Coughing horse

[Brychen]

My horse has started to cough now he is in for the nights and has a lovely lump of yucky but clear stuff outside his stable yesterday. he is on hay and a straw bed. the hay is nice but a bit dusty, the straw is lovley really golden. I am thinking of mving him onto shavings and maybe horse hage. He was okay with hay until at a previos yard where it was really rank. Any other thoughts?

[galadriel]

Simply being inside exposes a horse to tremendous amounts of dust and allergens. Even when you do your best to make sure that your horse's bedding is less dusty, the horse is still coping with dust and allergens from the whole stable. Studies have shown that horses who are stabled are ALL prone to respiratory problems. Being inside is just not good for horses.

With a coughing horse, I'd go to great lengths to keep the horse outside.

[Pink's lady]

Pretty much what Galadriel said - your not going to cure it whilst he's stabled. You can only ease it a little.

Sounds like classic heaves/COPD/RAO. Basically horsey asthma. It's usually the mould and pollens in straw and hay not the 'dust' (i.e dried soil) thats the problem.

Swapping his hay to good haylage should help, you you could totally replace it with a hay-repplacer (i.e Readygrass or HI-fi lite etc). Saoking the hay helps breifly but as soon as it dries out it's back to the orginally dustyness.

Straw is the very worse thing you could use for him. Doesn't matter how nice it smells or looks, it will be dusty and have loads of mould in it.

Swapping the bedding to rubber matting (if you can afford it) and a good dust-extracted bedding (i.e certain shavings/flaz/cardboard etc) will really help him.

You also need to get the ventilation of the stable as good as possible, with a gentle through draught if possible.

But to be honest you'll never get rid of the problem whilst he's stabled, onyl reduce the symptoms a little. You really need to look at having him out as much as possible.

[Ptaty70]

Hi

My horse started coughing during the dusty summer, especially when the hay came in from the fields. He is 15 and I never had a problem before apart from the usual, occassional cough.

I got the vet in and he diagnosed Pasture Fever or something like that.. it's like hay fever/asthma and a form of COPD. It helped a lot to search for COPD on the web for information on how others have dealt with it and what it means.

Basically, I got some (very expensive) supplements from the vet for the first month (2 lots at nearly £50 a go) and then moved onto easy breathing supplements from my feed supplier, which lasts a lot longer and is put in the feed once a day.

The MOST important thing is to manage your horse's environment. Dust free shavings (better still, matting) is better than hay. Dust your stable. Don't deep litter. Don't groom your horse in the stable. Use decent hay and soak it before giving it to him. Wet his feed. Keep him out as long as possible. Basically you need to keep as much dust away from him as possible.

My horse is now a lot lot better and only coughs very occassionally!

The vet told me to look at his flanks when he is breathing. Mine was giving a very small last little push on the breathe out, showing his airwaves were obstructed.

I cut out anything other than gentle riding (at the time) to allow him to recover. It is like an asthmatic being asked to go for a run I have been told.

I hope this helps. As mentioned, something like 75% of all horses are affected by dust but it can be dealt with effectively just by being aware of the causes.

Kate

[Brychen]

I decided to move him onto shavings and haylage yesterday (this is when our bedding is delivered) unfortunatly they hadnt got enough shavings so I agreed to stick to straw until next saturday and soaked his hay. I rode this morning straight from the stable, no coughs at all! I am now not sure if he just had a cold or a virus. He still isnt right though, he tends to run of in a trot if I give him the chance, he really didnt want to trot today.

I will still move onto shavings though as he tends to rootle through the bed when he finishes his hay so unlesss I soak the bed as well I cant really prevent him inhaling allergens. Our straw is v. good as I am the yard that supplies most of north Birminghams hay and straw and it is lovely but I think wiht age he has become more sensative to such things.

I would love for mine to live out, but factors against that are:

I live on the edge of a major city (8 miles from the centre of Bham), its not really safe to leave horses out in the dark they are safer in a stable with CCTV - too many thugs upto mischeif I am afraid.

There is a lot of presure on land round here, I am lucky to be some where that horses can stay out till v.late in summer and till late in winter a lot of local yards keep them in 24/7 in witner which my horse would hate).

The only grass only yards are actually mud only in winter as our area is very well known for its rain!

[Ptaty70]

Hi Tamara

Seems that with a little gentle management (if he is indeed affected by the dust/allergens) he will be okay. My horse didn't have an exaggerated form either, but it is good just to be aware of how you manage them keeping in mind that many horses react badly to dust.

If he was better today, maybe haylage is a good option in the short term and see how he goes, then move onto soaked hay which are the steps I took. A friend also gets a squirty bottle and sprays the bed of shavings with water lightly, to take away a little more dust. Haven't done this myself so I can't comment on its effectiveness.

Living out is fantastic if you can, but it certainly seems that living in at night is the best and safest option for you.

If he still doesn't feel right a week after changing his management, it would be best to get external advice from a vet, just in case it's something else.

I wish you luck and hope that it is just a mild irritation and that he gets better.