is difficult. Vets commonly use drugs that enhance the elimination of water from the body which help prevent the problem. Equine nose bleeds can appear both dramatic and distressing, but in many cases the owner is more worried than the horse and the bleeding will frequently stop of its own accord. Each case of equine nose bleeds, needs assessing on its own merit. It needs to be established how much blood has been lost, and if the blood is coming from just one or both nostrils. Internal bleeding, possibly from the lungs, will see the equine nose bleeds flow from both nostrils.

Exercise-induced pulmonary haemorrhage (EIPH) refers to bleeding from the blood vessels within the lung and is probably the most common abnormality affecting the horse during exercise and is a major factor in equine nose bleeds. It is understood that the bleeding originates from the delicate pulmonary capillaries in the lung and occurs when these tiny, thin-walled blood vessels are put under extreme pressure by the huge air-and blood-flow demands associated with the galloping horse. The equine nose bleeds are the most obvious sign of this condition, along with coughing and poor exercise performance.