List of Symptoms and Illnesses

This page contains links to information on some of the problems which may affect your horse.

Use the list of symptoms to identify your horses problem and click on the name coloured green in the table to find out more about that illness or disease.

Please remember this information is provided as a guide only and professional advice should be sought before any diagnosis or treatment is applied.

Disease - Head	Symptoms
Head Shaking	Violent Jerking and Shaking of the head, often worse during summer months, will try to seek shade
Equine Viral  Encephalomyelitis	Fever, usually unnoticed, followed by nervousness, agitation, disorientation and excitability
Epilepsy	Ears and tail tremble and quiver, glazed look. May rear and fall and go in and out of conciousness
Dental Caps	Slow eating, excessive salvation, quidding of food
Lampas	Swelling behind front teeth, may protude below
Peridontitis	Poor digestion visible in faeces, loss of condition, slow eating, bad breath
Cataracts	Structures around teeth become infected, mostly in older horses
Conjunctivitis	Eyes red and bloodshot, swollen and show a discharge
Corneal Ulcer	Obvious pain, eyelids closed, clear discharge, dull eye and cloudy cornea
Keratitis	Dull eye, greying of cornea, swelling, phobia of sunlight, closed eyelids, conjunctivita, possible ulcers
Aural Plaques	Crusty plaques on inside of ear, pink skin underneath
Ear Mites	Rubbing and scratching of ears, head shaking and acute irritation
Otitis Externa	Rubbing affected ear, head shaking, possible discharge
Bleeders	Light to heavy bleeding from nostrils usually during or after excerise
Ethmoid  Haematoma	Small, irregular bleeding from one nostril, noisy breathing and bad breath
Guttural Pouch  Disease	Discharge from one or both nostrils, difficulty swallowing, hard and painful swelling may occur in angle of jaw, Haemorrhage may occur which can be life threatening
Laryngeal  Hemiplegia	Roaring or whistling noise as horses breathes in
Nasal Polyps	Noisy breathing, bad breath, discharge, occasional bleeding from nostrils
Sinusitis	Thick discharge from nostrils and occasionally eyes. Swelling may occur around eyes
Soft Palate  Dislocation	Horse stops running abruptly, choking, gurgling sound comes from mouth
Disease - Chest	Symptoms
COPD	Chronic Coughing, heaving, breathlessness, wheezing, heave line, reduced performance
Exercise-Induced  Pulmonary  Haemorrhage	Blood in one or both nostrils
Bronchitis	Hollow sounding, chronic cough. Breathlessness, Sound from lungs
Pleurisy	Short cough, fever, lethargy, loss of appetite. Rapid shallow respiration. Reluctance to move and lie down.
Pneumonia	Rapid respiration, fever, poor appetite, weight loss, cough, dullness, nasal discharge
Lungworm	Chronic cough
Anaemia	Lethargy, weakness, poor performance, lack of appetite, dull coat, pale mucous glands
Haematoma	Large quick growing floppy lump under skin or firm lump in muscle
Filled Legs	Lower limbs filled with fluid, disappears during exercise, usually worse in mornings
Lymphangitis	Hot, painful swelling affecting whole limb. Fluid secreted from skin. High temperature
Diseases - Abdomen	Symptoms
Choke	Horse may be stressed and panicky, retching, saliva coming from the mouth and nose. May try to clear throat
Colic	Pain in bouts or constant, sweating, high pulse, restlessness, tense abdomen
Colitis-X	Depressed horse, discoloured mucous membranes, high pulse and temperature. Diarrheoa, low temperature
Diarrhoea	Loose, watery faeces
Poisoning	diarrheoa, constipation, gut pain, loud gut noises, colic, sweating, high temperature, nervousness, agitation
Peritonitis	Abdominal pain & tense muscles, poor apetite, rapid weight loss, reluctance to lie down, depression
Malabsorption   Syndrome	Chronic diarrheoa, weight loss but no poor appetite
Bots	Small yellow eggs found on chest and forelegs
Strongyles	Chronic, irritating cough
Pinworm	Irritation around perineum, skin damage and hair loss around base of tail
Tapeworm	unthriftiness, diarrheoa, weight loss, colic possible
Diseases - Skin	Symptoms
Nettle Rash	Large areas of raised hair, skin hot and painful, unsteadiness, acute pain
Sweet Itch	Lesions on base of mane and tail, neck and shoulder. Skin thickens, fluid is secreted, sores develop
Abcess	Hot, hard, painful swelling under skin, pus released, high temperature, loss of appetite.
Boil	Small, painful papules, pus secreted, scabs develop
Melanoma	Small black lumps found on skin
Nodular Skin  Disease	Sudden painless lumps form on neck and back under skin.
Warts	Slow growing lumps on areas of soft skin
Folliculitis	Small painful lumps which burst and heal forming areas without skin
Mud Fever	Sores on lower limbs, swollen and painful legs, matted hair
Rain Scald	Sores found on back, flanks and hindquarters. Scabby crusts form. Irritation
Ringworm	One lump bursts and forms round scab. More spread from this one. Lesions are sore and itchy
Habronemiasis	Sores found on lower limbs, eyes and penis, may develop into large masses
Lice	Poor, patchy, dull coat. Hair loss especially around neck and shoulders. Tail clumped and matted. Itchiness present
Ticks	Small, white lump on skin, may cause anemia or poor condition.
Warble	Hard, round, anthill shaped lump usually on the back in saddle area. Hole on top of lump and fluid may ooze from it
Diseases -  Movement	Symptoms
Bruised Sole	Lameness, pain in hoof and sole, sole may be discoloured
Buttress Foot	Lameness, heat in hoof, swelling on coronary band. Horse may hang leg
Corns	Severe lameness, bruising and pain in sole
Cracked Heels	Heels and back of fetlock swollen, sore and inflamed, are covered in scabs and lesions.
Laminitis	Lameness, usually in forelegs. May tilt backwards on heels, be distressed and sweating
Ringbone	Small lumps burst and form round scabs which spread over a large area
Sandcracks	Crack in hoof wall either from the top of the hoof downwards or from the bottom upwards. Lameness may be present
Seedy Toe	Gap at bottom of hoof filled with crumbly material. Severe lameness may be present
Thrush	Thick, black fluid discharged from frog. Foul smell present in hoof, frog and sole are soft and frog may be coming away from hoof. Pain and irritation seen
Capped  Hock/Elbow	Swelling up to the size of a melon on hock or elbow. Soft at first becoming firmer, pain and heat may be felt
Bog Spavin	Small to large soft swellings on hock joint, one at back above joint, one below joint, one on inside of joint
Bone Spavin	Usually no external symptoms, although occasionally bony swelling on inside of hock. Lameness, stiffness, shortened stride and dragging of the toe may be present
Splints	Bony swellings on cannon bone usually on front legs. Lameness, heat and pain may be seen
Thoroughpin	Small soft swellings on either side of the hock. may be pressed from side to side through hock. Similar swelling to bog spavin. Swelling may shrink during exercise and reappear at rest. Pain, heat and lameness not usually present
Stringhalt	One or both hindlegs drawn sharply up when the horse moves, then sharply down. May hit the belly or only be slightly exaggerated