Asthma/heaves, advice please!

[PaddockWood]

@LCDR Could you share the differences between the old barn and the new one? Clearly a positive change that your horse stopped having attacks.

@Kolasweet The heated closed barn is not going to work. Is there no way to get your guy outside but at the same barn? My setup now that my girl is home is her stall is always open and she comes and goes. I’ve still had many small episodes but nothing like at a barn where it first started happening and turned out there was moldy old hay accumulating under fresh hay on top being fed outside.

Those were full blown emergency calls with her sounding like she couldn’t breathe. Heaves/asthma SO sucks.

[PaddockWood]

@Gardenhorse Thanks for that article. Had not seen that before. I now keep a detailed journal and document every detail of my heaves horse trying to find the triggers. I have several turnouts and even think one of the triggers is grass that got mowed long enough to fall over and die and then might produce a mold.

[RedHorses]

What’s frigid to you? I keep mine outside year round. I only started blanketing when I had an indoor arena, and before that daytime highs in the -20s Celcius for weeks at a time (lows in the -30s) was not uncommon. While we still see those sorts of temperatures they tend to last for less than a week.

[Kolasweet]

Oh wow! That sounds pretty serious.

Thanks for sharing.

[Kolasweet]

I can look into 24/7 turnout with a run in shed. Unfortunately he wouldn’t have access to a stall but still might be a better Situation.

[PaddockWood]

Yep - you don’t want these emergency attacks to go on because damage gets done. And he’ll feel better because it must SUCK not to be able to breathe. Exercise intolerance is something that can happen and is affecting my horse. You want these attacks to stop.

[iJump]

Have you looked into Flexineb?

[CanteringCarrot]

@PaddockWood

Yep - you don’t want these emergency attacks to go on because damage gets done. And he’ll feel better because it must SUCK not to be able to breathe. Exercise intolerance is something that can happen and is affecting my horse. You want these attacks to stop.

Yes this.

My Spanish horse also has allergies and the dust from being in a stable would likely cause him to cough. Straw is an absolute no with him too. Flax straw is great though, really low/no dust. However, it doesn’t help so much if you change his bedding but the rest of the stable doesn’t.

The best thing for mine is living out, or living in a shedrow with access to a small paddock in the winter. I also have a Flexineb and that was useful for us (haven’t used it in well over a year, he has no symptoms). The dosage is less for steroids and goes straight to the airway.

Mine can deal with soaked or wet hay. However, a fellow boarder’s horse needs to be ok steamed hay so she bought a steamer, which has been worth it to keep the horse healthy and comfortable. Her horse also lives out.

It’s really about the management. If you get that right you’ll need less meds and less damage will be done to the lungs/airway.