Non-horse owners have likely never heard of 'choke' and horse owners who have seen one do not forget it. A 'choke' is what it sounds like; a horse gets something stuck in it's throat or down the wrong wind pipe, and can't dislodge it. Problem is, horses have a LONG neck, so there is a long distance to get the impediment either down into the stomach or back up and out. Now, vets will tell you that horses cannot throw up, because technically they cannot evacuate the contents of their stomach. To the person at the end of the lead when a horse is trying to clear a choke, that becomes a technical abstraction. We had a choke this afternoon, when Hazy ate her grain a bit too fast. I was re-wrapping her rear fetlock (she pulled a tendon a few weeks ago), and after I was done, I stood up and saw her moving funny. I watched. Was it a colic? Then I saw the throat spasms and knew. We got our vet on the phone, talked through a plan, and worked with Hazy for two hours to get her through it, and back to peaceful and happy. And yes, it's disgusting. We were lucky, many chokes do need medical or even hospital intervention. Hazy is a sweet sweet mare and is tucked in quietly for the night.