THE WAY OF HORSES
Through the lips, over the gums…look out stomach! Here it comes!
Once the horse has sorted, chewed and softened feed with salvia he swallows. The slurry travels down the esophagus and into the stomach.
The esophagus, a muscular tube about fifty inches in the average horse, leads to the stomach.
A horse chokes if a foreign object blocks the esophagus. This object may be an apple, corn cob, hay cube, a wad of improperly chewed feed or baler twine. Horses can choke on most anything…
The equine esophagus could also be blocked by a growth (tumor) or scar tissue from trauma (a previous choke episode or damage to the sensitive tissue because of a medical procedure).
Symptoms of choke in horses: