[tpup]

My horse has a brown discharge in his left nostril only. It has no odor. When it dries, it is a tad "gelatinous" looking and crusty. When I wipe it with a paper towel, it's brown with a tinge of blood. I checked his nostril for signs of a bite or abrasion and cannot see anything. After I wipe it, it comes out clear for a bit (like normal...just a tiny bit) but when I visit again hours later, the brown "crust" is there. No fever or discomfort and he acts completely normal, eating well. He and another horse play bit ALOT so my first though was that he got bit in the nostril.

Are the other possibilities sinus or tooth issue? He is due to have his teeth done so I guess I'll get that scheduled asap. Dentist is also a vet. Thanks!

[TrueColours]

99% certain that its an infected sinus cavity on that one side

A stallion I had many years ago had the same thing and it would drain brown and then an abcess would pop just under his eye on that side, by the cheek bone and it would drain from there

With him, it always burst in that same area before we had a chance to go in and do anything about it. Not sure what the vet will need to do to alleviate it prior to that happening

Good luck

[The Crone of Cottonmouth County]

Does the discharge smell pretty terrible? My mare had that. It turned out to be an infection from a tooth that had been inexpertly extracted. After that experience I now routinely sniff all my horses' nostrils as part of my Cronal Get-To-Sleep-At-Night plan.

ETA: Oops, I see you mentioned that the discharge has no odor. Never mind.

[Texarkana]

Brown tinge usually equals dried blood. If he's acting normal and all his vitals are normal, I'd just watch him. He probably banged his head or has minor sinus irritation.

A rare, but very serious/fatal condition that presents with trickle nosebleeds is guttural pouch mycosis. So if the discharge persists, I'd definitely call the vet.

[Hippolyta]

As others have said, brown is most likely dried blood. Tooth issue is a possibility.

I had a half lease on a horse with something similar, small amounts of orange discharge from one side. Owner wouldn't get a dentist with sedation & speculum. grrrr

hope he is ok.

[nextyear]

Do the horse and yourself a favor and have him scoped! Not a expensive or hard to do procedure, and it's much better than guessing what is creating the dried blood.