Breathing advice

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lovecharles

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Hy 16.2hh 17yr old TB x has been of work for lameness for about 5 months. He has slowly been introduced back into work over the last month, lunging, hacking, and slow schooling. He is doing really well. He lives out, is fed on Dengie Healthy Hooves and Dodson & Horrell 16+, veggies and Pink Powder. He is wormed with Verm-X.

However, I have found that he has been coughing a lot during work but also when he's just wandering around the field too. I ran down at 4.30am the other morning as he was coughing so much, but by the time i'd got there, he'd sorted himself out. He seems to be coughing up (sorry - bit gross) a yellow phlegm. I often see it on the stable floor or in the field.
When i'm trying to catch him, he buggers off up the field and I can hear him wheezing a bit, though i don't remember him doing this under saddle or on lunge,

What could be causing this, an allergy? I'm off to the vets in a couple of weeks anyway and i'll mention it but just wondering what you guys thought.

Thank you
 
I would get the vet sooner. It takes far more to make a horse cough than humans and persistant coughing could mean an infection. It could just be that exercise has mobilised the phlegm but especially with an older horse i would get the vet to listen in case there is an infection that needs treating. The longer you leave it the harder it will be to sort out.
 
Echo teddyt. It could be COPD or an allergy to tree pollen, which is higher than normal this year due to a warm, sunny early spring. My 23yr old has an allergy to tree pollen and usually starts coughing about May but he's started already this year. I always get the vets out just in case and last year he had a course of antibiotics - didn't make any difference and the cough wasn't severe enough to warrant extensive investigation. But if your horse has been coughing for some time, it needs at least a basic examination. I would have thought some sort of fitness thing but if he's doing it just standing in the field, it can't be that. Does he have a heave line round his flanks/belly? That would tell you he is struggling to breathe normally and is using his abdominal muscles to force air out ready for another breath.
 
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