Asthma/heaves, advice please!

[Kolasweet]

My performance horse was recently diagnosed with asthma. He had allergy testing that showed only minor reactions to a couple things. The vet felt they did not explain his asthma and that the real issue is air quality in his barn.

I really don’t want to move barns so I’m trying to think of everything we can do. Here is my list:
-pay 1000 dollars to invest in a hay steamer
-hay nets
-already on breathe right from smart pak
-already turned out as much as possible (8 hours a day)
-turned out during bath chores
-watering aisles

Any other advice or insight? Anyone have experience with hay steamers?
My poor boy needs help, or I may have no choice but to move.

[Scribbler]

What do you use for bedding and can you switch it? How much air flow in his stall and can he switch to one with more airflow?

[Kolasweet]

Shavings. Is that OK?

[Scribbler]

Well, it’s something to play with. Pellets tend to be dustiet than shavings. But you could try straw or flax bedding.

[Gardenhorse]

My vet said to avoid hay nets and feed hay on the ground or in a slow feeder. Also avoid round bales in turnout. Does his stall have a window to outside that could be opened or could he move from an inner stall to one closer to an outside door? Does the barn store hay in a loft above the stalls or is it attached to an indoor? If so, there might not be a lot you can do to improve the air quality for him at this barn.

I have a Haygain hay steamer and it made a huge difference for my horse. She is also on cetirizine (Zyrtec). I had her on SmartBreathe for a while, but dropped it this summer and haven’t noticed any difference.

Straw is not necessarily a better bedding, it can have a lot of the fungi/mold that you also see in hay and can be dusty. Shredded paper is supposed to be one of the least dusty, but I have no idea where/how people source that or how good it is to work with.

[Gardenhorse]

This is a recent article with a good overview of management/environmental issues to consider for horses with asthma. https://thehorse.com/19375/breathing-easy-managing-horses-with-asthma/

[3PonyFarm]

Does your horse have a full stall door or one where he can put his head over? That helped my gelding some to be able to get his head over even if it was just the aisle.

[LCDR]

Without being able to identify specific allergens, as in his case, anything other than relocation to a better environment may be a compromise. Do his acute RAO episodes respond to corticosteroid injections?

I had this same problem, and being an avid fox hunter, I was reluctant to move my horse from the hunt barn where he lived because my hunting friends were all there, plus my other horses. RAO continued to be a problem and I made the poor guy miserably live on steroids for years. When I retired and we all moved to a different barn in a different city, his RAO problems almost completely resolved and he spent the rest of his life medication-free.

[2DogsFarm]

While the spendy () hay steamer might help, until you identify the trigger, horse will continue to have symptoms.
If moving is your last option, all you can do is minimize the effects.

Like @LCDR , I had a horse react to corncob bedding. Rales I could hear w/o a stethoscope & starting to develop a heaveline.
My other horse had no problem with it.
Both turned out 24/7, coming in stalls to eat, barn very well ventilated.
After 3mos of clenbuterol, I switched back to pelleted wood bedding after reading dairy cattle could get RAD from bacteria in the corncob bedding.
Within a month horse stopped coughing & his lungs cleared so well vet told me if he hadn’t heard sounds on the first visit he’d never guess this was the same horse.

[Kolasweet]

Wow that’s amazing! We use shavings. Not sure if that could be a trigger, but he hadn’t had an issue with them for the prior 5 months. The issues really started when fall hit and the barn doors were closed.

[Kolasweet]

Yes he resolves completely with steroids, but I’m also worried about their side effects. And he’s getting chunky from having to be out of work….

[Kolasweet]

Great article!

[Scribbler]

There you go. Get him some fresh air 24/7

[LCDR]

I am not advocating corticosteroids over any other techniques available today since my RAO horse problems and experience ended in 2010. But my academic career centered around clinical research with corticosteroids, and my vet and I arrived at a regimen that worked for all 3 of us - him, me, and the horse. It did require my daily monitoring and dose adjustments.

I was once lectured by a visiting vet student about the evils of steroids as I was picking up my supply of dexamethasone from the vet’s office. The student had likely heard a vet school lecture or two. It was hard to hold myself back from lecturing him in return, but I managed to rein myself in.

[PaddockWood]

@Kolasweet Why does your vet say it’s the barn? What about your barn conditions? And yes, closing the doors would be a no no…for a heaves horse.

And did you do skin testing or the blood work?

[Kolasweet]

Yes we did skin prick testing. He had minor reactions to a few things that would not explain his symptoms due to the seasonality.

Our barn is closed to stay heated in the fall and snowy winter. I guess I could look at boarding him outside 24/7 but our winters are frigid.

[Scribbler]

Heated closed barn is going to amplify everythung, dust and mold and urine. Horses do OK outside with shelter and a turnout blanket if necessary. See if he can live in a paddock.

[PaddockWood]

@Kolasweet So how long have you had this horse and how long at this barn? (I go into Columbo mode)

And how bad was the attack? Was there audible distress (like something was blocking his airway??

And there’s no prior hx of asthma?

[Kolasweet]

Nope no history. He came from Spain last year. Perfect vetting.

So I’ve had him almost a year and I’ve been at the barn for longer.

Audible wheezing and laboring requiring steroids. Third episode in 3 months. Once was clearly provoked by a barn cleaning.

[GoodTimes]

Where have you been riding? In or out? My asthmatic gelding has a decent list of allergies (mostly pollens, weeds, mold, and yeast) and has been getting allergy shots since June.
It can take awhile for the shots to kick in so I decided to give him the winter off in case the dust from the indoor would push him over the edge again. He lives out 24/7, so meds and steamed hay would be our next steps
I made the right call, he’s been fine all fall, but I rode inside a couple days this week since it’s too dark after work with the time change. By Friday he was coughing so I gave him some dex. He’s going to my parents on Saturday for the winter for a vacation.
He’ll go back in to work in the spring and we’ll reevaluate for next winter. The dust inside may always be too irritating for him, pushing him over the edge.