allergic reaction? To what??!! do any of your ponies / horses have allergies?

ncarter

ncarter

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Hi All,

I went on a hack last night, nothing out of the ordinary, we were out for about an hour and a half, trotted a bit, had 3 or 4 canters, and then walked all the way home (20 mins or so).

When I got back Ozzy was really panting and was quite hot, which is unusual for him as he is reasonably fit.:confused:

I got my YO to look at him, she said he was 'lifting' and it looks like he may have had an allergic reaction to something. we gave him an anti-inflammatory injection and some oral medicine and he calmed down quite quickly. She has suggested I give him hayfever tablets in his feed.

This is a route we have done lots of times before but I know the weather (& pollen) is changing - so I wondered if any of your horses / ponies have allergic reactions to anything at this time of year? My YO suggested oil seed rape but I did not notice that we went past any fields of it.:confused::confused::confused:

This is going to sound odd, but at the beginning of our ride, he got hold of a big mouthful of grass (the long stuff with ears of seeds - sticking out both sides of his mouth comedy-stylee) and kept it there for pretty much the whole ride until I got off to do the gate again (at which point he ate it:p) - could this have caused it???

Sorry for the long one - choc hobnobs to all who read and extra ice cream to those who reply! I'd just really like to know what caused it so I can avoid it / treat it. I have tried to get hold of his previous owner but the mob number I have for her does not work.

Thanks All.
 
I wouldnt do anything so drastic as to give him anything in his feed just yet. Id take him out and about and see if it happens again.

I went up to the yard one morning last summer and found my boy with a kind of rash all over his skin and really puffy eyes, called the vet and he had an injection and it calmed down. Its never happened again and the vet said they would never find what did it so best not to try.

Obviously if it happens again then give him some antiallergy tablets but you dont want to be giving him something he doesnt need and wasting your money which you could be spending on other more usefull items.

good luck and hope it doesnt happen again
 
Rape pollen seems to travel quite a long way, if the wind conditions are right for that. We have trouble with it in the past and the nearest rape is several miles away, although we can see it, as there is little in the way to stop it reaching us.
 
our mare was exactly the same, we were baffled by it. just some times when we went on hacks she would come back very hot, dripping with sweat and blotches on her and her mouth and eyes would be really swollen. we used to have to come back and walk her round the school and she would just pour with sweat and start shaking and then she would go back to normal again.
It was becoming quite severe so we sent her away to be allergy tested by our vet. it turned out she was allergic to loads of things including food, flies, mudges, dust mites etc.
The vet told us that allergic reactions come about by the horse being exposed to lots of different allergens and it slowly building up in their system until they have a allergic reaction.
Your horse may not just be allergic to pollen, though this might be one of the things he is allergic to. he could have been exposed to other things he is allergic to the day before and this was the trigger.

We had to give our mare injections that slowly incresed in strength regularly (starting every other day and now every month) and now she is mostly immune to them and haven't had such a severe reaction in probably a year. she still comes up in a few blotches.
the insurance company paid for all the allergy stuff for us :)

Sorry it prob sounds quite complicated, it does sound like your horse has a allergy though not extremely severe. hope this helps :)
 
In the summer something causes my boy's lips to swell and he head shakes a bit, and gets little lumps and bumps on his skin. The vet prescribed some (astronomically expensive) anti-histamines which are specifically indicated for head-shaking. When he starts, I pop a couple in his feed and the problem is resolved. He also wears a fly sheet in and out, with a hood and eye covers, and I try to make sure I pull any weeds etc out of his field.
He adores nettles though, so really isn't helping himself...
 
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