Coughing whilst exercising

[Gorgeous George]

When I was riding George in the outdoor school today he seemed to be chomping at the bit more than usual and salivating, and if I tried to do much more than walk he kept coughing as if something was stuck in his throat. As soon as I stopped he was fine and hasn't been coughing in his stable/field. Otherwise he seemed absolutely fine and his temp is normal. Any ideas, and do you think I should ride him or not?

Thanks

 

[gemmaw]

maybe get some cough mix from your saddlers and give it to him befoer you ride out, thats what they recommended to me! hope it helps!! ;-)

 

[zigzag]

Didn't he have a runny nose and cough up some stuff on your shirt the other day (a previous post you put) maybe he has a slight cold

 

[manicmare]

maybe slight cold, bit of hay stuck in his throat and he was trying to cough it up

 

[Gorgeous George]

You are right zigzag he did cough up a load of um snot on friday, should I give him some time off or just carry on with some gentle exercise??

 

[dozzie]

What bedding is he on and what hay is he getting? It sounds like it could be a minor dust allergy but if you manage it well now you can stop it getting worse.
You could soak his hay or give haylage/horsehage. Find a dust free bedding or better still invest in stablemats if poss! And dont deep litter as the ammonia build up can irritate.

Better still keep him out as much as possible, 24/7 is best in the summer at least.

 

[Gorgeous George]

Oh dear it sounds like I might be doing everything wrong, he is bedded on straw (but always was in his previous yard) and I've had him for 2 months on the same straw with no problems. I also feed him dry hay. I still have 12 bales of straw left, but I could go onto shavings after that, he has stable mats but he is unbelievably wet and messy in his stable (wonder if putting a layer of sawdust under the straw would help soak things up?) I could of course soak his hay though. What seems odd to me is that he doesn't cough in his stable at all, only when I exercise him in trot or faster outside in the fresh air????

 

[dozzie]

Why not just try soaking his hay for 20 minutes first to see if thats what the problem is. It may be just that the hay is getting dusty now or it might be different quality hay. That might be all you have to do!

And you are not doing everything wrong

You are just on a steep learning curve at the mo

 

[JessPickle]

Pickle had a simular thing a few months ago, with exactly the same symptoms, he had a small chest infection a few antibiotics cleared it up in a week