Competing with COPD

1588

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Hi
I recently noticed a wheeze and a drop in performance XC in my boy so had him checked out.
After mentioning 'insurance claim' they of course went to town with scopes, 10days of injections for anti bacterial lung infection and 3 tubs of ventipulmin.
After all this I haven't seen a marked improvement but haven't dared go XC. However, sj wise he jumps like a star in the 1st class and kicks poles out in the 2nd. Now he's usually super careful.

Is this a result of the copd or is he just pissed off with life do you think?

Anyone else compete with Copd and to what level.

Many thanks
Pip
 

1588

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All they said was that he had an infection. Is prednisolone the antibiotic? If so, no change. Seems to be better in cooler weather (obviously I guess)
 

sweet_decline

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I have a mare who had a respiratory infection as a youngster, and we believe this has left her with mild COPD. She has been scoped on a treadmill and there are no signs of a physical problem, but she can cough and get a runny nose, usually triggered by dust.

She has competed up to Newcomers SJ, and is now eventing at BE90. To be honest, if I do notice any symptoms during work, it's often a sign that she isn't fit enough or that I haven't eliminated enough dust from her environment.

I am quite fanatical about dust around her. I feed dust-extracted haylage (small bales) from the floor to allow any mucus to drain. I notice a huge difference with this over big bale haylage or soaked hay (I am considering a steamer to reduce costs, but the small bales do suit her and I'm scared of changing what works. Her stable has dust-extracted shavings, is meticulously swept, all cobwebs removed etc, and she is turned out as much as possible (we are lucky in that we have nice clean rural hillside air!)

I feed a respiratory supplement daily, but to be honest I'm not sure how much difference it makes (have tried 3 or 4 brands now). I also start her on a course of NAF respirator boost in the week running up to an event, which I do think helps. I've also found that any feed containing molasses can make her a bit thick in the wind. I've not read any scientific evidence of this, just purely down to personal experience!

I also find that fitness makes a huge difference. I do a lot of hillwork and interval training to get her to peak fitness for each event. She has finished XC at five events this season feeling like she could go round again. At our first event she did start breathing heavily towards the end (my fault for not having her fit enough) so I did nurse her home.

I hope to take her BE100 in the next few years. Novice would probably be at the limit of her scope (and my bravery) so I don't think it would be fair to push her over bigger fences at a faster speed. I am very amateur though and just do it for fun, no doubt she would suddenly develop more ability with a pro!

Show jumping-wise she's not overly careful anyway (hence the change of career to eventing!) but management and fitness do make a huge difference. In the year or so following her respiratory infection she did tend to run out of steam in two-phases and often tipped the last fence.
 
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