# My colt is breathing weird when he lays down...



## cloudkisser (Jul 19, 2010)

My 5 1/2 month old colt is breathing weird. He's always done it so I didn't know it was abnormal till my friend came over who has a lot more experience with babys and told me why is he breathing like that? When he takes a breath he kinda holds for a second or 2 then he lets it out hard with almost a grunt or a sigh.. he only does it when he's laying down. My vet said he does have a heart murmer but not to worry because babys usually grow out of them. Has anyone seen this before? I'm going to try and film it and show it to my vet. But I just thought I'd see if anyone else has seen this.


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## lilkitty90 (Nov 11, 2009)

my little colt grunts as well. how old is your colt? i always thought mine did it just because he's got a huge gut lol i'd like to know this as well


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## cloudkisser (Jul 19, 2010)

lilkitty90 said:


> my little colt grunts as well. how old is your colt? i always thought mine did it just because he's got a huge gut lol i'd like to know this as well


 he's 5 and a half months old.


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## lilkitty90 (Nov 11, 2009)

yeah mine is around 7 months old. is yours a little on the "hefty" side? i always thought mine did it because he was fat lol


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## xLollipop (Oct 26, 2010)

It's notoriously difficult for horses to breathe whilst laying down so it could just be that, that's why horses sleep standing up most of the time  HTH


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## lilkitty90 (Nov 11, 2009)

but most babies always lay down to sleep as it is easier them that way. and alot of adult horses lay down as well. and they always seem ok


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## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

Does it sound similar to this? I wouldn't worry. It is fairly hard for horses to breath while laying down and if he was in real trouble, you would be able to tell.


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## trailhorserider (Oct 13, 2009)

My 17 yr old gelding would groan a bit while laying down (but not as loud as Rafe in the above video!) and when I asked my vet about it he said it is because horses are so large that it put a lot of pressure on their insides to lay down, so it's not very comfortable for them, but it was basically normal. 

I was worried my guy had colic symptoms with the groaning and such, but the vet was right- years have gone by now and he is just fine and nothing ever came of it. But it is kind of worrisome to hear your horse laying down and groaning. But in my guy's case, it doesn't seem to be a sign of trouble.


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## cloudkisser (Jul 19, 2010)

smrobs said:


> Does it sound similar to this? I wouldn't worry. It is fairly hard for horses to breath while laying down and if he was in real trouble, you would be able to tell.
> YouTube - Rafe Napping.


 yes it sounds similar to that but not so dramatic. Thank you everyone. I feel more at ease about it.


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