Hayfever in horses

[cob71]

I have a 7yr old fell pony and when he was younger suffered from sweet itch. We moved and as the field had nothing in it so he could scratch himself on it slowly disappeared. This was good news. Then the next spring(March) he started getting symptoms like hayfever. Mine and my daughters starts at this time too. He starts throwing himself up and down when ridden, not very helpful in the showring! We have used nets, global herbs headshaker and pollen x. I feel very sorry for him as this is also uncomfortable for us as it lasts March to September. Anyone got any advice, tips or anything that would help.

 

[Box_Of_Frogs]

When you say like hayfever, what do you mean? Hay fever in humans = bunged up, runny nose, sneezing, red eyes. What are the horse's symptoms? If it starts in March and ends Sept-ish then you can bet your bottom dollar it's a pollen allergy. Sounds as if he's a headshaker too and the 2 things are probably linked. Talk to your vet about the pollen allergy because if it isn't managed carefully, you run the risk of the horse's lungs deteriorating year on year. There are some things that can help such as Ventopulmin to relax the airways, Sputolosin to break up sticky mucus, if it's bad inhaled steroids can help. Unfortunately, none of these drugs is cheap. Try to get on top of it now, before the pollen starts in March/April. The headshaking won't be easy to deal with either. It may be that if you control the pollen allergy, you control the headshaking but maybe not. If you search HEADSHAKING in the Forum, you'll get tons of information. Good luck x

 

[pink123]

i know someone (not well) that gave their pony piriton, apparently it worked and never caused any harm. they also used human cough syrup when their horses had coughs (obviously) but i have no idea if it is actually safe or not, but they had been doing it for years.