Gutted - chestnut mare has been diagnosed with ROA (copd).

Meowy Catkin

Meowy Catkin

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The Vet has just left. CM coughed a few times at the weekend (she never coughs normally) so I called the Vet today. She will have a course of Ventipulmin and I must soak her hay from now on.

Luckily she lives out, but I will need to feed hay once all my grass has gone. Therefore all the horses will have to have soaked hay as it's fed in a sheep feeder. I will need to soak a bale at a time (small square ones). I wondered about getting a wheelie bin. Will a bale fit in? Any good ideas for soaking a whole bale without too much trouble or tips for looking after a horse with ROA?
 
my last arab had this. you can soak a small bale in a wheeliebin or rig the bin up as a steamer using a wallpaper steamer. I think someone on the Kelly Marks web site knows how to do this if you can get on there and ask.
 
I have a mare with very mild COPD. She isn't on meds and is doing fine at the moment. She comes in overnight.

I keep her on soacked hay (30 minute soak) and turn out as much as poss. As yours is living out, this is the best place for her to be.

You could always try to steam the hay as it is meant to be better. You can still use a wheelie bin and a wallpaper steamer and make your own steamer.

Feedmark do a supplement called Clarity that is also meant to be very good (ring and ask for a free sample) Oregano is also good for coughs.
 
Firstly - don't be gutted its not the issue it was. Take the problem away from the horse and the problem disappears. Living out is good first step (although some are summer pasture RAO :eek::eek:). Mine was so bad when being broken that he was on intravenous AB's (they thought it bacterial) and nearly died when injection went perivascular.

If you get good quality hay you may not need to soak it, or do what I do and feed haylage instead (if good you can give up hard feed). TBH, I really don't make any changes apart from that and if he goes away and they have straw beds, he gets straw bedding. I never medicate but do give him time to 'blow his nose' before cantering every time I ride. However I know there is a spectrum of severity of this but like I said, mine was pretty ill as a 4 year old and has evented (on straw) since then!
 
My boy was diagnosed with RAO in Jan this year and like you I was gutted, especially as he ended up having inhalers, steroid injections and tablets - eek! Have you had your horse scoped, my vet said that was the only way to give a definate diagnosis as samples from the tracheal wash were sent off for testing which revealed the high level of inflammatory cells.

George is doing really well now :) he is in at night and out during the day and only has soaked hay - my yard have a wheelie bin that one bale will fit into, fill the bin with water and then put water containers filled with water on top of the bale to weight it down and keep it submerged, it is then soaked for 40-60mins, there is then a tap that they've fitted to the bottom on the bin to drain the water out when you're ready and hey presto soaked hay!

My boy is also in an outside stable, with rubber mats and woodchips, his feeds are damped down and all brushing, rug changing etc is done outside to reduce dust.

He does fine and we have still been competing at dressage, sj, xc and so on, so not the end of the world. The vet also said the fitter and trimmer he was the better his breathing would be.

Good luck :)
 
My daughter's little cob mare had this about 5 years ago now at age 15 - quite a common age for the to get COPD I am told. She was so bad she was stopping whilst ridden - legs almost buckling and opening her mouth wide to catch breath. It was very scary indeed. The vet gave her a steroid jab and prescribed Flixotide inhalers (extremely expensive).

We contacted Ellen Collinson (herbalist Racehorse owner- who sell numerous herbal remedies). We put the mare on 3 weeks of her Respiratory herbs and honestly we have hardly looked back. That first winter I made a steamer using a wheelie bin and I steamed all her hay. She had a Flixotide inhaler we used intermnittently.

Now she fed haylage, but we have had no re-occurence of the COPD. She will be 20 years old next year and is currently ridden for an hour a day follwoing rehab from a tendon operation - she is fitter than she has ever been.

http://www.equineiridology.eu/
 
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ROA just fits perfectly with everything - her symptoms plus the fact that she was keeping the gelding company recently while he recovered from Mud Fever, so they were both in the sand school with haynets. Even though they've both been turned back out for a week and a half now, the Vet thought that this fitted with ROA. My hay has been looked at and given the OK.

RE wheelie bins - which size 240 ltr or 360 ltr?
 
The price of hay steamers is :eek: :eek: :eek:

I'm not sure that I can soak the hay as we are not on the mains and I think that it would use too much water (you have to use fresh every time). I would need to do a minimum of two bales per day during snowy weather or when there's not much grass left.

So I'm looking further into the homemade steamer idea.
 
Could you not feed haylage instead?

Home made steamers are just a big barrel and a wallpaper steamer, forget the ones you can buy for £££s.
 
I might switch to haylege for next year, but I have a load of really nice hay for this year that I would like to use. I also need to find a haylege supplier, plus look into a spike for the tractor because then I could have large bales (should be eaten quick enough, as four horses will be eating it).

She only started coughing on Saturday. Such is life.
 
Don't panic yet. My sons cob has RAO. I use mats with shredded cardboard & steam his hay in a home made steamer. I also use Ventilate. He has gone from a persistant (but not severe) cough when stabled & about 4/5 gloops of snot on the stable floor each night to no cough & about 4/5 gloops of snot all winter.
 
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