A racehorse who was thought to have suffered a heart attack or spinal injury when he was actually having a reaction to nettle stings has been back in the winner’s enclosure.
Vet practice Baker McVeigh Yorkshire shared a video of the thoroughbred in great distress, to raise awareness of the effect nettles can have.
Vet Camilla Nock told H&H the owner thought at first the horse was having a heart attack.
“He sent me the video and I set off immediately, but I was an hour away,” she said.
“By the time I got there, he’d improved and stabilised. We found the swellings on his side and it became apparent nettles were the most likely cause.”
⚠️BE AWARE OF THE DANGERS OF STINGING NETTLES⚠️ We recently went out to a horse showing severe signs of distress shortly after being turned out in the field. The horse was down in the field, unresponsive and breathing heavily. When he did try to get up he kept falling over which caused him to become even more distressed. Hives were visible across the left side when the horse did stand up. These are typical signs of a severe reaction to stinging nettles. The most important thing to do in these circumstances is to keep horses and people as safe as possible and call your vet. By keeping the environment as quiet as possible you will reduce stimulation that will cause the horse to attempt to stand.If the horse cannot be safely restrained then your vet may be able to sedate them to help keep the horse lying down until they have recovered sufficient coordination to safely stand up. In this case the horse was standing after about three hours, and by the next day he was completely back to normal. A big thank you to the owner for letting us share this to raise awareness.https://www.bakermcveigh.com/yorkshire #bakermcveigh?Baker McVeigh
Posted by Baker McVeigh Yorkshire on Monday, August 19, 2019
Ms Nock administered corticosteroids but the priority was keeping the horse safe.
“He was falling over every time he tried to get up so we had to keep him down, but we could do that without sedating him,” she said.
“He’d already crashed through a post and rail fence before I got there so he was lucky not to have badly injured himself – he only had superficial cuts and scrapes but it must have been incredibly scary.
“When he first got up, he was wobbly and we wondered whether a spinal injury or neurological problem was the cause and that had caused him to fall into the nettles. But when he made a full recovery, we knew there was no underlying problem.”
The incident took place in early summer and Ms Nock said the horse has raced – and won – since.
She said the practice shared the video to raise awareness, but that she was surprised by the number of people who commented to say they had also experienced the issue.
“Nettles are quite widely used for horses as a supplement, and they have a lot of benefits, but it’s not unknown for them to cause an adverse reaction when a horse rolls in them,” she said.
Continues below…
Warnings over use of wormers to treat headshaking
Riders have been advised against a treatment being promoted on social media and in forums
Grow your own horse treats: a guide for the green-fingered
Subscribe to Horse & Hound magazine today – and enjoy unlimited website access all year round
“If it does happen, don’t assume they’ve got some terrible injury – some people said they thought the horse had fractured its pelvis – just call the vet and try to keep the horse lying down if it’s not safe on its feet.”
Ms Nock added that “plenty of horses” roll in nettles without negative effects, and it is possible the fact this was a thin-skinned thoroughbred, turned out just after he had been worked, had contributed to the severe reaction.
For all the latest news analysis, competition reports, interviews, features and much more, don’t miss Horse & Hound magazine, on sale every Thursday.
