Horse with RAO, COPD, Heaves --FYI

[Foxglove]

January of 2017 my 19 year old QH hunter was diagnosed with RAO, (COPD, or Heaves) --three vets, one of whom was an Equine Pulmonologist said same thing --no clear cause, and treatment was suggested by all three to be Prednisone injections, and Ventrapulman (crushingly expensive, but it worked.) After trying everything from a month off to totally power washing/vacuuming entire barn, replacing all bedding, changing feed and hay --I accepted that my hunter would never be 100%.

I bought another horse in April 2017(almost exactly a year ago). He’s only 12, good horse, learning quickly to enjoy hunting and my other sport mounted archery. I put the “Heavey Horse” into semi retirement --after all he’s 20 now. Life is good . . .EXCEPT –

As of our Spring Vet Check --the heaves are gone. Gone. Gone. Horse is sound. Vet said, “Put him back to work.” —

My point is that even the best vets and specialists can be, well, mistaken. The prediction for my horse was he would always and forever be affected by his RAO. Three vets said three times, “Buy another horse; you can’t ride this one on a daily basis.” And I did.

Now I have two horses --not a bad thing, but for an old lady who enjoyed going out and working with ONE horse every day, I now have two on my dance card. A good problem, but not one I anticipated.

What cured my heavey horse? Maybe just time --or sitting out one hunt season --or maybe there’s something vets just don’t know about Heaves . . .anyway --if you have a heavey horse --don’t give up hope! They sometimes just get better.

[Palm_Beach]

Are you sure he is cured? Exercise exacerbates the condition, so he may appear “cured” but if you put him back to work on a regular basis, he may become more symptomatic. Or, did you kick him out into a field and he is no longer barn kept? That is usually a good thing for these types of horses.

[EquineJunky]

What changed with his environment when you ‘semi retired’ him? Agree that if you kicked him out into a field rather than regularly barn kept that was a good thing for him. Maybe some of the final changes you made took time for his system to settle down and recover.

With my MILs horse, if we can identify the offending culprit and eliminate/minimize, he recovers quite well so far and you’d never know by looking at him that he has been diagnosed with heaves/copd/rao. Exercise helps his breathing, helps the lungs clear out. When he is reactive we are careful not to overexert him but he still exercises to get the fluid/inflammation in the lungs moving out (with vet’s approval). He doesn’t have the endurance he once had but hard to say how much of that is damage from the heaves episodes vs aging (he just turned 22).

Last year he was good all year until late July. He was out on pasture (no hay) and a vitamin/mineral supplement. No clue what set him off and I couldn’t clear him up and have him hold his own with the ‘standard’ course of dex. Vet actually approved him for a heaves blind study for a new medication. Unfortunately, we didn’t end up getting the drug. After study ended, vet prescribed longer step down course of dex which took us through early December. He came off the dex then and has been off since without issue for the past 5 months. Vet was pleasantly surprised at spring check how well he looked and was breathing after how bad he was all of last fall.

[Bellathemustang]

Great news for you and your horse Enjoy all of the “bonus rides” you get on her

like human asthma, heaves can “come and go” symptomatically. There is actually a really interesting test my vet did, they took lung fluid and analyzed that. The lung fluid analysis and ultrasound of the lungs gave us a really good picture as to the extent of her heaves episodes in the past. With VERY diligent care, she has not had a flair up since. Just today though she was breathing a little bit heavier so I ran out with an extra scoop of Omega 3, 6, and 9 supplement. I will be doubling up, or giving her the loading dose, until she acclimates to the weather change.

A big temp change, heavy pollen bloom, even harvesting can trigger it. It is not the end of the world though, she is sound and happy as a W/T pony under saddle, and she will canter, gallop and buck in the pasture with her mini buddy.

Unfortunately I think we are going to be seeing many more horses developing breathing issues due to the ever diminishing air quality. We are already seeing it with people, it is no wonder horses are affected too.

[TMares]

My 16 YO heavey horse was on soaked hay twice a day and had always lived out anyway. He was on Bu Fei San and Smart Breathe. He got ventipulmin and dex as needed for flares. After maybe 9 months on the wet hay protocol I switched from Bermuda hay to Bahia, and kept soaking it. At some point, maybe again several months later, I weaned him onto dry hay fed off the ground (no round bales, of course). It’s been a year or more without soaking and he’s 100% fine. We trail ride quite a bit and he’s out of shape from not doing dressage schooling (no, my arena is watered so it wasn’t a dusty arena), but he’s 100% fine in his airways. No discharge, no lung sounds after exertion (he’s used to me stubbing an ear up to each nostril).

With no other environmental, turnout, etc changes…for my horse switching from Bermuda to Bahia after he was good and calmed down and ‘healed up’ inside, the issue hasn’t resurfaced and we’re about a year out, if not more.

[2DogsFarm]

I had a similiar experience & after 3 months of Ventipulmin TX & soaking hay I did some Googling & discovered the corncob bedding I had switched to about 6mos earlier had been shown to cause respiratory problems in dairy cattle bedded on it.

My other (& older) horse never showed any symptoms, both had 24/7 turnout with free access to stalls, same feed.
But younger horse developed a cough - first when ridden, then when standing - rales I could hear w/o a stethescope & was developing a classic heaveline.

I switched back to shavings & stopped the Ventipulmin & within a month his symptoms cleared.
Upon re-examining him, vet said if he hadn’t heard the lungs 3mos ago he never would have guessed it was the same horse. Crystal clear breath sounds.

YMMV, but environment changes may have “cured” your heavey horse.

[Foxglove]

Well to answer all questions --and I appreciate the thoughts --while no one can predict the future --this horse is working well and asymptomatic --not a whezz that the vet can hear! The horse was never stabled --his stall had sawdust but he only came in to eat 15 min x a day… Removed that and put in rubber mats on a clay floor --stall beside huge doors, completely open barn --the entire barn was power washed, dried, and vacuumed. All hay was discarded and replaced (event though hay tested (all tests possible) as good to excellent quality alfalfa). The only thing we didn’t try was relocating the horse to a different farm --since that would be pointless --we have our own facility --area, jump course, cross country dressage and mounted archer --I would not drive to another place to ride my horse.

What changed? He was off work just hanging out on 20 acres from December to March. So no idea. He was never worked hard --ok, the 250 mile trail ride in 2015 might have been hard, but he walked and trotted most of it . . .and foxhunting is brisk for 2 hours --but other than that he just hangs out on his 20 acres with his horse buddies (3).

2DogsFarm --Purdue University suggested but had no way to test that it might be “something in the soil” --it had been a damp fall in 2016, but why horse got Heavey in January – no one could guess. Cold then.

He might get Heavey again --but I am enjoying every minute he’s not!

[2DogsFarm]

@Foxglove

2DogsFarm --Purdue University suggested but had no way to test that it might be “something in the soil” --it had been a damp fall in 2016, but why horse got Heavey in January – no one could guess. Cold then.

He might get Heavey again --but I am enjoying every minute he’s not!

First off: I want to come live @ your place!
Sounds lovely :encouragement:

I agree with Purdue.
My newest horse came to me from a friend’s farm where he had annual Spring through Fall scratches, along with another one in her small herd. He came to my place in September - complete with scratches.
In 10yrs+ no horse on my farm ever had scratches.
She sent along some of the very pricy ointment her vet compounded for them.
When that was gone, I came to COTH & discovered the El Cheapo mix of triple antibiotic, diaper cream & lotrimin(for athlete’s foot) worked just as well.
Since that first Fall he has never had a reccurence, so I gotta blame something in their soil that is not in mine.

RE: your guy’s January flareup - I think once the lungs have been compromised, like any organ, they are more sensitive.
Hope your boy continues wheeze-free!

[Foxglove]

2DogsFarm --my place (like most horse places) continues to evolve. What started 30 years ago as a plan for a boarding/training/sale facility morphed into a lesson barn for my kids and their friends (we brought in instructors). As children’s interests changed we added dressage rings (small and large); a stadium course and a few CC fences. Then kids moved out and granddaughter loved western riding so a trail course was added along with making the dressage ring a reining arena. Then she aged out of youth showing and didn’t continue --just me now and I like mounted archery. The dressage ring/reining arena is now part of a Korean Archery Course. For a long time my Amish neighbors thought I had Lipizzaners because our two dressage horses were white; some thought I had a “really big garden” (I’d be out harrowing the ring with a draft horse before I had a tractor) , then we were the entertainment after meeting on Sunday when one of the kids would take her horses around the stadium course a few times . . .now they like to watch me shoot my bow. I always shoot in my riding clothes --I’l leave the costume until competition time . . .Love my farm and living my childhood fantasies And that’s why I think Mounted Archery is so good for this heavy horse --he only has to canter 300 m three times . . .done. and I like him to go slow!!

[RedHorses]

My heavey/COPD/asthmatic horse is fine in the winter but needs help in the form of antihistamines (daily) in the summer. I also give him RespiFree. He has PPID/Cushings as well which means steroids are not an option.

On days that his breathing is harder, going for a ride helps as exercise triggers expansion of airways and deeper breathing. I count breaths and if he’s 20 breaths per minute or higher I ride. We do what he can, and what he can do increases through the ride. Once his breathing returns to rest afterwards he’s usually 14-18 breaths per minute. I have gotten him from 28 down to 14 with exercise.

Being seasonal in nature it seems likely that my horse’s asthma is allergen triggered. Perhaps yours was too by something that grew, blew in, or whatever for long enough to set him off.