drooling

Question
Hi, thanks for providing this service. I was working with my horse today, and noticed as he ate hay he was drooling out the side of his mouth. It was a pretty steady drip, sometimes a double or triple drip. I have never seen, or heard about, this before. He is a retired, 12 yr old, 16.1 hh, Argentinian TB, rescued from an auction where he was being sold for meat. He has had pain issues and is missing three teeth. We just had an equine dentist touch him up a week ago. Any insight you can prvide will be greatly appreciated. Thanx, Chuck

Answer
Hi Chuck -

I have to believe that your horse's drooling is related to his recent dental work.  Seems like any soreness would be gone by now but maybe the work that was done caused soreness in other areas of his mouth.  Choke is also a possibility especially if your horse was allowed to eat before the any sedative that was used, had completely worn off.  Choke isn't the life threatening emergency in horses that it is in humans so that's the good news. If your horse is drinking normally, then there is less of a chance that it is choke. Definitely call your equine dentist and let them know ... see what they advise.  Based on what work they performed, they will know if this is expected or not and then you can go from there.  It wouldn't hurt to rinse out your horse's mouth with a water hose as well.  

I love that you have rescued this horse Chuck!!  Please keep me posted or let me know if you have any other questions.

Thank you!