Coughing while eating hay?

[Spicy_Mare_Sparrow]

My horse Sparrow and I just moved to a new barn and I’ve noticed that she’s coughing a lot while eating the hay. She does kind of cough a bit while eating hay, but that’s actually (and strangely) normal for her. She coughs one or twice and then little bits of chewed-up hay flies out of her mouth (not very much), and then she goes right for it again. She’s not distressed or worried and I can’t feel a lump in her esophagus, so she isn’t chocking. But it’s gotten worse and she coughs more than usual when I’m riding her too (2-4 times every ride).

The hay isn’t dusty or moldy and no other horses are coughing nearly as much. She’s not asthmatic. I also don’t think that she’s allergic to it because she doesn’t get hives and she isn’t distressed (keeps eating it). The barn girls noticed her coughing when they first fed it to her and they soaked her hay in a bucket. Once when I came back from a lesson, the hay was already in her stall and she went for it. I tied her up away from it and fed her little by little and she fine. Then I let her have at it and she kept coughing, so I soaked it.

If anyone has any idea of what it could be or what is causing it, I would be super grateful. I love my horse so much and I hope it’s nothing serious.

[Flying_Hippotamus]

2-4 times during a ride doesn’t sound like too much. But you might want to have Vet listen to her lungs. Developing heaves? If wetting hay helps her, do it. Make sure they don’t do stuff like blow the barn when she is in. Best ventilation possible for this type of horse. And a quality Omega-3 supplement has been shown to help these horses.
Also the basic teeth check to make sure she is chewing properly.

[gumtree]

It may be because the hay is finer, drier, crispier then previous cuttings fed. Second cuttings of Orchard/Timothy can have this effect. Especially cuttings that were a bit on the short side of things when baled.

Depending on ambient weather storage conditions hay can get considerably drier as months go by. Well below an idea 12%± moisture content. Especially Alfalfa which is notorious for getting very dry and crumbles when fed. The horse has to lick the crumbs off the floor.

We’ve all used the term, “my horse inhales” his hay, feed. And some literately do. If the hay is fine and very dry some bits will get inhaled causing a coughing response.

I don’t soak hay for a horse that coughs when eating very dry second cutting of our Orchard/Tim. I shake out the hay and mist it with a hose sprayer.

Some horses can have a throat condition that predisposes bits of dry hay to get caught. A simple scoping can rule this out.

Could be any number of things. It’s one of those things that needs to be observed, monitored to give any kind of sound advise IMO.

[vxf111]

My horse also coughed while eating hay and allergy testing showed significant allergies to alfalfa and timothy. I was surprised. He never had hives or seemed distressed. He’s now on grass hay and allergy medication and the coughing has gone down significantly.

[fordtraktor]

I have a horse that would do this when I got him off the track – now he lives out 24/7 and gets a custom sup from Horsetech that is like Uckele’s LungEq (it has spirulina, Juigulian, MSM, Vit C, etc. in it) and he doesn’t cough at all any more. I think it is important for horses with potential dust/lung issues not to spend time in the barn, it’s not healthy for them if they are prone to coughing. you want them not to develop into something worse like heaves.

[Palm_Beach]

I’d have a vet come out and evaluate her for COPD/reactive airway disease or whatever they are calling it now. It’s progressive, so if she has it, you will need to manage it now so it doesn’t get really bad.

[neversaynever]

[QUOTE=vxf111;8577430]
My horse also coughed while eating hay and allergy testing showed significant allergies to alfalfa and timothy. I was surprised. He never had hives or seemed distressed. He’s now on grass hay and allergy medication and the coughing has gone down significantly.[/QUOTE]

Mine too. No hives, just a cough. it will progress to a snotty nose if we don’t catch it quickly. He is primarily allergic to timothy, dust in barns and the slightest bit of mold in hay. If he starts coughing, we put him on prescription Histall (not the AniMed kind). He is on pasture and not stalled. That seems to do the trick for him.

[vxf111]

I thought for SURE mine was allergic to dust but nope-- just certain types of hay.

[Nestor]

No other horses are coughing nearly as much? Horses shouldn’t cough when they eat hay unless there’s something wrong with the horse or the hay.

I’d definitely be checking into the hay, and then have the vet out to rule out issues with the horse’s respiratory system, etc. This isn’t normal…