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Things Horses Can’t Do
“We may be put together oddly, but at least we’re not horses.”
There’s a few things humans can do that we take for granted that horses can’t, and I’m not talking about typing. As herbivores, horses are built quite differently from us and they’re evolved for a very different lifestyle.
There’s also one weird thing horses can do that we can’t, but lets start with the first.
Throw Up
Horses have no gag reflex. They can’t throw up. In fact, they can’t even burp…their system is strictly a one way path.
One problem this can cause is choke, where food gets stuck halfway down the esophagus. Sometimes this can make it look like they’re vomiting, but it’s not…the food never made it to the stomach. Also, the food will come out of the nose as well as the mouth.
(Choke is treated in a variety of ways, including medication to relax the esophagus, massaging the lump until it goes down where it’s belong, and sometimes using a stomach tube.
Breath Through Their Mouth
When you are struggling to get enough air (or your sinuses are blocked), you’ll start breathing through your mouth. (Breathing through your nose is better, though).