COPD - Your experience

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silverstar

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My horse has been diagnosed with it and Im just wondering has your horse had it, how was he diagnosed, how do you currently manage it and do you compete your horse with it.

Im just wanting your experience of COPD.
 
My old pony has got it. When I 1st bought him home I put him on Bliss bedding with Eycaluptus (sp) thinking it might help. Next morning he had eaten most of the bed and was heaving badly, rang my vet who told me to turn him out for 48hrs to see if he got any better, which he did. He now sleeps on shavings, which are put down in a morning so any dust has settled before he comes in. He is also fed the recommended dose of NAF Respirator which seems to do the trick. And he has steamed hay. I also found a dose of the Respirator Boost the evening before and on the morning of any shows helps to keep any coughs at bay.
 
We've got a pony we used to show and drive who has had COPD for many years. Initially he was on inhalers and we have to be careful not to bed him on anything other than shavings and he has ad lib good quality hay, anything dusty is a no-no. We did try haylage but he is laminitic also and it gave him the squits. He is no longer on inhalers and is fine as long as his routine is not changed. After he was diagnosed 10 years ago, we carried on showing and backed him to drive, he was able to cope with quite long country drives so it did not affect his performance. He is retired now, he is 19 and as he is quite complex to manage he will be staying with us till the end.
 
Quite simply for my old loan
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1) Soaked hay, minimum 20 minutes.
2) Fed hay from the floor.
3) Fed garlic.
4) Shavings/ Cardboard type bedding
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That was all he needed, occasionally we got him a respiratory lick but it wasn't vital.
 
my last horse had it too. He was diagnosed with a scope. He had a couple of years on and off ventipulmin. It did help to start with but gradually lost its effectiveness just about the same time NAF bought out respirator. I started on the liquid then the powder. FAB STUFF (despite me not thinking it would work)
We did compete regularly but often he would be very lethargic and not able to compete as well as normal

He was on haylage and shavings

His was much worse in spring/summer so was obviously pollen related
 
Feed from the floor - don' use hay nets
Feed good quality hay and soak immersed in fresh water for at least 45 minutes
Remove all cob webs and dust from the stable and adjoining stables at least once a week (including all ledges and inside of roof). Use an industrial vacuum cleaner.
Only keep in traditional stable not internal ones
 
Echo what Peter says really, eliminate dust sources as much as possible. There are so many supplements out there as well these days, some are more effective than others. V occassionally if my old pony was really suffering, he would have a treatment of ventipulmin, but otherwise careful stable management was suuficient the rest of the time.
 
Mine has it, is now 23 yrs old, is on shavings and haylage, fed topspec senior and topspec weight gain thing!! Has had kof eze as well, but at the moment is currently huntin fit!!! Was out all day yesterday Inc havin the field master on her for like 20 mins!! Does get more tired in the country with lots of galloping fields tho, but as she loves it we would rather keep her huntin and havin fun then just out in a field!! All tho in summer she does struggle more as the pollen affects her more, we do a beach ride in summer and she is fine there tho!! So is still possible to compete etc, just try and work out wen your horse is worse and medicate when neede, mine does sometimes have inhalers in summer if pollen bad, but tend too prefer to only use inhalers when needed rather than all time, and she is certainly feelin well!!
 
My pony gets it in the autumn so presume it is some of of pollen or fungal spore. He lives out and he does get dry hay in the field but he has normally recovered by the time we need to feed hay - I don't think hay causes it but if I do give him extra hay outside of his field eg for travelling I soak it. Also we are on a shavings only yard so no straw to cause a problem.

He has had ventipulmin and antibiotics but as this is only the 2nd year he has had it - apparently COPD is very rare in the under 5's - he only developed it when he was 6 I am still working out the best way to prevent it happening.

This year he got a chest infection - it came on so quickly I was riding him he was fine - came back to the yard it was quite warm and groomed him outside and he started having an asthma attack and looking very depressed not wanting to eat (v unusual) called vet and vet said he had a raised temperature and chest infection so had a week of antibiotics and ventipulmin and he was much better but still a bit lethargic so took it easy with him for a while whilst building up his breathing supplement. However he had no warning signs no coughing or anything like that.

Last year was a bit later on in the year but again riding him was fine and then suddenly it came on.

I guess it may depend on the weather as to how well the spores or pollen do and are distributed.

With regard to managing it - I have tried various herbal supplements and at the moment he is on think clear and this seems to be the best one so far as he has been boucing with energy since he has been on it and his breathing and stamina has been excellent in fact better than some of the horses that have not got COPD. Supplements do seem to help him quite a lot it is just working out which one is best and when to start feeding if it is seasonal.

Also keeping him fit and his weight in check and also not letting him get too hot also seems to help. He had a more radical clip this year and this seemed to make a difference.

I am tempted to keep him on the breathing supplement all year as a preventative measure but don't want him to build up an immunity to it so will probably give a couple of months break.

TBH he does not compete much during the autumn winter but he does do RC clinics and a bit of dressage - and for a few days beforehand I give him a bit of ventipulmin just in case.
 
My sister's welsh pony has COPD. Diagnosed just over 3 years ago after she had a bad cough and was getting puffed easily following a slightly dusty batch of straw. She had a ventipulmin for a couple of weeks which helped alot and soaked hay. Shortly afterwards she started living out 24/7 and has been ever since. She will ocasionally have a minor relapse e.g. if we have a long dry spell and the soil gets 'dusty' but we just put her back on the ventipulmin for a couple of days which seems to clear it up. If she ever needed to be in for anything she would be back on shavings with soaked hay but living out certainly seems best for her.
 
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