Anyone have a horse allergic to grass ?

[smiggy]

Seems a bit of an epic fail on his part really ?
I have a fabulous little coblet , sadly a couple of years ago he developed a cough. He had always been very nose rubbey in the summer. Cough started mid summer, nothing shifted it , tried oral steroids , Ventipulmin, inhalers, he was scoped and asthma diagnosed.
pretty much just retired him, coughed all winter long, dust free atmosphere, haylage, being in or out made no difference.
in following April cough seemed better, rode him for a few months, got to a few dressage competitions , then cough restarted so retired again !
this April oddly good again so again restarted work, bought a Flexineb and have been using steroids and Ventipulmin and have managed to keep him going.
BUT because of weather this year he has been out on a very short paddock. Last month he escaped into winter grazing, long grass. Came in coughing , I thought odd but maybe coincidence.
few weeks ago I put them into winter grazing overnight for logistical reasons, next day nostrils flaring and coughing.
last night again, on winter grazing and this morning coughed on way in and had runny eyes.
so seems pretty clear that it’s long grass that seems to be causing him a problem.
im just not sure how to handle this in the winter.
we are on clay so what I normally do is once it gets wet I open up the big area of the field that’s saved for winter grazing so that feeds them and stops poaching.
do I have to make a little turn out area with hard surface , seems such a dull life for him after being out with his mates but obviously if that makes him feel better I will.
just seems weird short gas’s is fine, long grass isn’t !

 

[Abacus]

Could there be something else in the long grass that is affecting him? Other plants? If I look closely at my longer grass fields there are so many other species in there.

 

[Lady Jane]

Very good point @Abacus but how do you work out which plant is the problem and then what do you do?

 

[katastrophykat]

I know of one that is! He’s now grass free and thriving. He was allergy tested and yes- grass.

 

[Abacus]

Very good point @Abacus but how do you work out which plant is the problem and then what do you do?

ah well - it’s a good question @Lady Jane - I guess I would start by trying to identify what you have in the fields, perhaps with the help of one of those plant apps. And then start googling each plant to see if they commonly cause allergies. Of course I would also call a vet, but having a list of what’s growing might help them to narrow it down.

 

[Barton Bounty]

One at the old yard I was in, is not on bare minimum paddock and eats unlimited hay happily ?

 

[blood_magik]

Allergy testing will pinpoint the problem. Speak to your vet.

I have one that’s allergic to several grass pollens amongst other things.

 

[Highmileagecob]

Do antihistamines work for him? Cetirizine usually takes the worst off my cob's asthma, but this year nothing worked. It was particularly bad once the farmers started cutting their grass, and is only just starting to settle.

 

[nutjob]

I had one who was allergic to grass but he got colic not a cough. OK with hay and haylage though. I turned him out in the school mostly and only for about 2 hours in the winter on a bare paddock.