Helping Horses Breathe

Wednesday, September 7, 2016

Oklahoma State University’s Center for Veterinary Health Sciences has implemented the over-the-ground or Dynamic Respiratory System and that’s good news for horse owners.

The Dynamic Respiratory System allows veterinarians to evaluate the respiratory function of performance horses.

“We have the ability to evaluate a variety of equine disciplines,” explains Dr. Daniel Burba, equine surgeon and interim head of the Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences at the center’s Veterinary Medical Hospital. “This includes barrel racers, cutting horses, western performance horses, dressage, English and racing horses.”

The Dynamic Respiratory System helps veterinarians better assess the upper respiratory track of performance horses. The system is portable and worn across the horse’s back. It can even fit under the rider’s saddle. A scope is placed up the horse’s nose and a transmitter projects images from the horse’s throat onto a portable monitor.

“The system allows us to watch a performance horse ‘work’ in real time and assess its respiratory track simultaneously. You can ride the horse, put it on a lunge line or on a treadmill. The system records the respiratory track activity even as you watch it live on the screen. So if you want, you can review it after the horse has exercised,” he adds.

For more information on the equine services available at OSU’s Gaylord Center for Excellence in Equine Health at the OSU Veterinary Medical Hospital, call 405-744-7000, extension 2 or visit the CVHS website.