08/08/2026
My horse doesn’t bleed…
You can pull the wool over your eyes as long as you want to but your horse’s lungs will pay the consequences.
This horse, like so many, is ran on Lasix and doesn’t cough. Never bled outwardly. Performs well. Just has some gate hesitation.
Here’s what the lung flush looked like 12 hours after the run.
Lung health is one of my biggest passions because I pulled the wool over my eyes for years and I know my horses have permanent lung damage from years of enduring this subclinical bleeding.
So when should we scope and flush your horse’s lungs?
If you ever hear your horse cough one time while you’re riding especially during warm ups. Everyone knows if they cough after a run that needs looked into.
When you’re checking the boxes for poor performance or behavioral changes like gate issues, blowing off the backside of 3rd, no speed home, etc: musculoskeletal pain ✔️, respiratory pain ✔️, gastrointestinal pain ✔️.
All of these need investigated.
We can schedule to check all these boxes off during the same appointment because I know how far many of you drive to get to us.
Please be your horse’s biggest advocate.
Kudos to this owner who checked all the boxes.
My horse doesn’t bleed…
