Excessive drooling?

Question

On Tuesday I noticed that the horse I was leasing was drooling a lot, both before I rode her and during her excercise. I rode her again today and she was drooling like crazy.

She seems healthy otherwise. And she takes the bit extremely easy. She has always played with her bit a lot and sticks her tongue out all the time, but never drooled like this. What could be causing this? Is it something she's eating? I'm pretty sure she's up to date on having her teeth floated

p.s. I dont have any control in when she see's the vet.

Answer 1

Does her pasture have a lot of clover in it?  I've seen that cause excessive drooling before.  It's nothing to worry about, just kind of messy.

Answer 2

My horse has discovered clover and drools all over me when I'm trying to get him ready to ride... he likes to nudge me with his head and slobber at the same time, it's very charming (not).  I've heard buttercups can do it too.

Answer 3

I have to agree with the comments about clover.  It is mildly toxic to horses, which causes the drooling effect.  Not enough to cause them any real harm, but just turns them into drool fountains.  It's just coming up here the last week or so, my guys have started their annual drool party.  Other than the neatness situation, it's not a big deal.

Answer 4

Sounds like clover to me.

Answer 5

I think your mare has the clover slobbers, which are a highly unsightly but harmless condition caused by her eating clover in the field. Horses love the taste of clover, and they will eat it whenever they can find it anywhere. Our horses have this problem every spring and summer, when our pastures are growing actively, and it has never hurt them at all. The clover causes a mild irritation of the horse's mouth, which causes him or her to salivate or slobber a lot. As long as the horse has plenty to drink, there is no reason to worry or be alarmed-and this condition will  go away once your mare quits eating clover.

Clover slobbers are mainly a nuisance, because if your horse slobbers on you, then the stains can be difficult to get out of your clothes. They are not harmful, however. We have 11 horses on the farm I live on, and every one of them has had the slobbers at some point or other this spring. Nobody has had any problems from it, though.

Good luck.

Answer 6

Well, if the horse is eating a lot of clover that can cause it. When my horse finds some good white clover he drools all over the place!

Answer 7

There are a few possible reasons your horse might be drooling;

Eating clover(as everyone else has mentioned).

She might have a foreign object (splinter, thorn, ect...) in her mouth - do a through check of her mouth.

Her teeth might need floating.

There are also some types of poisonous plants that can cause excess drooling, so I would do a check of her pasture for any possible poisonous plants.

Answer 8

My first thought was of her teeth...they may need floating.  There are harmless conditions that involve drooling, but without an exam, you can't rule out anything.  If she's sticking out her tongue a lot, she could have something lodged at the back of her throat, which can occur when the teeth don't thoroughly chew the food...this would cause the horse to salivate excessively.