23/03/2024
I was saddened to see this image and others circulating on social media.
As you know, I'm always a little hesitant to comment on "moments in time". But for the tongue to turn that dark blue, there must have been a significant restriction of blood flow for some minutes. It doesn't look good.
It isn't good, and this is an easy aspect to comment on. The restriction is so tight as to overcome arterial pressure and prevent arterial blood supplying the free section of the tongue beyond the bit. At the same time, there would be no venous return. So, the oxygen in the tongue would be used up, changing the colour from red/pink to blue.
Restriction of this kind for a number of minutes could lead to pain, tissue damage and tissue death, even with permanent changes to the tongue - try putting a peg on your tongue for 20 min if you don't believe this.
The horse looks tense, stressed and unhappy at this point in time. The tension and the eye appearance may be gone in the next second, but the prominent veins and sweating (in the absence, I believe, of it being hot?) are highly likely due to a stress response. It could be due to the intensity of exercise and relatively high body temperature if this was an eventer going XC.....but it's not.
I’ve been asked to comment on the noseband tightness, but whilst the top looks tight, I can’t see the bottom half. Not a nice image and I would be interested to see a full video and appropriate action taken. Easy evidence of abuse should be dealt with.
Dr David Marlin
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This photo caused quite a stir in the Animaleweb office, and so we asked our independent Bitting and Bridle Fitting expert, Emma Busk, to comment also.
"I saw this image last night and have been thinking about an appropriate reaction. I think David’s comments are excellent and wholly right to focus on the arterial and venous supply to the tongue. It is impossible to determine the exact tightness of the noseband (the horse has been able to move the jaw to a certain extent – I’ve certainly seen tighter, unfortunately), but this is not the primary factor leading to ‘blue tongue’. In my opinion, trying to cover all the bit/bridle issues present in this picture is impractical, and it may be worth noting that noseband fit/tightness is for a separate discussion.
Looking at the picture as a whole, rather than just at the tongue, what ‘stood out’ is the extreme activation of the parotido-auricularis muscle. A sure sign of stress leading to extreme tension."
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