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The nasal passages of a horse are large and flexible and designed to take large amounts of air into the horses lungs. When a horse is exercising at their maximum ability, the amount of air coming in increases ten times the normal. At the back of a horses throat, they have 2 "trap doors", so to speak, flaps of tissue that prevent food and other material from going into the horses lungs. These are called the soft palate and the epiglottis. The soft palate is a flap of tissue at the top of the back of the throat and hangs down. The epiglottis is a flap at the bottom of the back of the throat that points up. Working in harmony, these flaps open and close, letting only food and water go into the horses stomach and only air go into the horses lungs.

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13y ago

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