Horses With COPD

[Blossom]

Hello everyone with horse that have COPD and hello to those that don't too!!

Those with horses or know horses that have that have COPD or RAO or whatever it is called at the moment are your horses stabled or are they living out?

I suspect along with some others that this is what Ebony has. Was just wondering what you all do to cope with it?

Many Thanks

[Wally]

My old horse was diagnosed with COPD years ago when he was about 14. He's 30 + now.

He developled COPD as he was being fed rubbish at the livery yard he was at.

Once he had 24/7 turn out and good forage he stopped coughing. he now has 24/7 turn out in the summer and daily turnout in the winter, unless it isn't fit for a dog to be out.

He is now on haylage and either shavings or paper bedding. I can even get away with straw if there isn't any shavings at the stores. He hasn't had an attack since.

Quality hay or haylage or good silage and as much out doors as he can cope with, fixed my old nag.

[Gracie]

What is COPD?
I've never heard of it .. I don't think anyways!

[Lgd]

I worked with a COPD horse for many years - Peri's sire had COPD for many years, stallions are the worst imaginable to get it because it is difficult to provide 24/7 turn-out. My friend's horse also has COPD but is managed so well that he is still competing at the age of 22.

Lucky (the stallion) was managed with shavings bed. Must be mucked out completely, no deep littering as ammonia will aggravate COPD. He was turned out as much as possible, although overnight turnout not possible as all the fields are bordered by bridleways and he was quite capable of clearing even the stud fencing.
Hay thoroughly soaked, although for about his last 10 years he got haylage.
He had allergies to certain pollens so when they were at their highest levels he got a long-acting steroid injection.
In later years he did need a maintenance dose of clenbuterol (ventipulmin) in the summer months to stop him wheezing.
He was ridden regularly into his late teens and he was much better when kept fit. (only stopped riding him because of an injury).
He was put down last year - when his arthritis started to bother him not due to the COPD.

George is managed with rubber matting and a minimal shavings bed that is lifted daily. Out by day, in at night (security reasons!). Haylage.
He is also fed the herbal supplement Clarity. He has never needed steroids and has only ever needed one course of ventipulmin when he had a viral infection that aggravated the COPD. If he's a bit snotty he also gets the homoeopathic remedies Arsen Alb, Brysonia and Rhus Tox which settle it down pretty quickly. Because he competes in affiliated dressage he is limited as to which meds he can have. Clenbuterol is not permitted so if he has a course he would have to be taken out of competition until it was out of his system. He is testament to how well a COPD horse can be kept and still lead an active life.

[Miriam]

It looks like Rhi suffers a little bit of COPD as when she is first exercised she coughs and I have to wet her hay. If she is on Haylage she is not too bad. She is on shavings and lives out as much as possable in the summer (I put her out in April and then start to use the stavation paddocks in May as she has to be watched for her weight) and is out during the day in the winter weather permitting. I have to admit that she is much better in teh summer when she is out all day and night but we have no field shelters or spare stable if anything was to happen to her.

The pony I had on loan before I bought Rhi suffered from COPD (and laminitis) and I have just followed on his routine with her.

I am pleased to say (fingers crossed and touching wood) that neither of these horses have had to have treatment.

[Gracie]

Sorry this may seem rude but no one has answered my quesiton, What is COPD?

[Lgd]

COPD = chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, horse version of asthma

[Blossom]

Thanks guys for your responses. Unfortunately I have to be so careful with Ebony as she also has had in the past before I got her laminitis so can't really have 24/7 turnout in the summer time. She suffers from sweet itch as well - poor mare. I have the vet coming out on Wednesday to give her her vaccination so i will ask him to look at her respiratory system as well.

Thanks again
Blossom

[Gracie]

thanks Lgd I wasn't trying to seem pushy but I thought maybe no one really saw my post or read it, so I thought making it bigger would help people see it! Thanks guys! I always like learning new things!

[Bebe]

Last winter Bebe had a really bad cough when stabled. I think it was down to the fact that the stables were indoor and shavings, straw and hay were stored above and as a result the whole stable block was very dusty. What worked for her was feeding haylage or soaked hay and switching to rubber matting with shavings. 24/7 turnout wasn't an option at that particular yard so we moved after about 4 months.

Bebe now lives out for most of the year, she went out 24/7 in March last year and has only started coming in every night since the beginning of this month (not much grass left in field now). Her stable is much nicer on this yard and the dust is practically non-existent compared to the last yard. She is still on rubber mats but I now use a straw bed which she has no problems with (I spray it with Microlat stable disinfectant as this helps to keep dust in the straw to a minimum) although I am very careful to keep it as clean as possible. She still needs to have her hay soaked or steamed (steaming is better and less messy) otherwise she gets a cough and a runny nose but as long as I do that she is fine and has no problems at all. I'm in the process of switching to haylage which she prefers and is easier for me.

I personally think that most horses would benefit from soaked or steamed hay as even the best quality hay has dust present which can aggravate the airways, even if there are no obvious signs of this.

[horsemad]

My horse, who has COPD, is stabled at night, but gets turnout every day (unless the weather is particularly bad). I would rather have her out all the time in summer, but don't have that option in the yard where she is kept. She is on a shavings bed and is fed haylage rather than hay.

It doesn't generally affect her too badly - occasionally she will have a coughing fit when I ride her - it sounds awful, but only lasts for about a minute, and she is ok once she clears her lungs.

The only other thing I have noticed is that the odd time she gets excited or wound up, her breathing is affected - it sounds like she is hyperventilating because her breathing is fast and noisy. I assume this is because of her COPD. Luckily, this happens very rarely because she is generally very laid back!

[Miriam]

Originally posted by Blossom
Thanks guys for your responses. Unfortunately I have to be so careful with Ebony as she also has had in the past before I got her laminitis so can't really have 24/7 turnout in the summer time. She suffers from sweet itch as well - poor mare. I have the vet coming out on Wednesday to give her her vaccination so i will ask him to look at her respiratory system as well.

Thanks again
Blossom

Hi Blossom,

Is there any chance of putting Ebony in a smaller paddock with little grass (starvation) during the summer. This is what I do with Rhi during the summer. She too has sweet itch and the only effective thing I have found is a bug rug. I know it is hard as I had the same problem with Merlin. He too sufferred COPD and Laminitis. Spoke to the vet and we came to the conclusion that even if he had to live in a small outside paddcok with little grass he was better off than being stuck in.

Good luck and let us know how you get on

[ros]

Glad you said that, Amanda. We make our own hay, of course, and I can never understand how any one can expect hay NOT to be dusty, given the conditions it's made in! Obviously it's less so if it's well made and weather conditions are favourable, but I always soak my horses' hay irrespective of how nice I THINK it is. You'd be amazed how much dust you can generate shaking out a bale of lovely sweet hay!

[Jay.o]

i think george, a shetland that d owns has this !
when he runs around he breathes so heavily !!!!
he pufffs and pants when he trots.
We thought that he had a bad heart or lungs or something.
we havent had the vet out as it doesnt seem to cause him discomfort just breathing so quick and heavily and makes a noise when he breathe normally [only sometimes though].
what do you think ????
hes out 24/7 all year !

[cvb]

my old guy (heading for 31) has had COPD for many years. Coughs when first exercised - unlike the other post example, he actually coughs LESS when excited.

He is on shavings (now also rubber mats) with soaked hay. Turned his nose up at horsehage when we tried it a few years back.

Tried him on hemp bedding and it made things worse.

When he lived in Cambridgeshire, he was really bad in the summer and needed nebulising. Moved to Scotland a couple of years back and is much better.

Wheezes more if he scoffs lots of grass :rolleyes: Though its tough not to giggle when you lunge him and you get cough-fart-cough-fart all the way round, we restrict his grazing. (He also starts doing dressage tests by himself if he over eats - we think his digestive system is losing efficiency and the toxins make him feel odd. Had 101 tests and the vet can't explain it.)

[Blossom]

We do have a starvation paddock where we are and Ebony has spent time in it over night and when the other horses were being wormed and had to stay in. But, it is up away from the other horses and she was always so miserable up there. She is quite fine built and not really the type for living out as well. Also she seems to really like it in, this is only her 4th night stabled and she already knows which one is hers and goes off into it all by herself. She is also early 20's now, and I feel that she should be stables overnight. I'll have to see what the vet says tomorrow as it might not even be COPD, bit strange as I have never ever heard her cough not once!

Blossom

[skye]

copd and laminitis,lovely combination to keep at bay! one benefits from stabling the other,fresh air.I found the bext way with my lad is rubber mats,shavings and soaked hay and stabled at night in the winter,last year he had that routine in the danger months too,but i hope this year he'll be ok to be out in the summer,on a small patch of grass.Using electric fencing to section off a strip worked well,fresh air! not to much grass!