COPD - How do you cope? (Long sorry!)

In my experience it is a constant juggling act - my horse is set off with pollens and dust!!

However, we've just completed a 14 mile sponsored ride today and over took a few other larger horses en route, so it is manageable. I too turn out 24/7 spring, summer and early autumn. During late autumn and winter he is in at night and out during the day. However, my "in" is a field shelter with a couple of stall guards across the front rather than a door, which means he has good air flow!

I think you do need to experiment with what works for your horse. Mine wears a nose net when exercised from March - Oct and then has Nov - Feb without. We use anti hystamines from February to October. I never feed hay, only haylage. I never muck out when he is in. I groom outside.

I have used Carl Hester Air Power with some success. I have tried a lot of other supplements which have been useless!

I also believe keeping your horse as fit as you can really helps them.
 
Beverley1705 - that's interesting! Somehow even though the vets diagnosed him as having COPD, something doesn't quite ring true with me.

He's lived in a stable (winter nights & alternate days) backing onto a dusty indoor & bedded on straw since a yearling no problem at all, but since catching the virus whilst on 24/7 summer turnout he's developed COPD? All the other horses recovered bar him & he's the youngest at only just 7!

Perhaps if he's not right or goes downhill again after these 2 weeks I should actually ask for scoping then to get rid of my doubts. As much as I don't want to due to his behaviour I explained, it will be a confirmed diagnosis. Seeing as it was a respiratory infection to start, perhaps its a secondary one now? I'm no vet though!

If he stays where he is & has to come in winter nights I've already been offered a corner stable by the door for ventilation & will get a haybar plus keep him on hay. Looking at woodchip.bedding too instead of shavings.
 
ElleD - that's fab to hear your still doing so much & have found a way to deal with it. Encouraging for me to know life most definately goes on!

Juliette - His stables in a big airy barn & hopefully if I can have the end stable the top door by there will be open all day everyday for airflow. I looked at the nose nets, someone suggested using it on a headcollar in & out of the stable? I've never looked into them before.

Below is his block at the mo. The end stable he can go in is where I'm stood taking the pic from but with same door arrangement - the top bit will be open. Plus bars going inbetween stables.

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The beast in question in his stable which is currently in the middle modelling a new rug a week or so ago!

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Just sent you a PM there about the allergy testing. I had a discussion with an equine nutritionist and he thought that the COPD (asthma/allergy) is all down to a low immune system. Might be worth trying something to increase your boys immunity. I started mine on a top spec balancer recently and I hope to have good results with it (as she is off all hard feed this balancer is cereal-free, i.e. no dust mites and contains all vits/mins that she needs). I know there are loads of supplements on the market to increase immunity. I also have my girl on NAF respirator boost liquid.
I don't think they can diagnose COPD until it is chronic, i.e. never goes away. I am hoping my girl's symptoms are gone forever.
 
Have you tried NAF respirator, you can give the liquid first as a boost then go onto the powder. Has he been treated with ventipulmin ?

I used to be in a barn type stable and my horse was terrible, I moved to an outdoor stable on same yard and he was fine. Trouble with it is that you might be doing every thing you can but are other people ? my problem was that some horses were on straw while I was using shavings, he was breathing in the dust as a whole, are there other stables available on your yard?
 
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M1stify - I got your PM thankyou very much I really appreciate it, went to reply but because I'm using a mobile for some reason it wont let me. That's interesting with the feed, he's on Equilibrium Winergy Medium Energy at the moment has been for a few years, but my yard owner mentioned getting a nutritionist or similar up for a talk, we had Baileys at the old yard so can definately ask the question. So many possibilities isn't there! Hope the Top Spec works for Misty you'll have to let me know.

Noisy Girl - He's on Ventipulmin for 2 weeks at the moment & he had the NAF 5* Respiratory Booster at one point & it didn't do anything although it was when he was bad at the other yard so think he needed more than that then if you get me, like antibiotics.

The only stables are the ones pictured as the stables are brand new & being built. Although there is a gap in an opposite corner alongside the tackroom they've said I could have a stable built there so he's away from the rest dust spore wise but can still see the others. Their all on shavings but not all soak their hay. The other thing is due to an overflow of 2 horses this winter, 2 temp stables are being built outside so could give up my indoor one for one of them maybe.
 
I have rubber mats in my stable and its amazing the amount of c**p that comes out their coats,feet and what ever.
I have a pony with COPD, she had it mildly for years but was made a lot worse when she was out on loan and stabled.
She lives out 24/7 365 days a year and has only been stabled when she has needed a vet for routine jabs.
If you value your horses lungs please do not stable how ever clean they look. A muddy patch outside although dispirating to look at will be far better for him. Perhaps you can find sime where were they have diet paddocks for fatties with good drainage.
 
Just been reading these posts and would like to know if any of these horses/ponies with COPD/RAO have exhibited symptoms of lethargy/laziness, possibly caused by not having enough hay (due to having to soak it all) - am wondering how much I could increase the bucket feed by.
 
my mare has Asthma
she does get a bit wheezy in the summer ,


I use gold label vapour spray in her stable and I bought her the Era Mask, both of these really helped her .
Also she was on gold label airways +
http://equinecare-and-control.weebly.com/a.html
At the moment she is on soaked hay over night then dried and fed. So far so good this year.

I am using bedmax but would normally use comfybed
 
honetpot said:
I have rubber mats in my stable and its amazing the amount of c**p that comes out their coats,feet and what ever.
I have a pony with COPD, she had it mildly for years but was made a lot worse when she was out on loan and stabled.
She lives out 24/7 365 days a year and has only been stabled when she has needed a vet for routine jabs.
If you value your horses lungs please do not stable how ever clean they look. A muddy patch outside although dispirating to look at will be far better for him. Perhaps you can find sime where were they have diet paddocks for fatties with good drainage.
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Absolutely agree with this. That's why its not called COPD anymore but ROCD. If you find and eliminate the problem (good idea to allergy test) the sypmptoms will go away. I'd move somewhere more suitable. Plenty of people are competing to quite high level with 24/7/365 turned out horses.
 
MY experience was from many decades ago so can't help with modern treatments. His developed after having equine flu.

No hay, dep litter shavings bed. All feed damped and well mixed so every bit was damp.

When he had an attack - bran and Vicks inhaler. Put bran in a bucket and add boiling water and a teaspoon of Vicks vapour rub, mix in well, hold under horses nose with a towel over head if he will tolerate it.

Keep horse extremely fit, I hunted and evented my horse with minimal problems.

Good luck with yours - YArd owner needs shooting to not have a vet in to deal with original sick pony. Thick/Creamy/green snot is a sign of infection!

To be honest I would be looking elsewhere to keep my horse if I met with that situation.
 
One of my donkeys has had RAO since before I took possession of him in 1997. I didn't know why he was coughing and heaving, but I learned pretty quickly. He cannot consume dry hay or straw without symptoms manifesting themselves within 30 minutes. Early on, when I was educating myself in the management of the disease, I found that Ventipulmin was the drug of choice to relieve his distress. During one particularly bad bout of heaves (he had gotten behind the hay barn and found a small area under the corrugated wall where the end of a bale of straw was exposed and which he devoured) the Ventipulmin was barely able to give him relief. The vet prescribed Sputilosin to administer with the Ventipulmin. Apparently, the Ventipulmin helps open the airways and the Sputilosin aids in loosening the mucous within the chest. In concert they work a treat. I rarely have cause to use the drugs, now, because I'm neurotic about him having any access to dry hay or straw. This past Spring he had a few episodes, most probably due to pollen. I zapped him with the two drugs and he was fine. He runs and plays with his mate and is in no way hampered by his condition, as long as he is maintained scrupulously free of the triggers that caused him respiratory distress.
 
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