NO HAY diet for horses competing with chronic allergies/heaves

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NO HAY diet for horses competing with chronic allergies/heaves Moderators: luluwhit, gotothewhip, cindyt, crossspur, ForumAdmin Jump to page :	Last activity 2014-09-25 12:20 PM 27 replies, 5503 views View previous thread :: View next thread
General Discussion -> Barrel Talk


JLBerry Reg. Jul 2013	Posted 2014-09-25 7:30 AM Subject: RE: NO HAY diet for horses competing with chronic allergies/heaves
Elite Veteran Posts: 639 Location: God's country...aka TEXAS	I agree with the soaked alfalfa cubes. That's what my bleeder eats. The cubes count as long stem forage so they are still getting the value of "hay" in their digestive system. I soak mine for about 10-15 mins and my horse gobbles them up!
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readytowin Reg. Apr 2009	Posted 2014-09-25 9:45 AM Subject: RE: NO HAY diet for horses competing with chronic allergies/heaves
Veteran Posts: 216	I deal with the same thing and have for about 3 years. I did the allergy testing and now give shots. Also have a hay steamer and soak hay cubes along with some meds. He went from not being able to breath well to a top 1 d horse. He also has respiratory issues as well. It's alot of work but he is my once in a lifetime horse.
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CheckItOut Reg. Apr 2011	Posted 2014-09-25 9:57 AM Subject: RE: NO HAY diet for horses competing with chronic allergies/heaves
Extreme Veteran Posts: 415	readytowin - 2014-09-25 9:45 AM I deal with the same thing and have for about 3 years. I did the allergy testing and now give shots. Also have a hay steamer and soak hay cubes along with some meds. He went from not being able to breath well to a top 1 d horse. He also has respiratory issues as well. It's alot of work but he is my once in a lifetime horse. I feel for you! Curious what kind of results your allergy tests gave you? Also, do you have better luck with certain hay, or just whatever is baled the cleanest?
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readytowin Reg. Apr 2009	Posted 2014-09-25 10:20 AM Subject: RE: NO HAY diet for horses competing with chronic allergies/heaves
Veteran Posts: 216	CheckItOut - 2014-09-25 9:57 AM readytowin - 2014-09-25 9:45 AM I deal with the same thing and have for about 3 years. I did the allergy testing and now give shots. Also have a hay steamer and soak hay cubes along with some meds. He went from not being able to breath well to a top 1 d horse. He also has respiratory issues as well. It's alot of work but he is my once in a lifetime horse. I feel for you! Curious what kind of results your allergy tests gave you? Also, do you have better luck with certain hay, or just whatever is baled the cleanest? Allergy tests revealed lots. The most significant was molds and the spores from hay. The only way to elimate that is to steam or soak your hay. The kind of hay doesn't really matter if you do this. Use what you have. The steaming and soaking takes it out. If you soak the hay, it must be soaked for minimum 30 min but no more than an hour or so. After that the plant spores grow back. It would be well worth it to do the allergy testing.
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jbw tx mom Reg. Aug 2007	Posted 2014-09-25 10:30 AM Subject: RE: NO HAY diet for horses competing with chronic allergies/heaves
Veteran Posts: 234	We just made our own hay steamer from a DIY video on you tube for about 55.00 cost - if you decide to go with a steamer then make your own in case it does not work you wont be out the money - it is bulky to have to carry around however
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CheckItOut Reg. Apr 2011	Posted 2014-09-25 10:37 AM Subject: RE: NO HAY diet for horses competing with chronic allergies/heaves
Extreme Veteran Posts: 415	Have any of y'all with these same allergy issues looked into or tried the chaffhaye? I was looking on the website and google and could not find much information about it being beneficial for horses will allergies. Any thoughts? Anyone tried it?
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Lovin Life Reg. Apr 2004	Posted 2014-09-25 10:58 AM Subject: RE: NO HAY diet for horses competing with chronic allergies/heaves
Vodka for Lunch Location: Lala Land	Mine is still able to eat hay, but I do soak alfalfa pellets 2x daily or you could go to a complete feed like Triple Crown Complete but it's more costly than if you're able to soak hay pellets. I think Tractor Supply has a Timothy grass/alfalfa mix pellet or you can buy the straight pellets. I know pellets are cheaper at my local feed store than at Tractor Supply.
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livexlovexrodeo Reg. Oct 2009	Posted 2014-09-25 12:20 PM Subject: RE: NO HAY diet for horses competing with chronic allergies/heaves
I'm Cooler Offline Posts: 6387 Location: Pacific Northwest	I have a horse with moderate Inflammatory Airway Disease and he does MUCH better on steamed hay rather than soaked. Soaking his hay is fine if he's just being a "horse"; he won't cough out in the field or during a trail ride or just a light ride, but if I'm trying to keep him in running condition he will start to get a mucus build up that I can hear when he breathes. If I steam his hay it keeps all of that away. He still needs an inhaler or ventipulmin at times though. He's a pretty bad case and I don't run him anymore, it wasn't worth it in his case to go through all of this trouble just to run him. He's got a whole mess of other health and soundness issues on top of it.
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