RAO/Heaves - What has worked for you?

[CorazonLock]

I have an old man with moderate RAO. His flares seem to be more in the fall but he coughs year round. My other horse started having a dry occasional cough during exercise last year, and I’m afraid he is also starting to develop the condition. I was hoping to hear from you all what works and what doesn’t. My old man has plenty of life left in him if he wasn’t hacking his lungs up, and my other horse is an eventer, and I’m hoping it can be managed and stopped from progressing.

My hay is grass, and it is very clean and quality, with a hole through the bale to aerate.

My vet told me that RAO is very common in Iowa and the Midwest. She recommended Aleira. Anyone tried it with success? I’ve tried SmartBreathe and it seemed to help some, Cough Free, which the old man wouldn’t eat, and Dex, which has helped during a flare when he is at rest. My vet also recommended something that is similar to an inhaler for when I ride. Any thoughts on that?

Im literally at my wit’s end with this stupid condition and am sad that my eventer is developing it too. Clean hay, eaten off the ground, 24/7 outdoors…I haven’t soaked hay. Does that really help that much when it’s very clean hay?

[luvmyhackney]

I soak hay, feed double dosage on MSM, flax, chia seeds, vitamin C. The most important thing to me is 24/7 turnout and soaking the hay. I even mist his grain to reduce any particles. I am trying a supplement this year called Phytocort, for humans on my pony. It has good reviews and can’t hurt his breathing. I’m a big fan of Chinese medicine and used acupuncture in the past. Acupuncture worked but took 3 visits to notice a difference.

[Lah0808]

I have used Cough Free and Smart Breathe as well, neither seemed to do much for my horse. I, too, fed a local fescue hay and as long as he had to eat the hay, so mainly in the winter, he was a coughing, wheezing mess. Last winter ended with a course of Exceed and an aggressive course of Dex. This winter rolled around and since those other supplements didn’t work, I decided to try the double dose of MSM. Also fed timothy hay instead of the fescue. I haven’t had to use Dex once this winter. I am thrilled. It seems its just kind of a mix and match game until you stumble upon a combination that may work for your particular horse.

[cayuse]

I use an inhaler with beclomethasone for my pony when his symptoms flare up. Allergy tests helped to pinpoint some of his triggers so we!could avoid them. He also had allergy shots which helped some but not as much as I had hoped they would.
His inhaler meds are expensive, $290 for one inhaler that contains 120 puffs IIRC, but it is very effective in stopping a flare before it really gets going.
His stall has a dutch door so when he is inside he can always hang his head out and get fresh air.
I soak his hay sometimes. He has also been on bagged hay and it has been helpful. Lucerene Farms stuff is pretty good and has no dust, but pony would REALLY rather have regular hay. It was trial and error to find what works for him.
Oh, and when he got hives along with everything else he was on zyrtec for a bit.

[RedHorses]

I had mine on daily hydroxyzine last summer. I also gave him Omega Alpha’s RespiFree as I have found it helps him loosen the mucus in his sinuses.

Quite by accident I discovered that exercise was a great help for him on days his respiration rate was higher. My vet explained that the exercise forces the horse to take bigger breaths, and triggers the bronchial dilation naturally. I had one ride where the benefits were made very obvious early in the season. I tracked his respiration rate for several weeks and his resting rate was invariably lower after he had recovered from the exercise, sometimes quite dramatically (33%!). This horse also has EPSM so I have been long accustomed to being “mean” and making him work when it superficially appears an easy or no work day is appropriate. The key is to work him as hard as he can, but not more than he can at that moment. With his breathing, as hard as he can increases through the ride as his body responds to the increased demands for oxygen by opening his airways and triggering deeper breaths.

[dps]

I have had very good luck with flax seed, air power and soaking her hay

[EquineJunky]

I have tried soaking hay and various supplements. The only thing that has truly helped is drugs from vet to stay on regular hay or switching to hay cubes. I prefer hay cubes to save the drugs for when/if truly needed. Cubes are thoroughly soaked to break them down before giving them to him. More expensive than regular hay - yes. More effort to feed two horses differently - yes. But worth it in my opinion.

[buck22]

@CorazonLock

…I haven’t soaked hay. Does that really help that much when it’s very clean hay?

I hate to say it because its a huge hassle and a mess, but yes it does, even if the hay is incredibly clean.

[abrant]

I use courses of Dex for flare-ups and when I know something is going to trigger him.

Clenbuteral makes him extremely hot and anxious so that’s off the table unless we’re dealing with a lot of mucus.

I give albuteral solution through a nebulizer when needed. The nebulizer is way cheaper than an inhaler. I use a human nebulizer purchased off ebay for about $30 and a horse mask I found online for about $45. You can also make one using a bucket but I like the horse mask a lot.

No great luck with supplements. Yoder’s Heave Powder seemed to help but he flat out wouldn’t eat it and I had to syringe it to him. That’s a lot of commitment for me for something that doesn’t have a clear clinically proven benefit.

24/7 turnout. He is on roundbales during the winter but they don’t seem to bother him. My vet didn’t believe it, but he’s kind of a low man so he doesn’t get a chance to “park” himself at the bale. He actually prefers to forage on winter pasture and thankfully he’s a super easy keeper.

And yes - don’t be afraid to exercise. I babied him like crazy for a long time until he was just being a RAT one day out trail riding so we galloped hills, and he LOVED it. Fitness seems to be a key part of the equation. Keeping him cool is also important. He handles summer heat well, but when we have random 60-70 degree days in the winter when he had a full coat - he really seems to struggle in that situation.

[2Below]

I put my RAO horse on Respire from Horsetech this winter (flax and chia, turmeric, msm, vit c, spirolina) around the same time DH built him a hay steamer out of a rubber maid, pvc pipe and a wallpaper steamer (all in less than $100) and he HAS NOT coughed since then. He gets the steamed hay at night and some during the day (on a dry lot for now). We will see what happens when plants start blooming in the spring if he has a flare (controlled with Dex), but so far, I highly recommend building a steamer. There’s many ideas on the internet and hubster has some experience making something similar when he was homebrewing.

[lorilu]

My elderly mare is on Histall H ( contains lots of tumeric), fish oil (in combination with tumeric has been shown effective), smartbreathe (I have no idea if it works…). Dex 5ml EOD when it gets bad in the summer. I soaked her hay last year, did not seem to have any positive effect. She is out 24/7, and I have really nice grass here in Ocala. I just got a sample of Respire while at the World Cup - I’ll try it when the weather heats up. So far, so good.

[KrazyTBMare]

@2Below

I put my RAO horse on Respire from Horsetech this winter (flax and chia, turmeric, msm, vit c, spirolina) around the same time DH built him a hay steamer out of a rubber maid, pvc pipe and a wallpaper steamer (all in less than $100) and he HAS NOT coughed since then. He gets the steamed hay at night and some during the day (on a dry lot for now). We will see what happens when plants start blooming in the spring if he has a flare (controlled with Dex), but so far, I highly recommend building a steamer. There’s many ideas on the internet and hubster has some experience making something similar when he was homebrewing.

Would love to see pics of the steamer you built!

[Amy3996]

I’m in a similar boat… my guy has had an off and on cough while working this winter, and I’m keeping my fingers crossed that it doesn’t progress to RAO or Heaves. We’ve found that 15 generic Zyrtec tabs shoved into an oatmeal cream pie goes down easily and helps with any allergies. We switched him from Timothy hay to grass hay and noticed an immediate difference.

Tried AniHist (didn’t help), tried CoughFree (horse wouldn’t eat it), tried human cough syrup (on advice of my vet - actually made the coughing worse). Finally, someone on this forum recommended Buckley’s ZEV to me. It’s an antitussive liquid meant for horses. I’ve been giving him 60cc in his grain AM and PM with a big handful of brown sugar to mask the taste. He eats it right up and licks the feed tub clean. It’s worked great so far. It was tricky to figure out how to get it in the States because it’s manufactured in Canada, but I can PM you a link if you’re interested.

Good luck and jingles to your horse!

[CorazonLock]

Well, update:

Old man had a great summer last year with almost no issues with the heaves. I didn’t ride him a whole lot, but maybe this year I can get out and do more fitness work. The fall and winter have been rough on the old guy, and he’s been pretty cough-y when ridden but not bad at rest. He had lots of grass last summer so I’m thinking allergies with hay, dust, or even small mold particles (if that’s possible in clean hay).

He will be 24 this year but is still remarkably spirited lol. My eventer has had little complications with coughing in the past year, and I’ve found he just coughs in dusty conditions a few times and then he’s good.

[2Below]

@KrazyTBMare

Would love to see pics of the steamer you built!

If I can figure out how to post pictures I will. I’ve been using my steamer since January of 2017. Once last spring my gelding needed a round of Dex, otherwise he gets Respire and steamed hay and is breathing like any other horse. I’ve replaced the wallpaper steamers probably six times since I started using it but everything else is holding up fine. He also finishes his hay in his stall like he never did before. I cannot recommend this enough for your RAO horses. It’s easier to deal with than soaking hay (which did nothing to help him anyway), it works and they loved steamed hay (my 21 year old gets some too).