So, horse has neutrophilic pulmonary inflammation and pulmonary hemorrhage. Visit to clinic with all the diagnostics revealed basically exercise-induced pulmonary hemorrhage and horse asthma. We are talking Cian O’Connor’s horse’s issue at the olympics. From what I have read it isn’t uncommon. I have a fabulous vet and a great plan for management…, but tell me your stories, should I be worried? Does anyone have experience with this?
PS, if it matters, the bleeds have been mild.
I trained race horses for over 20 years. I have seen horses who were graded as having bled a 10 out of 10 when scoped who didn’t have the slightest bit of blood visible from the outside. Only saw 2 out of who knows how many that bled visibly without a scope. The one was relatively controlled with Lasix and Amicar, the other was retired from racing.
You having a horse who is bleeding visibly without a scope even if it is mild is very concerning to me especially since I assume you aren’t going racing speed very often if at all. I am not sure an athletic career will be a possibility for your guy unfortunately. Hope I am wrong and you find a way to help him.
Thank you, belatedly, @Laurierace! The fearful pessimist in me fears you are right, and that is why I asked. And I really appreciate your wisdom, as I know this condition is more prevalent in racehorses than sport horses! (Correct me if I am wrong, but you also do eventing and I know it is more prevalent there too…)
Some updates: The good news is we have made some major changes in management (moved to shedrow for max ventilation and minimized dust, are soaking (not just rinsing) hay to reduce dust and allergens, using a net to keep said wet hay off the ground and discourage mold, maximizing turnout, etc) and gave her a lengthy time off for lungs to heal (extended due to a stone bruise), and she has been cough-free, bleed-free and is now back in work for several weeks issue-free.
Before diagnosis, she coughed a lot, especially in the indoor or in cold weather, but increasingly in warm weather outdoors at the start of work. She also snorted during work all the time. I would pick up a trot and she would cough. It started in winter in the indoor and I wasn’t that concerned… then it began in summer and I got worried. Then the bleeds… which led to diagnostics and diagnosis.
In addition to the management changes and downtime, we did steroid inhalers.
She now doesn’t cough at all, even when cold (welcome fall?), or indoors… and she seems less winded when exerting herself and has had no bleeds… and I don’t even notice any snorting… so I am hopeful!
My vet feels management changes are the best thing we can do (so far so good), and I am prepared to buy that crazy expensive horse nebulizer if I need to for relapses/maintenance. Hope not to…
I do jumpers, not eventing (or racing!), so I am hoping we can manage this. We don’t really gallop much, if at all.
This has been such a whirlwind, and I am a little twitchy at being this honest here, but I hope the above can help people in similar situations who may be concerned.
Coughing regularly isn’t normal. And bleeds aren’t either. Looking back, there were probably signs we missed. I am relieved that it wasn’t gutteral pouch mycosis (I couldn’t sleep between the second bleed and her arrival for her scope!). This diagnosis requires a lot of work, especially for the barn staff… soaking her hay, minimizing her exposure to dust and allergens. The good news is so far, the work is paying off (and she LOVES the shedrow!!!).
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Great update! To me that rules out EIPH which is a good thing as that is caused by high pressure in the lungs itself causing the capillaries to leak. This sounds like it is coming from higher up in the airway.
I did do extremely low level Eventing before my body completely broke down from all those years at the track but nothing even remotely fast enough to cause bleeding.
