In the horse, it is extremely elongated and during normal breathing the posterior border lies under the epiglottis. The soft palate is a complex, muscular organ. The cause of soft palate displacement in horses is not agreed upon by researchers. In addition, when the opening of the trachea is not covered during eating, the horse may have bouts of coughing and become vulnerable to aspiration pneumonia. The soft palate also plays an important role in swallowing. When the horse cannot maintain the palate in the proper position during exercise, performance decreases. The exercise intolerance and gurgling noise are due to the soft palate creating an airway obstruction that doesn't allow air to be expelled properly. Once the palate is displaced, the horse is unable to breathe sufficiently to sustain exercise, and the displacement leads to rapid slowing or stopping of breathing accompanied by a loud guttural noise on expiration. In it's natural position the soft palate is down which seals off the oral airway and opens up the nasal airway.ĭorsal displacement of the soft palate (DDSP) occurs when the epiglottis, which is normally positioned above the back edge of the soft palate and serves to separate the nasal and oral cavities in the horse's head, does not return to the normal position after the horse swallows. The soft palate in a horse is la flap of tissue at the back of the pharnyx.

Is a yellow soft palate normal