Truthful Tuesday

 

Oh guys this is a good one. Every so often Eros will do this thing that I thought was due to experiencing a very minor choke episode. It happens primarily when he eats crunchy treats, especially the frosted kinds like Snacks 5th Avenchue. But occasionally it would happen while eating other things like hay too. It's not common, doesn't happen all the time, and never lasted more than a moment. I've mentioned it to the vet and he just kind of thought the same thing and said to keep any eye in case we need to start soaking his feed. But it never escalated, and I haven't heard him do it in quite a long while. 

Of course, the first week we're at the new barn he starts doing it one morning before I got there and they called me because they didn't know what it was. I said he's probably choking and I'd be there asap. So I get there and find him only making this noise and curling his tongue around intermittently. And seemingly completely at ease when he's not doing it. Nothing coming out his nose, and he's not at all distressed. Important to note, nothing has ever come out his nose when he has these "episodes" but I just always figured he'd cleared it right away. But this time, he just kept intermittently showing this discomfort. So I call my vet. And then I sent him a video of what Eros was doing. And he was like, he's not choking. He has food stuck in his teeth and thus can't chew. He had me rinse the mouth out a bunch and try to help him dislodge whatever was stuck way back there. Eventually he worked it out. (It was just a wad of hay.) 

And that is the story of how I learned my horse isn't prone to choke, he just doesn't know how to chew his food properly. What a relief though! The choke thing always concerned me, so I'm glad it's less worrisome than that. And yes, he's had his teeth done recently. We get them checked twice a year but usually he only needs a float once a year. So that's my confession, I clearly had no idea what choke really looks like. I mean, I have seen it before, but I just figured this was really mild. Oops. What a way to make a first impression at the new place! Haha...