Grass glands - anyone find a treatment other than NSAIDS or dry lot?

[sascha]

First sign of spring - short but delicious grass has my little idiot and one other in her field “grazing” all day instead of eating from the hay pile. Both are coming in with chipmunk cheeks that go down on their own when they can’t be turned out for a day due to weather. They spend the indoor day eating hay normally and are therefore stressing their little salivary glands less and giving them a rest and recovery period.

I am more and more convinced that this is a “mechanical” thing as we are still a ways away from pollen season and the whole cycle has become very, very predictable - too short grass = grass glands.

Neither horse is particularly bothered, but it bugs me. Neither owner particularly wants to be doling out NSAIDS unnecessarily, but it sure would be great if there were a way to get the Banamine effect without actually using Banamine and without removing them from their field. They spent so much time inside due to ice this past winter that we are loath to lock them up during decent weather.

[OzarksRider]

Have the owners tried grazing muzzles?

[IPEsq]

If the horses aren’t bothered, I wouldn’t do anything. Mine will get them, and I do nothing. He also gets similar swelling from dry, windy, and dusty. For that he gets Zyrtec because the allergy trigger is the same as for his asthma, which does bother him.

[sascha]

I try not to be bothered, I really do. I also squoosh them and jiggle them to reassure myself that they will not hinder her work, but I still hate them and wish there were a way to say good riddance to them forever.

Mine is already on Zyrtec. The other has not had them until this year - that the owner has noticed. She’s not able to be out every day so the horse may have had them before. Owner grabbed me the other day with a panicked look on her face, “Can you look at this?” “Grass glands. You can breathe.”

[sascha]

No. Neither are typical candidates for muzzles or dry lot. I’d not like to see their calories limited.

Although, if dry lot were available, mine would be in one with a pile of hay until the pasture grasses got a little taller.

[cnd8]

Vet advised me to give Dex the one time this happened with a horse of mine.

[sascha]

Sadly dex is a no go for my horse, and probably not a great choice for the other one either but I will keep that titbit of info in my head if I ever have a young/medically uncomplicated one that gets grass glands!

[JB]

Give it time. If this really is just grass glands, that’s not anything I’d use any NSAID or steroid for.

[sascha]

Thanks, JB. Yes, it’s really just grass glands. Horses had a day inside due to high winds and chipmunk cheeks were gone by that night. So far this year, it’s not got to the point of having to do anything, but a few years ago she got so huge that we did end up using Banamine to speed the dissipation of fluid. Add on dressage horse (not lower level) and I get worried about training properly - am I crimping something by asking her to work on the bit? - is there more swelling deeper that I can’t see that might cause issues when asked to work on the bit?

Signed,

worry wart

[JB]

@sascha

Add on dressage horse (not lower level) and I get worried about training properly - am I crimping something by asking her to work on the bit? - is there more swelling deeper that I can’t see that might cause issues when asked to work on the bit?

Maybe use those days to work on lower level foundational basics, with a longer outline? I can see maybe using something if it’s really swollen to the point of making chewing maybe a funky thing