Horse coughing

[Sliggett.xo]

Hi so recently my horse had a cough and when I was riding her she was coughing and finding it hard to breath. I went to the vets and they gave me oral powder to put in her feed for a couple of days to help it however it didn’t work. Then we injected her every day with pen and strep for a week and it cleared the cough up. The vet told told us to soak her hay as well.we have been soaking her hay since and I have rode her twice since and no signs of coughing or difficult breathing and seems a lot happier and energetic. Now it’s a week or two later after her cough cleared up and suddenly she had starting coughing a few times again should I be worried? I intially thought it could be copd / heaves the first time round however the vet said it was unlikely. is there a chance it could be or what else could it be? Should I be worried? I was thinking of putting her on a coughing or airway supplement or do you have any other advice?

She is a 18 year old thoroughbred mare if this is any help. Thx xx

 

[AmyMay]

I’d probably get your vet back out. How much turn out is she getting? Have you cleaned your stable as thoroughly as possible to eradicate as much dust as you can? Have you also disinfected?

 

[View]

Are you still soaking her hay? If not, I’d soak it again.

Is she stabled? If so, what bedding is she on? What is the ventilation like?

 

[Sliggett.xo]

Are you still soaking her hay? If not, I’d soak it again.

Is she stabled? If so, what bedding is she on? What is the ventilation like?

Yes she gets her hay soaked and she is stabled with rubber mats on chopped straw or occasionally shaving and there is plenty of ventilation

 

[Sliggett.xo]

I’d probably get your vet back out. How much turn out is she getting? Have you cleaned your stable as thoroughly as possible to eradicate as much dust as you can? Have you also disinfected?

she is currently fully stabled with the option to walk up and down the yard (she will be going out in April or may to the field 24/7) yes she it gets mucked out everyday

 

[View]

I echo Amymay’s advice to get your vet out, and would be looking for somewhere with 24 hour turnout (or as much turnout as possible in winter).

If she isn’t getting much turn out at the moment, try fiully mucking out twice a day - wet bedding can be very irritating to the respiratory tract.

 

[AmyMay]

So the issues probably arise from no turnout. You do need to get her out for a couple of hours so that you can thoroughly clean out the stable (sweeping out all the dust (including the rafters)), and get her out generally as much as possible.. presumably you’re riding out daily for a couple of hours, not just relying on up and down the yard for a couple of minutes?

 

[Sliggett.xo]

So the issues probably arise from no turnout. You do need to get her out for a couple of hours so that you can thoroughly clean out the stable (sweeping out all the dust (including the rafters)), and get her out generally as much as possible.. presumably you’re riding out daily for a couple of hours, not just relying on up and down the yard for a couple of minutes?

during this time of year there is not much turnout available for her as the fields are so wet and the weather is bad. (Live in Northern Ireland) Yes I try to ride her as much as possible. Do you think using shavings recently has caused this

 

[Sliggett.xo]

I echo Amymay’s advice to get your vet out, and would be looking for somewhere with 24 hour turnout (or as much turnout as possible in winter).

If she isn’t getting much turn out at the moment, try fiully mucking out twice a day - wet bedding can be very irritating to the respiratory tract.

yes I recently used a bale of shavings this week do you think it might be because of this. Because the weather is so bad at the minute it’s hard to get turnout available as the fields are so wet and muddy. Thx for advice

 

[AmyMay]

Could be shavings. But really it wouldn’t particularly matter what bedding you used, if it’s dust related, because a horse that is stabled 24/7 with limited access to fresh air will most likely develop a wind problem. This is why it’s so important to make sure your stable is as free from as much dust as possible (hence my suggestion that you thoroughly clean your stable). also ensure there are no rugs hung up in there. I live in Wales - so absolutely understand wet and bad weather. Still not a reason not to turn out, but of course that’s out of your control.

However, what is in your control to a degree is minimising the amount of dust in your stable, and ensuring your horse has as much access to fresh air as possible. That means getting her out of her stable for at least an hour or two a day. And at least twice a day.

 

[Sliggett.xo]

No there is no rugs hung up or anything like that she can get out for a few hours a day as there is limited grass but that would be better than nothing thanks for your advice much appreciated