Horse with hayfever/summer allergy

[boxcarhorse]

(Also posted in Tack Room)

My horse seems to have some sort of summer hayfever/allergy and each year it seems to be getting worse.

I ride him in a nose net in the summer, but not only does he twitch and shake his head at this time of year, he also snorts and coughs just like someone with hayfever.

Does anyone else have experience of this? And can you suggest anything that might help him? ie. supplements, management? Is there a time of day when pollen counts are lower or higher? He does seem better on cold, wet days and worse on warm, sunny days.

Thanks in advance.

 

[charmeroo]

Yes - this is probably summer pasture COPD. To be honest I've found that there really is nothing effective. A nose net is the best thing - and all you can do is take into account the weather conditions. The only thing which did help is to soak any hay during the driest summer months (no - I'm not being ironic!) so that your horse has the maximum amount of moisture intake. This will help keep his bronchial tubes clear.

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

(Also posted in Tack Room)

My horse seems to have some sort of summer hayfever/allergy and each year it seems to be getting worse.

I ride him in a nose net in the summer, but not only does he twitch and shake his head at this time of year, he also snorts and coughs just like someone with hayfever.

Does anyone else have experience of this? And can you suggest anything that might help him? ie. supplements, management? Is there a time of day when pollen counts are lower or higher? He does seem better on cold, wet days and worse on warm, sunny days.

Thanks in advance.

http://horse-care-and-advice.weebly.com/a.html


C.O.P.D


H&H members write

1 . My mare develops COPD symptoms when given dry hay or when she is in over the winter. Ventopulmin helped an awful lot to get her over her initial hard to shift snotts, and she has been better since that gave her a chance to clear out.
I also find that steaming hay helps alot more than soaking it (even if it is totally soaked for a couple of hours -). any potential dust causing jobs like rug change, mucking out, sweeping, grooming done outside the stable helps alot. Mine was on winergy ventilate last winter and I def noticed an improvement. The naf one didn't do anything though.

2.
I tried all sorts of ones and although I had never rated Naf before. found the best one was respirator. you start with the liquid then switch to the powder __________________

 

[sunleychops]

Put a coat of vaseline around his nostrils before going out, The pollen and spores stick to it instead of going up the nose

 

[spacefaer]

I've had good responses to allergies with homeopathic remedies - not self prescribed ones, but I've used a "proper" vet called Chris Day who is also a homeopath.

I had a headshaker who was allergic to pollens, with a different allergen every spring (oil seed rape flowers one year, cow parsley the next). Chris gave him a combination of homeopathic tablets which worked in conjunction with each other and made him rideable.

(took the horse from unrideable without the tablets to 3* - he went round Blenheim)

It might be worth having a look at Chris' website and maybe chatting to him, see if he could offer any advice?

 

[Box_Of_Frogs]

It sounds like classic SPAOPD which is easier than the full name of Summer Pasture Associated Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. It's identical to RAO/COPD caused by an allergy to spores in hay but (obviously) the trigger is different. But with hay allergy, by soaking hay or feeding haylage, keeping the stable dust free, turning the horse out as much as possible, you can keep on top of it. But with SPAOPD you can't! The pollen is in every lungful of air your horse breathes, in or out of the stable. And sorry but Vaseline won't work. There was a similar product brought out a few years ago, Nostrilvet, and my vets explained it's a waste of time since with every inhalation only a tiny % of the air brushes against the sides of the horse's nostrils.

My horse developed the same thing. He was scoped twice, not that it showed anything other than badly damaged lungs. We tried Ventipulmin to relax the airways, Sputolosin to break up the sticky mucus, then steroids, inhalers, Cavalesse, the lot. Nothing worked except the onset of winter. Got worse every year. His breaths per minute are 35 - 45 at rest. And every season that you aren't able to prevent the allergic reaction, the lungs get more and more permanently damaged. You could investigate REACT the system that produces a tailored serum for injecting into the horse but it's expensive and there are no guarantees. You could think about moving your horse to a coastal yard with lots of offshore winds. You could get your horse Cushings tested as being on Prascend for his late-diagnosed Cushings helped my horse a lot. But beyond that, there's very little you can do except aim to keep your horse in tip-top physical condition and peak fitness. Sadly, if you read the fine print on all the supplements you can buy to allegedly "cure" pollen allergy, the manufacturers only actually offer good supportive nutrition! If your horse is properly fed, he'll be getting that anyway! Good luck x

 

[spotty_pony]

My boy also has this and I too use a nose net. I also feed him Global Herbs Pollen-X Syrup in his feed which seems to help and reduces runny eyes/nose and coughing.