Horsie Hay Fever!

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CowCob

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*Apologies if this is in the wrong bit!*

Cow pony seems to have hay fever (runny eyes, runny nose, cough, stuffy/raspy breathing when worked) what is best to give her for it? I've heard the controversy around giving them antihistamines so I'm a bit on the fence as she is a bigger girlie and it would take quite a few to have some effect. I have also been told about Vaseline in there nostrils? But I've only heard this for horses that head toss with HF. I want to change her hay as the stuff we have is very expensive and horrible quality. But my YO isn't allowing it (she told us if we wanted to change we have to leave) and isn't giving us a reason why we're not allowed (probably because she's getting quite a lot of money from us) so for now we're stuck on the ikky stuff.

Supplement recommendation is very much appreciated.
 
Could you soak the hay? If that doesn't work could you change to something like Horsehage (good but ...££££££). Don't leave it too long before calling a vet. I tried some remedies first and felt dreadful when vet told me about the pain my last cob had in his windpipe :-(
 
I would be getting the vet, this does not sound like hayfever but a more serious condition that requires proper treatment, if the hay is poor quality, dusty or even worse mouldy then your horse is at risk of becoming extremely unwell, soak it if you have no choice, look for another yard no YO should insist on you feeding your horse something that makes it unwell or have that attitude when you are concerned about his health and get the vet in to treat before it gets worse.
A simple over the counter supplement is not going to cure these symptoms, your horse sounds very poorly and in need of help.
 
I would speak to your vet just to be sure, but for my boy and his allergies (to dust) we took a few steps:

a short course of medication in his feed prescribed by vet (sorry cannot remember its name)
a complete ban of hay: only haylage allowed
avoidance of sandy/ dusty areas, including a menage if it has poor surface
and an inhaler with a spacer which I put over his nostril whilst covering the nostril and pumped two puffs each of a reliever and a preventer daily for a few weeks until improvement seen

All of the above were prescribed by and advice from the vet (apart from the haylage because I already knew hay was a huge no no). So I'd suggest contacting him.
 
my daughters pony has steamed hay, she lives out and still coughs, runny nose and eyes in summer as it's pollen related. she doesn't have antihistamines at the minute and I'm weighing up the cost of trying them this spring.
she has instead an inhaler with a spacer, if I start in spring she manages on about 6 puffs a day if her symptoms get worse i increase it to ten twice a day and then reduce again after a few days.
I go through about 3 inhalers a summer, but I can't remember how much they are (its always added on to a vets bill for jabs or something :D )
when she was bad and it was first diagnosed she had ventimpulmin (sp?) but doesn't now (it only worked with inhalers not on its own)
this pony's symptoms are the same as yours and she lives out, has steamed hay and still has the symptoms in summer with high pollen levels
it took 2 weeks for her to get used to the squirt of the inhaler (with it flying through the stable as she flung her head around!) but she did get used to it and I did tape the spacer together and the inhaler to it as I kept having to find the sections to try again!
just to add, all this was done with the vet :)
 
Thanks peeps! I'll have the vet out within the next week or so when he's in my area. I've been trying to get into other yards as current is very unsuitable (no off road hacking and YO isn't the most reliable at turning out) thought I'd found something perfect but the YO there isn't replying to any kind of contact so I have no idea what's happened.

The thought of it being hay fever was because the one thing she doesn't have right now that she had last year is a salt lick and if I'm under the belief that a lack salt can sometimes have an effect on allergies?

It's a bit of a challenge to feed her soaked hay because I can't get up before they give hay in the morning (can be anywhere from 6 till 12 and not allowed in yard till 8 ) and YO won't give nets/soaked/HH for who knows what reason.

It's a pain in the bum to exercise her (needs in the arena every day due to having only 3/4 hours turn out) because the school is a very fine sand which makes me sneeze and cough as well. She's only just been brought back into work after 4 months off due to a back problem that was causing rearing. She's still having a occasional rear which makes hacking down main roads quite dangerous.

YO doesn't want anyone to change (in her words waste) bedding as all the horses are back to 24/7 turn out at the end of this month, so I'm on straw (was going to change to shavings) for now.

All in all. YO is very controlling and I can't risk being kicked off right now as I have no where to go.
 
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Rao or copd can develop into an infection if not treated. If he's wheezing get the vet ASAP. It could be even more expensive to treat later. It happened to me last year because I hesitated.
 
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