Hay/Horsehage/ Readigrass for horse with COPD

Finn

Finn

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I know Im a little early starting to think about winter as we havent even had summer yet but my mare was diagnosed with COPD about a month ago and the vet thinks its occured from being on long term box rest due to having tendon surgery. Apparently COPD is just one of the unfortunate side effects of long term box rest. Shes currently on Ventipulmin from the Vets but have bought her some Ventilate to add to her feed when the Ventipulmin has finished.

Anyway I am starting to look into alternatives instead of hay for her. Readigrass/ Graze on is good and she loves it but how do you leave enough in the stable to see them through the night? I used to give her some in a bucket and cut down on her hay in the winter but it was gone in 20 mins or so and dont like the thought of her standing there all night with nothing to nibble on. Are there any special hay nets or something out there you could put it in rather than than a bucket so it will last longer? If so could you please advise where to get it from?

Someone also suggested Horsehage, has anyone used this and if so which one as there are 3 sorts on the market? My mare is a very good doer and I dont want her getting fizzy or anything.

I am also looking into other alternatives for her like all year turn out etc but thought some of you knowleagable people could advise me on an alternative to hay.

Thankyou.
 
Has your horse been scoped after the original attack? How did it look down there?

My mare was 'diagnosed' with COPD after she had an 'attack'. Found her in her stable heaving, coughing very badly. Vet diagnosed COPD and said she would need her deep littered shavings bed cleared out, no hay etc.

After being very cautious for a while and soaking her hay or giving her haylage - I had her scoped. Nothing, no sign of any soreness or inflammation and this was only a couple of days after finishing her meds.

Basically, I don't think she had developed COPD. I think she had a one off attack and as I don't know what brought it on, I didn't feel right in treating her as if she had COPD.

She went back onto hay about a month after the attack, I gradually reduced the amount of haylage/soaked until she was back onto dry and she hasn't had a tickle since.

She is now on haylage but only because nothing else is available. This may well be moot as you may have a confirmed chronic recurring COPD..... just thought it might be worth sharing.

If you choose to go on haylage - cheapest option is big farmer bales, if none available locally Throrwgoods do the big bales for £29 - one of this size lasts my mare about three weeks (of night time nets). Horsehage is rich and expensive!!

xx
 
Hi Billie1007.

Thanks for your reply, No she hasnt been scoped yet, had the vet out about a month ago as she was coughing really bad, had heave lines and was very reluctant in exercise and was breathing as though she has galloped about 6 miles even though she has only walked a 20m circle! and he did all the usuaul test and said she had COPD so gave her Ventipulmin. She has been out ever since and hasnt had any problems apart from the head shaking, nose rubbing etc. But on Fri I went to get her in to groom then ride her and she had the most horrendous cough, every step she took she coughed and wheezed it was awful but she wasnt distressed or anything. She was ok in the morning but coughing really bad by the afternoon so I got her in the stable and rang the vet and he said it sounded like she was having a bad episode of COPD and prescribed her some more Ventipulmin and said if she got worse then he would come out and scope her but she hasnt coughed again since being back on the Ventipulmin. She cant stay on that forever though so I need to work out whats causing it and help her in the best way that I can. The vet also thinks she has pollen type allergies aswell which I really dont think is helping the situation. I have read somewhere that COPD and pollen allergies are all linked together but I could be wrong on that. Shes always had a slight intermitent cough though when in the stable in winter since the day I bought her nearly 2 years ago. But this is the 2nd lot of Ventipulmin shes been on in the last month due to the Vet saying COPD attacks.

Shes on wood pellet bedding and since she has been out 24/7 I have emptyied it apart from a little bit in the corner for her to wee and poo on should she need to come in or whatever reason.

xxxxx
 
We use horsehage for our boy who used to have severe COPD but after keeping everything as dust-free as possible he doesn't show signs of it any more and hasn't done for years. We feed him horsehage over standard haylage (don't want him getting fizzy either! - plus he's lami prone so try to keep everything low sugar) - the blue (ryegrass, high fibre) and the purple (timothy grass) are low sugar/energy/protein and suitable for laminitics, the blue is much easier to get hold of than the purple though our horses do tend to prefer how the purple tastes. Saying this, after mixing the two and slowly decreasing the amount of purple they will now happily eat just the blue, which is handy when we find we can't get any purple.
Alternatively you could try feeding soaked hay instead of haylage which would be a cheaper option, or mixing soaked hay with haylage if your horse is as fussy as ours and refuses to eat 'just' soaked hay.
Hope that made some kind of sense, am typing in a hurry!
It's been years since we used readigrass so can't really comment on that but I do remember that they did used to hoover it up, so agree that it probably wouldn't keep her happy all night - the "trickle nets" are supposed to be really great for slowing down a horses eating rate but I'm not sure if they'd work for readigrass? - they're also quite pricey but people do say they're worth it & last for ages. Hope that's of some help.
 
Hi, my boy was diagnosed with COPD back in January, when he was scoped you could see all the thick mucus and the tracheal wash showed lots of inflammatory cells :(

I moved him to an outdoor stable, put him on woodchips and all of his hay is soaked, if he needs hay in the field he has haylage.

He also needed to go onto inhalers, he is still on these now and is making slow but steady progress, but unfortunately his tunrout is currently a bit limited as our fields are flooded :(

I don't know if this helps, but all the best.
 
Hi Starryeyed

Many thanks for replying.

I have tried her with soaked hay and she will eat a couple of mouthfuls then leave it so Im assuming shes not that keen on it. I did buy a bag of sugar free haylage not long ago and she loved it but I didnt really want her on it full time as shes a very good doer and I really dont want her getty fizzy as its taken me nearly 2 yrs to calm her down and get her on the correct diet although 7 months of box rest really hasnt helped with the weight issue but Im working on that now, well I am when she isnt poorly/coughing.

So if I got her some Horsehage to see how she is on it I would be better getting the purple or the blue as less sugar starch etc she is on the better?
do you need to soak Horsehage and do you feed it in a normal haynet?
 
Hi Finn,
I'm in a similar boat as my pony is struggling with unsoaked hay, but I don't have good soaking facilities. I've seen a couple of ads for wrapped hay, which seems to be more common, these days. I'm planning to pick up a bale to see if it's any good and take it from there!
 
Whats wrapped hay? never heard of it. What difference is it between that and normal hay? Where would you get it from and how much is it?

Sorry for all the questions but am really intrigued by it.
 
Blue horsehage for good doers! My horse only has mild symptoms, but soaked hay eaten outside will still give him a cough/ runny nose.

Or, 24/7 turnout all year round & only buy horsehage in the Winter if you're concerned about weight & fizziness. It took me ages (years) to find somewhere that would allow 24/7 turnout all year round for my old chap. It's been the best thing for him though, keeps him fitter, helps with controlling his weight & it's loads cheaper as a bonus!
 
You'd probably be okay with either as they're very similar, just different grasses, but I'd probably recommend trying the blue first purely because it's so much easier to get hold of - the company is always running out of the purple! You don't need to soak it, and you can feed it in a normal haynet or off the ground - haynet would take longer to get through though :)
 
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