interested to know how you manage your COPD pony/horse

[tinymaze]

I noticed from the hay/haylage thread there's quite allot of people with a horse/pony with C.O.P.D and was wondering how you guys manage it?

My pony was diagnosed just over a year and half ago, it's not been too bad this winter as the wet weathers helped but I'm dreading spring,
My pony's on 2 inhalers which i have to give according to his breathing rate. soaked hay for half an hour and fed on the floor to stop it drying out too fast. I changed his bedding to rubber matting and a light scattering of bedmax wood-chip on that.
I wash out completely his stable from celling to floor with disinfectant every couple of months and i do a quick dusted often. In the summer months he's out at night and in during the day.
his worst time of year is the spring with the high pollen count. I'm surprised when he has a bad turn and he gets really wheezy and breathing ten to the dozen it doesn't faze him at all and he carries on like nothings wrong while i have panic attacks!

so how do you manage your horse/pony and how do they react to a bad turn?

 

[Hazel and Arnold]

Hi my gelding was diagnosed with COPD and Summer Pasture Associated RAO in July last year. He was worse in the summer and I was lucky enough to be able to close him onto our concrete yard with his stable door open and loads of soaked hay. He stayed like this for a few weeks until he was feeling better. Then the autumn and winter came and he has been living out 24/7 which I believe has helped loads. He has been having loads of hay in the field but I haven't had to soak it. He started coming in at night just over two weeks ago as the fields are trashed and he is back to being closed into the yard during the day. Still not soaking hay and he is coping very well - no signs of COPD so far. I swapped to haylage at the end of last year and he had a reaction to it and started breathing really heavily etc so he's back on hay. I have been using Equine America Airways supplement which has definitely helped him. He had a course of ventipulmin in July last year but it did nothing. I'm trying to avoid drugs at all costs so it's been a case of keeping him away from the pollen and being out (even if on concrete) as much as possible. Hope that helps.

 

[RobinHood]

My horse developed a respiratory problem after a flu vaccine reaction. He had a full respiratory work-up including a treadmill endoscopy, chest xrays, ridden ECG etc. with a final diagnosis of RAO and unlikely to return to competitive work.

Fortunately he's doing really well now and is fighting fit and competing. His management is as follows:

- Winter: Stabled overnight and as much turn out as weather/ground conditions allow
- Summer: Small paddock with field shelter 24/7
- HayGain steamed hay. Any leftover hay is given to another horse and I make sure none gets mixed in with his bed.
- Cardboard bedding on concrete. I removed the mats so it's easier to disinfect the stable regularly.
- Every day after mucking out I sponge off all the ledges to remove any dust.
- I muck out in the morning so any dust has settled before he comes in. The vets advised never to put him in within 1hr of mucking out.
- No wet muddy legs or turn out rug in the stable as the dried mud comes off in the bedding and creates dust
- When he's moulting he's groomed before he goes in the stable so there's less stray hairs in the stable/bedding
- Grooming and rugs changed outside the stable only
- Any horses he travels with have freshly steamed hay and the lorry is fully cleaned out after every trip
- Ventolin before exercise, and ventolin 10 mins before flixotide twice a day
- I try to keep him a fit as possible and he does some form of exercise every day. He does canter work on the downs at least once a week.

The last time he had a check-up I was told that he'd pass a 5 stage vetting and there was nothing to comment on, so fingers crossed I can continue to keep it under control.

 

[SO1]

My pony's RAO is bad at the moments, he lives out and does not have hay but the damp weather and high winds have meant that leaf moulds have been high and blown about a lot which I think has really aggrevated his RAO.

He has ventipulimin an hour before he is ridden and I am starting him out on a new supplement which is the horsewise respiratory biscuits.

He ended up wearing a grazing muzzle from mid June to mid December and interestingly during this time his breathing was very good so maybe the muzzle prevented so much pollen/mould going up his nose!

 

[minigal]

Out 24/7, haylage. Had one flare up in 2 years otherwise no other meds. This is 23yo fit and well competing local level regularly in full work. Previously retired as could not cope with being stabled. Do have my own bit of land so can micro manage....

 

[diamantejumper]

My pony was diagnosed with COPD in 2010, we have had him on either soaked/steamed hay or haylage over the years however he is prone to weight gain/laminitis which doesn't make things any easier, so he eats soaked hay now.
He has been bedded with cardboard (Walmsley Premierbed) before however we now used a dust free wood chip alternative, we just have to make sure he's out the stable when emptying the bales.
We feed him the NAF respirator supplement daily, or respirator boost if his lungs need an occasional good 'clear out'.

We also use ventipulmin if he is struggling to has a flare up which can be pretty common in the summer because of the pollen. He also wears a grazing muzzle.

During the summer he gets turned out as long as it's not too hot as this can make him wheeze so we try and leave him out over night if possible.
I also de-dust his stable every couple of weeks and make sure that he has at least two areas/windows available for ventilation when stabled.
He is still a competitive pony and we love eventing together, he loves life. I wouldn't say that we have noticed any influential draw backs just have to be a bit more careful with him, although I guess it varies from horse/pony.
Hope this helps