If your horse died unexpectedly what would be your first guess as to why?

Question

Just curious, because my friend found her horse dead in the pasture today. She was 18 years old and healthy, to their knowledge. They've had regular vet and farrier care and she was well cared for.

They think she had a heart attack or something similar.

Answer 1

horses can die at any given time. could of been colic eating to much grass could, of been lack of water, could of been a heart attack, could of been a weed or a bug that stung her.

if my horse died unexpectedly My first guess would be ate a weed that was poisunous and or a bug. or had fallen in a hole and broke something

I came home from schol one day and I found my horse covred in welts. She had gotten into a bees nest. if I didnt catch it when I did ad get a vet out she would of died.

we were also at a horse event and my friends horse fell over in the arena and died. the horse had worked to hard

Answer 2

My first guess would be a snake bite, i know someone this happened to.  Colic would be the next logical guess.  Sorry for your friends loss, i can just imagine what she went through, especially if the horse was fine and well taken care of.

Answer 3

I'd say heart attack.

Unless you had a big storm, it could also be lightening (happened to a friend's horse recently).

I think if it were poison/toxicity or colic, it would have been a more long and drawn out process, it wouldn't have just turned up dead overnight.

Answer 4

I would guess hart attack like u did

Answer 5

thats so sad

Answer 6

I had this thing happen earlier this year to my 18 year old TB.

I was out at the fence with him and he was fine and 25 minutes later he was flat out dead on the ground.

No thrashing no marks on him nothing.

The vet thought heart attack or aneurysm possibly.

Tell your friend I am sorry she lost her horse like that. it is hard but at least he/she went quickly and did not have to suffer or be ill.

Answer 7

i feel so bad about your horse i would have no guess

Answer 8

I would say colic.

Answer 9

maybe colic. maybe high fever, maybe worms, maybe it was just old

Answer 10

you really need to get a hold of a vet to come out and look...there is really no telling....wish i could help more....we have had that happen....compaction, colic, poisons, there is really no way of saying.. but you need to find out just in case its something in the pasture that the other horses might get into.... just in case....sorry about the loss....thats a hard thing to go through....good luck

Answer 11

heart attack   or something lodged in the throat.

Answer 12

it is probably from an unknown internal disease or maybe something bit it or was poisoned?

Answer 13

colic would be my first guess

Answer 14

I would think colic or a plant poisoning of some kind.

Answer 15

hmm, odd question i have to say.. but with my horse i'd guess old age (hes 19 now and hes got ALOT of years left.) colic complications, or being euthanized because he was being stupid and broke something.  He has a habit of being stupid.

Answer 16

was she overweight?

dewormed often?

she could have had a stroke, heat stroke is a major cause, or a heartattack.

or the worms could have gotten her.

she could have gotten a bad colic, west nile virus, a snakebite, or an animal attacked her.

tell your friend i am very sorry about her horse!!!

<3 <3 <3

Answer 17

I wouldn't venture a guess, but I would get the vet out to do a necropsy to be sure that it was not poisoned or be sure there was nothing that was contagious to other horses.

Answer 18

I agree, it is probably an internal or poisoning problem. I have known that horses found dead in fields have been killed by lightning as well as freak accidents; (this is weird!) hitting the top of their heads on the bottom of a fence rail!  This particular horse had stuck her head through a fence to eat, was startled, jerked her head up, cracking it on the rail above, and it killed her.  Very odd.  

But my condolences to your friend, I'm really sorry for her loss.  

Answer 19

Id look for a snake bite or something in that nature. My vet told me that after all these years of breeding some people can get *bad* horses, that have health problems and the vets wont find it unless they look for it after it died, and mine died at 15 from a clogged artery...very weird...

Answer 20

Maybe collic for your friend??

Well I dont want to answer this question no effense but its too sad for ANYONE to answer.

Answer 21

heart attack.

aneurism.

ive known two horses that have died from these and theere were no signs.

one was fine when they went into the house and then they came out to feed him and he was dead.

Answer 22

aw thats really sad...id have to know the horse to answer that question though

Answer 23

i would probably think on a horse in that age that is suddenly died my first thought would be a heart problem also.my neighbor rancher and i were getting ready to go push some calves into another pasture,he had just saddled his horse that was 23 and a good old ranch horse that was in great health and fit,he mounted his horse and made two rounds at the post to check the saddle and just turned to lead out to the pasture when his horse just dropped mid stride,i jumped off my horse and helped him pull the saddle and bridle off and the horse never moved.the vet said the horse had a heart attack and probably was already dead before it hit the ground.

Answer 24

No signs of thrashing an aneurysm. If there was signs thrashing possibility of poisening(got a poiseness plant not intentional). Have the vet do an autopsy

Answer 25

Snake bite?

Answer 26

snake bite

Answer 27

That's a question that can only be answered for certain by a necropsy.  Without a necropsy, it's all just guessing.

Sorry for your friend, that's a tough break.

Answer 28

Overnight colic or a heart attack would be my guesses. That's really sad.

Answer 29

I am very sorry to hear about this! If your friend thinks she had a heart attack or something like that she could of died because of heart related issues. She could of had heart fail-er or she could of had a hard time breathing and could of given up. If she was 18 and was in good shape I really couldn't think of anything else. Sorry again about your friends horse.

Answer 30

In that circumstance I'd think that the horse got into something toxic first, and I'd also think the toxin had caused a cardiac arrest (heart just stops beating).My second thought would probably be that a major allergic reaction had occurred, and the horse died either from anaphylactic shock, or from swelling of the larynx that suffocated her.

ADD....When you find an animal dead in the field, is not wise to assume events like heart attack or ruptured aneurysm since the cause should be investigated in case it comes from something in the environment that needs to be addressed, such as toxic plants, nests of hornets, etc. that must be removed from the pasture.  After all of these have been ruled out, then a necropsy may be performed to determine whether there was an undiagnosed infection, heart or vascular condition, etc.  Cardiac arrest can happen with any number of causes, and is sudden death.  A heart attack is not cardiac arrest.