Can displacement of soft palate be corrected with success?

tbrace · Postby **tbrace** » Mon Feb 25, 2008 9:21 am

How much success have you had with correcting displacement? Our colt displaces when excited, but when he's scoped, all looks normal.

Do surgerys work, or can he calm down and have it go away?

larrygene · Postby **larrygene** » Mon Feb 25, 2008 9:46 am

I've had very limited success with throat surgeries. If it worked it was for a short time. Displacement from my experience makes a cheap horse, meaning it will eventually revert back to being a problem which means trouble breathing, which means cheap at best. IOW, I don't believe the problem really ever goes away. JMO!!

madelyn · Postby **madelyn** » Mon Feb 25, 2008 10:05 am

I have had some success using a French link snaffle, or a Centaur snaffle (one piece bit). I would try that before surgery. The traditional single joint snaffle can aggravate the palate.

fort_falcon · Postby **fort_falcon** » Mon Feb 25, 2008 10:41 am

ooooh....heck we have had horses doing that, you can get one of those tongue supressing bits...or tie the tongue down and close the mouth - use a grackle or a flash...works really well....we've had several horses with the same problem race VERY successfully doing this.

doublete · Postby **doublete** » Mon Feb 25, 2008 8:51 pm

I have no idea if this would help, but a serena's song or a running w bit. I don't even know what my horse displaces, but I know since I put him in a running W, he runs ten times better.

Jenny · Postby **Jenny** » Mon Feb 25, 2008 9:01 pm

We had a chestnut filly who could run when SHE wanted to. She would displace and we ran her in a Serena Song bit and it worked for a while and then in ( and the name escaped me, help me out guys) the sort of nose band that goes up the middle of their face. usually white in colour. I can't believe I forgot the name!! made of rubber. I have heard that the Cornel collar also works well. i don't know if it is allowed everywhere.

Gerry · Postby **Gerry** » Tue Feb 26, 2008 6:06 am

I have a friend training in Florida and he started using the Cornell collar on her and she just won and paid over $100...guess it worked

TJ · Postby TJ » Tue Feb 26, 2008 10:56 am

The Cornell Collar is a useful piece of equipment for horses who displace their soft palate. It is not effective with horses that have a paralyzed flap (roaring), unless they are also displacing. There are two surgery's commonly used in this disorder, the Llewellyn procedure (a quick, effective and simple procedure) and the Laryngeal Tie Forward which is the latest and most effective surgical procedure available. The least expensive and least effective procedure is the standing strap muscle resection. The latest and most effective procedure, the laryngeal tie forward was developed at Cornell. The same Dr.'s who developed this procedure also developed the Cornell Collar. Their research shows both the operation and the collar have similar and far more effective success rates than the other two procedures.
The only negative involved when using the collar is that you must fit and adjust the Collar properly or it will be of no benefit. Otherwise it is a very good alternative to surgery and is worth trying before doing the surgery. TJ