I do...sometimes. Depends on the season & whether I remember to put it back in after cleaning out my saddle pack. I thought I’d better start doing it again after my vet recently told me about the horse he had to do a tracheotomy on only because their owner didn’t put the hose in their nostril, and the ones that died (all this fall) because it wasn’t done and they didn’t get to the vet soon enough. He told me to use a very strong tubing, soft so that it doesn’t puncture anything, yet very strong so that it doesn’t collapse as the horse’s head swells. So if you use garden hose and you can easily squeeze it closed, it will probably not hold the nostril open for breathing. I think he said it was a type of mechanical tubing. He showed me an example and I could not squeeze it closed, yet the end of it wasn’t sharp.
Kathy
So I say, carry a piece of tubing. It doesn’t take up much room & just might save your horse’s (or someone else’s)life.
Does anyone actually carry a hunk of garden hose to put into horse's nostril
to keep it open if snakebit on nose? Anyone actually use one?
