Often the horse will be restricted to eating gruel until the esophagus is healed. Sometimes, intravenous fluids and nourishment are required during the time the horse cannot eat or drink. Treatment for aspiration pneumonia might be necessary. Complications Most episodes of esophageal obstruction resolve quickly or are easily treated by your veterinarian, who identifies the underlying cause, performs any necessary dental work, and recommends feeding changes if necessary. Occasionally, horses with severe cases that take days to resolve or lead to circumferential ulceration of the esophageal mucosa have problems afterward.
Circumferential ulceration occurs all the way around the inside of the esophagus.
While choke can be a very serious problem, early detection and treatment will usually resolve it quite favorably, and proper feed management can drop your horse's risk of it to nearly zero. About The Author Michael A. Ball, DVM, is a 1992 graduate of Cornell University's College of Veterinary Medicine. Ball has completed an internship at the University of Georgia and a residency in large animal medicine at Cornell. ACVS, in Ithaca, N.Y., doing primary care, consultation, performance horse problems, and clinical pharmacology.