# Severe Drooling.



## aochorses (Sep 18, 2009)

I have a 3 year old Thoroghbred gelding who has been drooling for the past couple of months.It is quite severe and it looks like it is partially digested hay that he is drooling out and I know that horses cannot bring things back up. He has had his teeth done and has been eating hay all year. He does not have choke but I was reading some stuff about eating clover and black patch fungus that could cause that. I'm in northern alberta and I don't know if that is something common up here. He has also been on two different types of hay and it hasnt seemed to make a differnce. He has no other symtoms of anyhting, he has good weight and is nice and shiny and always comes for his oats at night. He is the only horse out of 33 that is doing this and they all eat hay that was baled from the same two feilds. I would love some input if anyone has heard of this.


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## snoggle (Jun 13, 2009)

Mine does that too. The other horses in the field with her don't drool nearly as much (I've actually had my shirt soaked while putting her bit in her mouth.). I asked the vet about it and he said that some are just more sensitive to the clover thing than others. He said it wouldn't hurt anything and that the clover is good for her. Have the vet check him out, but its probably okay.


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## 7Ponies (May 21, 2009)

Does he do it all the time, or only when eating.

I would suspect something wrong in his mouth/teeth. Have your vet check him.


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## shesinthebarn (Aug 1, 2009)

I've only seen excessive drooling for 3 reasons (just in my experience, I'm sure there are lots of others)
1. Ulcer/sore in the mouth, or possibly a bad tooth. Seen this several times.
2. Choke. But you said you don't think it's that.
3. An allergy. We had a mare that did this. She drooled BUCKETS. Turns out she had an allergy to the type of meds she had been given.

Again, I'm sure there are lots of other reasons, but these are the situations I've been in. Call a vet to look in her mouth - try to get one that had a speculum to hold the mouth open to have a GOOD look in there. Maybe consider having the horse scoped if nothing is found in the mouth.
Good luck!!


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## trvlingheart (Aug 4, 2009)

The first thing I thought of was clover! Ages ago we boarded at a barn that went through a spell of major clover patches in the feilds. Our horses loved it and drooled green drool for months at a time, they also seemed to be a feeling a little too good or high at times. That was the only time we ever saw the drooling issues, I'd take a walk around your feild and see if there are any clover patches they are hard to miss most of the time they look like green pillows in the pasture. lol 

I rode a friend of the family's horse for a while on their tobacco farm that drooled alot... lol she had been reaching into the peanut feild that bordered her pasture... But she smelled like peanuts so we knew right off what she got into. So I'd bet thats not it.


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## MN Tigerstripes (Feb 20, 2009)

There is a toxin in a mold found on the leaves of red clover that causes horses to drool excessively. 

Slobbers or Slaframine Poisoning in Horses

Clover Slobbers


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## aochorses (Sep 18, 2009)

Thanks for all info, I will definatly have to do a better job checking for clover. I have had the vet out since he had his teeth done to double check so I think its safe to say I can rule out have something wrong with his teeth and/or mouth. Will all horses drool when they eat clover or just certain ones?? Cuz thats what has me the most confused that no one else is doing it. Anyway thanx again.


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## aochorses (Sep 18, 2009)

Oh yah, one more thing he does it all the time but I mostly notice it being the worst when he isd not eating.


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## MN Tigerstripes (Feb 20, 2009)

Some horses don't like clover as much so won't really eat it. Others love it and will eat it all the time. So if your clover is infected with the fungus and one horse is hogging the clover it could very well show up in just one of them. 

One of my mares LOVED clover and would pig out on it, she wouldn't let the other horses near the clover patch in the pasture. I never had problem with slobbers, but there is a fungus associated with white clover that causes photo sensitivity and she would get a little sunburned on her white patches. None of the other horses had a problem cause she wasn't sharing the clover.


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## QHChik (Jun 26, 2009)

our horses are on pasture 24-7 and we can definitely tell when there is lots of clover in the fields because they'll drool like crazy. It has never caused us any problems and we've asked the vet what it was. Its apparently normal for our area.


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## charlevrm (Oct 14, 2009)

Hi All, My Big Boy slobbers as well. Our paddocks and fields are full of clover. He is the only one that seems affected out of our 4 but but it doesnt seem to bother him healthwise.


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## paint gurl 23 (Jan 26, 2009)

I am in southern alberta, have you looked through the hay he eats to check for foxtail?? foxtail will make them drool very bad... generally as soon as they take it in there mouth its just gets stuck from the barbs on the foxtail...its a shorter bush with a fuzzy end, hence the name, foxtail can kill horses...its very uncomfortable for them and worst case scenario, he will get really dehydrated (from drooling) and extremely ill...have a look in his hay and see what you find...horses wont eat it unless they absolutely feel they are starving or werent taught by mom to stay away from it. Cows can eat it without issues, horses tend to have serious problems if they are given any.


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