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Veteran
Posts: 291
 
| Anyone have a horse they thought choked while riding? Said horse appeared to get over it as soon as I took the bit out, eats/drinks fine. Next day go to ride and as soon as start trotting that awful cough comes back, (not like 4-5 coughs) like coughs every other stride. Waiting on a call back from vet. Horse seems to feel good, is sure moving good and doesn't seem sick whatsoever. |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 851
Location: West Texas | That would not be choke. Likely an upper respiratory infection.
Edited by Tdove 2017-08-14 8:15 PM
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Veteran
Posts: 291
| Thank you. That's exactly what Vet is thinking |
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 Expert
Posts: 3815
 
Location: The best kept secret in TX | Do you have an update on this horse?
What did vet prescribe? |
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Veteran
Posts: 291
| Vet explained to me that since he is eating/drinking with no temp to continue light exercise. If coughing persists call him & he will prescribe a bronchodilator. He said he was only worried if the horse would've had a temp, his was 99.3. |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 889
| This story sounds familiar.
This is how my mare was diagnosed with allergies/COPD. It took me a year of trial and error to find a regimen that works for her. Just keep in mind bronchodilators are great, but they work similar to a rescue inhaler; quickly and not for long. So if she's having an "episode" you want to have some on hand...but the real trick is figuring out a maintenance plan so you can avoid the "episodes". |
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Veteran
Posts: 291
| May I ask how old your mare was? Mine is 9 and gets an occasional cough each spring but this was much different. Could copd/allergies just start affecting her now? |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 889
| fgf - 2017-08-16 2:21 PM
May I ask how old your mare was? Mine is 9 and gets an occasional cough each spring but this was much different. Could copd/allergies just start affecting her now?
Yes, they absolutely can! My mare is 11. It can happen any time. Hers started early spring and progressively got worse all summer, came to a head early fall. Then, completely subsided all winter and came back with a vengeance this spring (April-May).
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Veteran
Posts: 291
| Thank you! I'll for sure look into that! What did you do to help your horse? I already soak feed |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 889
| fgf - 2017-08-16 2:29 PM
Thank you! I'll for sure look into that! What did you do to help your horse? I already soak feed
I tried A LOT of supplements, herbs, steroids, etc...
My vet had read a clinical study about fatty acids helping horses with allergies. So she's on Pala-tech F.A. granules which is a fatty acid supplement. She's also on a Rx antihistamine Hydroxyzine and I took her off of hay completely. She only get soaked cubes and/or pellets. Knock on wood, it's done the trick. I also wet her feed.
I also give her a dose of Air Power before I ride and I run her on Equipulmin.
Their environment can be a big factor but there is only so much you can do with that. My mare runs in and out; not stalled often. I try to keep my barn clean, washed down and well ventilated...I don't use sawdust or shavings, only wood pellets. I've heard peat moss is good too, but that gets $$$.
It was a lot of live and learn and ask questions because every horse is different. |
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  Warmblood with Wings
Posts: 27846
Location: Florida.. | copd / heaves |
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| This sounds like it could be RAO (Recurrent Airway Obstruction) or Heaves. The AAEP has a great article on it, which I've posted the link to below.
https://aaep.org/horsehealth/recurrent-airway-obstruction-rao-horse
My parents had a jam up good grulla stallion that developed a terrible cough with exercise intolerance. Since he was kept stalled most of the time (he had turnout in a dry lot, but wasn't able to be kept on pasture due to space constraints and him being a stud), the environment and hay played a huge factor. My parents started soaking his hay and we started him on some pred and ventipulmin, then my parents had us geld him (for other reasons). After his tapering course of treatment, he was able to be turned out in the pasture and be on green grass (along with most of the environmental factors from being in a barn being removed), he is flourishing!
It's definitely a scary thing to see, it's basically like an asthma attack. Hopefully you can remove some of the triggers and get on the road to recovery!
ETA: *NOTE* I'm NOT diagnosing your horse or saying this is what your horse has, I am just saying this is what I have dealt with, and how we treated it. Hopefully the AAEP article is helpful!
Edited by madredepeanut 2017-08-19 10:23 PM
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