SPEAKING OF NOSES

The color, consistency and odor of your horse’s nasal secretions offer clues to the source of the trouble. Thin, gray, frothy snot, particularly from one nostril, is a hallmark of a guttural0 pouch infection. Foul-smelling discharge can be produced by an infected tooth or sinus. It may be accompanied by headshaking, reluctance to eat or other signs of discomfort. Thick, creamy pus is indicative of an infection, such as bacterial bronchitis0, rhinopneumonitis0 or strangles0. Bright red blood is usually a sign of injury to the interior of the nostril, but it can also come from a severe guttural pouch bleed or burst capillaries0 within the lungs if the horse has recently exerted himself. Dark blood draining from the nose has usually collected elsewhere first, perhaps in the guttural pouches or sinuses. Thin, watery discharge with no other sign of illness is usually a reaction to cold air or other airborne irritants.