A horse that lost its tongue in a field accident has made a full recovery after months of being taught to eat without one.
Dressage rider Jack Beeson-Smith noticed the ex-racehorse kept in his livery yard had blood on its mouth when he brought him in from the field in April.
The horse’s severed tongue
“I looked into his mouth and it was like an empty cave — I couldn’t believe what I’d seen,” Jack told H&H. “We went straight up to the field and found the tongue, the vets think he had trodden on it.”
The vet was unable to reconnect the tongue but the horse was fed intraveneously for many weeks until he learnt how to eat without one.
“It was touch and go whether he would make it but suddenly he learnt how to eat again and after months of rest he has made a full recovery,” said Mr Beeson-Smith.
The horse was ridden in a bitless bridle and the hope is he will move on to a ported bit, which doesn’t rest on the tongue.
The previous day Jack had been on a trial EquineSkills first aid workshop, and credits the course for his fast-thinking and calm action in the crisis.
“We used the protocol from the course we’d attended just the day before and it really helped us to stay calm and put in a process of managing the situation,” he added.
The pilot workshop hosted by Lewes-based Cliffe Equine is one of a series of EquineSkills training courses run by trained veterinary surgeons and approved by the Association of British Riding Schools.
The courses cost £40, for more information visit www.equineskills.co.uk
