Asthmatic/Heavey/IAD/AllergicAirway Horse Caretakers - how your kids holding up so far this summer?

[sascha]

I know there are a few threads but thought it might be nice for those of us going into summer to share successes, concerns, new/old meds, new/old supplements, new/old witch doctory, etc. and to share our observations in regards to temps/humidity/pollen/harvests (for instance is there one crop that sets your horse off, etc.

Also, you know, it might be nice to find one other person who is as crazy as I am and feeds practically more supplements than feed in the hopes that one is doing something and fears that if I try removing one thing it will be the one that was actually working. LOL.

Knock on wood, mine got through the worst of the smoke (we didn’t have it that bad where I am) without any problem and is so far handling the heat well, but we’re not into the dreadful humidity yet …

[IPEsq]

It’s been quite humid here for once and that was working well in our favor…he was progressing in the canter work and able to clear his airway. But now horse is off for something else .

But the skin allergy portion is out of control, largely because all the rain and humidity brought more of the problem bugs.

[pony_baloney]

My mildly asthmatic pony has increased respiration when the weather gets warmer and more humid. I’ve used Hilton Herbs Freeway for a year or so and I’m not sure it helped with that but his coughing has decreased. I’m considering trying Silver Lining Herbs Respiratory Support instead. So many people rave about their products so I’ll give it a shot.

My pony lives out 24/7 in a dirt field. Unfortunately his field gets mostly round bales, and he burrows his head in it when it’s new. On the good side, the barn where I groom and tack up is open and very airy, and the indoor footing is totally dust-free.

The weather here in NJ hasn’t been hot or very humid yet so we’ll see what the summer brings. Our riding has been limited the past few months due to my back issues but I hope to ride him more consistently soon.

[DIR]

Just started with new flexinib protocol. Mare is a master at holding her breath and walking covers that. Hopefully got things under control before we hit 90s this weekend. We tried Zyrtec, Apoquel, all the supplements, no real luck. The Aservo was a brilliant contest with breath holding and trying to feel her start to cave to time the clicks. It’s good I love her. Dex does help just scary for a chubby out of work horse. I have some hope the allergy shots are helping and we can address some of it that way. Riding above a 15 minute walk to check fences will wait for a hard freeze if the last two years are any measure. Witch doctors that travel to the Midwest would be good references if you have any.

[sascha]

@DIR

Witch doctors that travel to the Midwest would be good references if you have any.

I don’t. I’m in SW Ontario, Canada and a couple of years ago lost my local witch doctor to retirement.

Thankful that my mare chose to dive into her Flexineb treatments with big, deep breaths shortly after starting last year. I did try taking her for a walk a couple of times and that was a massive failure due to bugs. I suppose I could have marinated her (more heavily) in bug spray and put her ear bonnet on, but it was easier just to have her stand and breathe deeply while I groomed her. Knock on wood, even with the smoke we had a couple of weeks ago, I haven’t had to use it yet this year.

[pony_baloney]

Just placed an order for Silver Lining Herbs Respiratory and Immune. I did an online quiz and received a phone call from them the next day. Of course they’re trying to sell their products, but Debbie was very friendly and extremely helpful and I’ve heard so many great things about the company so I’m looking forward to starting them.

Still haven’t been riding because of my back, plus the hot/humid weather starting AND the low air quality due to the wildfires. I guess I should be grateful that my back and the weather and air are all happening at once. He doesn’t seem to be in distress. SLH rep told me that coughing during warmup can be due to a weak immune system. I never heard of that, but also never had a horse do that before. We’ll see what happens in a few months.

[pony_baloney]

A Silver Lining Herbs update!!

It’s been just over a month since my pony started their Immune and Respiratory mixes and our last four rides have not had any coughs…at all. Last week was the one month mark and he was still coughing a bit. Now, at five weeks, nothing. I’ve even noticed that his breathing is closer to normal after he’s brought inside on a hot day. Usually he’s huffing and puffing a bit, but barely noticeable now.

My hoof trimmer has a horse with severe COPD; he’s on drugs, steamed hay, mushrooms, nebulizer, you name it. I think she’s considering trying SLH as well and it would be amazing if he improved enough to come off the drugs. She stopped feeding flax when she switched to Wellpride oil (I tried it for a few months but couldn’t give it to him daily) and he’s had a relapse.

[erinmeri]

I had missed this thread when it first was posted, but.,.

We were recovering from a bad flare and doing well, then we had orange skies and Canadian wildfire smoke. The weeks since have been up and down.

Some days we are doing swell and others have been awful. I am learning that a “yellow” 52 is USUALLY not so bad, but that I have to also look at heat and humidity. Also, we had a stretch of days that were green as far as AQI, but were dry and dusty and hit and set my girl off.

I think we are at a place where we can work without meds, but I know that I look at the AQI more than the weather these days.

Le sigh…

[sherian]

been a bad year here in Manitoba - dry and some smoke (have had worse years though), started my old guy on a puffer (fluticasone propionate and salbutionol) as I was getting a bit twitchy about giving him dex shots all the time. Has worked well, do have the luxury with him that he is the same horse whether he’s been rode all week or not rode for a year and his job is babysitting babies on their first hacks so he’s on vacation right now anyways. I have found the herbal supplements to be hit and miss over the years, but I do feed flax to everyone year round for their coats/feet so not sure how much it is helping. I do think the biggest help for him in general was when I stopped putting round bales out for winter turnout and went to a combination hand feeding and pawing stockpiled grazing.

[RedHorses]

Shockingly well. I am regularly seeing breath rates in the 12-16 breaths/minute range. Last year was 16-18, the year before was 18-24. His lungs have been “audible breaths, crackles low” (I am pretty sure the low crackles are scar tissue at this point) more often than not. Yes, 12-16 breaths per minute is significantly higher than the healthy horse 6-10 breaths per minute, but when 20 was the lowest I could get him to 2 years ago I am ecstatic to see 12 or 14, or even 16. He does get down to 6–8 in the off season (aka winter).

I do hear more in his lungs on smokey days, and normally in spells of hot and humid weather, but he’s recovering very quickly after smoke events, and when the overnight lows drop to cool temperatures.

He is on Prednisolone (320mg) and Hydroxyzine (2 capsules). Under advice from my vet I have been proactively increasing his doses during smoke events instead of using Ventipulmin.

I usually use exercise as a key part of heaves management, but a stifle injury has severely restricted his activity. Hand walking just doesn’t produce the same benefit. This makes his current state of breathing health even more impressive.

I have been using a Bemer regularly on him since the end of March 2022. The Bemer doesn’t produce an instant effect on his breathing. It does induce a parasympathetic response which puts the horse’s body into the rest and recovery mode allowing healing/repaiir to take place. Over time regular use improves recovery from stresses of all sorts - showing, trailering, training, long rides. I saw some surprising recoveries and eagerness to do more last summer.

I do think it’s had a positive effect on his breathing, as in the five years prior to the Bemer each year required more drugs and additional management to keep him breathing. His base breath rate was getting higher as well. The way things were going I was expecting 2023 to be his last summer. Now I’m hoping for a few more years, barring catastrophe of course. Yes, more time with him is absolutely worth spending $7K on a Bemer.

[quietann]

I think I replied on the other thread, but will post here… Miss Mare, who is retired, is getting a trial of Apoquel, which is off label and really, really expensive (nearly $3/pill and the standard dose is 5 pills), but does seem to be helping. She stopped rubbing her tail, her hives have almost vanished, her eyes aren’t runny, and her breathing seems better. The vet and I are trying to figure out how to taper it, as most horses who respond well end up on an every-other-day dose, and so far, that has just plain not worked for her. I figured I’d give it the summer and if it’s not really helping enough, wean her off it and contemplate putting her down next summer if she’s struggling.

She is bright eyed and seems happy, though, so putting her down would be rough. The summer has been really wet and humid, which is not helping, and is keeping me from doing much trail walking with her, which is the best test of her breathing. (The trail off the barn property has been flooded more or less since late May, and my other alternative is walking her 250 to 500 feet down the sidewalk on a busy 40 mph road to get to the trails… I will do it on the weekends, but weekdays have far too many trucks.)

She is also getting Zyrtec and MSM, chia seeds, and was on spirulina until recently. The Apoquel is expensive enough that I am trying to cut out some of the supplements.

[blob99]

We had a better than usual spring and then summer started out ok until smoke from canadian wildfires came down our way. We’ve had some pretty bad breathing days on our smokey days where I’ve needed to bust out both dex and clenbuterol (our two ‘emergency drugs’). Now we’re going through a pretty bad heat wave. My girl is actually doing fairly well in the heat wave–breathing harder than a true normal (but they all are), but not crazy and is coming down to normal as soon as she’s hosed/cooled. But it does mean she’s had very little riding/work this summer which is a shame because even just long hacks are usually helpful for her asthma. The fitter I can keep her, the better for her breathing. But riding in this heat would be unkind for any horse.