Hay, haylage and a coughing horse......

[FestiveSpirit]

I bought Bob last October and since then he has been fed haylage bought from my old YO. The haylage was OK, nothing special, and Bob hardly ate any of it when he was stabled - I feed slabs of big bales, and some days he would hardly eat half a slab when he was in for 12 hours.

At the beginning of this month we moved yards (yay!) and I began feeding slabs of big bale hay. New YO apologised and said it was the end of last years, and it is decidedly not very nice (dusty) - but Bob loves it! He will eat over a slab of big bale per day if given the chance.

Trouble is on Wednesday we competed, and he was coughing quite significantly in the warm up for the dressage

We didnt go XC so he certainly didnt exert himself that day, and since then he has had two days off, out at night and in during the day. As I turned him out tonight he coughed again, just a couple of times.

Obviously there is no way I want him to be coughing, but not sure what to do for the best now? I think my options are:

(a) soak the hay I have been given at the moment and continue feeding it (how long do I soak it for BTW? Seems to change every time I look!)

(b) ask the YO for some different hay (when can you start feeding this years hay, which I think is all she has now?)

or (c) buy in some hay/haylage from a local farmer - should be good quality but LOADS more expensive to buy it in than buy big bales from the YO

Any thoughts please? And if I change his hay/haylage this weekend, any ideas when he might stop coughing? No other contributory factors BTW

 

[Slinkyunicorn]

To get rid of dust and any other stuff hanging around in the hay soak for about 30 mins and then drain well. If it is just the dusty hay you should see a difference in a few days - or at least I always have with mine.

We have just had this years hay delivered and will start feeding it as soon as I need to - my mare has soaked hay all year and my boy has a haynet when he is in for grooming etc

 

[the watcher]

I would go with haylage - if the cough develops into COPD you will have to deal with it for the rest of the life of the horse - better to be a little proactive now.

Remember though this is pointless unless you also use dust extracted bedding and everybody around you does the same

 

[Skippydo]

It may just be the time of year i have spoken to the girls in my local tack shop and many are coughing because of the pollen and weather, so it may not be the hay. I would soak it though to get rid of the duct and maybe just try him on some Dermoline cough med, that settle mine.

 

[FestiveSpirit]

[ QUOTE ]
I would go with haylage - if the cough develops into COPD you will have to deal with it for the rest of the life of the horse - better to be a little proactive now.

Remember though this is pointless unless you also use dust extracted bedding and everybody around you does the same

[/ QUOTE ]

My thoughts exactly MH

I definitely use dust extracted bedding, wouldnt dream of using any other kind, but those around be all bed on straw. Absolutely nothing I can do about that, but the stables are very very well ventilated so I shall monitor over the next few weeks and make sure any trace of cough goes once I change his forage

 

[FestiveSpirit]

[ QUOTE ]
To get rid of dust and any other stuff hanging around in the hay soak for about 30 mins and then drain well. If it is just the dusty hay you should see a difference in a few days - or at least I always have with mine.

We have just had this years hay delivered and will start feeding it as soon as I need to - my mare has soaked hay all year and my boy has a haynet when he is in for grooming etc

[/ QUOTE ]

Ta SU - he is out tonight and (depending on the weather/flies) will be out tomorrow so that will give me time to buy a soaking bucket and get working on it

 

[kellyeaton]

give you hay a good shake then soak for 30 mins then wash off witth fresh water drip dry then feed damp!

 

[emma69]

Can he not go out 24/7 - eat grass, no hay, and out of enclosed space, so more air around?

 

[FestiveSpirit]

[ QUOTE ]
Can he not go out 24/7 - eat grass, no hay, and out of enclosed space, so more air around?

[/ QUOTE ]

Sadly no, he is a horse fly magnet and gets very bothered by flies generally even if he is wearing a fly rug/covered in repellent etc etc etc.

He has always been half-and-half since I had him, so this is obviously something caused by his change of livery yard - and the hay/haylage is the main factor which has changed there

 

[Evelynmary]

Our yard coughed late spring, not unwell just excess pollen we suspect, especially when the rape was at its peak. However, one or two didn't stop. Not excessive but schooling would induce some occasional coughing. We used NAF Respirator which worked for one the other has gone onto a short course of Propell, this seems to have done the trick. Now the hay has been cut hoping the pollen will abate and damp weather will help.

Hay is soaked minimum half an hour. Night turnout.

I wonder if sometimes when a horse coughs whilst schooling one should press on and maybe it can dislodge/loosen anything, hence race horses went for a 'pipe opener' gallop. Guess this may be a slightly old fashioned view? I'm certainly not suggesting working a distressed horse, think the view was if it blew its nose after a cough it was best to press on and give it a chance to shift the problem.

 

[emma69]

If you continue to exercise a horse with a cough without knowing why your horse is coughing, you risk permanant lung damange.

 

[Evelynmary]

I accept that. I'm talking about an occasional cough and I think most people know their horse and whether it is sensible to continue or to stop. Common sense comes to mind - not as much around as there used to be!

 

[FestiveSpirit]

LOL silver_snaffles, I think you are right about the common sense bit

I'm hoping that the change in forage will sort things out, otherwise I wont hesitate to call out the vet if the cough goes on at all

 

[Evelynmary]

Good luck hope you get it sorted soon, I know how frustrating and worrying it is, that's horses........