Is it in his mind?

Spot_the_Risk

Spot_the_Risk

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www.animalcrackersdevon.co.uk
I think our gelding is trying to con us!

I posted a few weeks back about our trad gelding (in avatar) having a bit of a cough. He is very unfit, as soft as blancmange, does very little work, lives out etc. Vet came out, listened to his lungs etc, couldn't find anything wrong and prescribed five days of antibiotics in case there was something lurking.

He is no different, he has been ridden once a week for the last five weeks by my husband, for a 30 minute 'round the block', and generally comes back lathered with sweat despite being lethargic, and this is a walk only hack! We clipped him with a bib and he's not as sweaty thank god!

But this cough is still there. Not all the time, and just a kind of clearing the throat cough. He does it just standing in the field, or when eating (he has hay, vet said there was no reason for him to have anything else as there was no problems with his wind/lungs). He does it leading him in from the field for a ride, he coughs loads when you produce tack, he coughs when you lead him down the field to the mounting block... and then on the ride he doesn't cough at all. Today we did the same ride as normal, bu OH pushed him to keep up a bit more than usual (he has the slowest walk ever!) and we had a canter too, really to see how he went. He was fine, zoomed along in canter, and didn't cough. Back home, and he's coughing loads when being untacked and afterwards in the field. He doesn't produce anything when he coughs, adn only has normal white discharge from the nose occasionally, so no infection.

I know it sounds silly, but could he be putting it on? He's 14, I don't know any history really, and whilst he's very sweet he is also a git at times - has been known to buck and nap, and make out he's scared to go down a certain road etc just because it's away from home. So could he be coughing as an evasion? I know it sounds far fetched, but it's so weired how he doesn't cough when ridden - and my OH would make any horse cough after I made him stand on the scales this morning!

Any views welcome please!
 
I don't think it's an evasion, but I suppose it could be a habit.
It could also be some sort of thickening somewhere which causes him to try and clear his throat, and when he's kept busy he forgets about the feeling hence no sign of it when being ridden.
It's a hard one to guess at without the vet scoping him you probably won't discover what the cause is, you could try squirting some cough medicine with a syringe and see if that stops it.
I bet you had a lovely ride today, the sun shone here and the air was really clear for miles, I haven't been outside at all however, too much to do! (nice things, not work).
See you next week..
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You could try some naf kof eze - you just give them a dose before they're ridden and see if that makes any difference.

As henryhorn says, it could be a learned habit - my daughters old pony used to cough to get rid of her (she'd previously been used in a riding school and learnt every trick in the book to get rid of her riders
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I know it sounds odd but we had an old pony with unexplained breathing problems ,had all the tests for copd etc and it turned out the only issue that came up was being anaemic. She was put on a supplement and the bretahing problems stopped - just a thought?
 
No offence but it drives me mad when I hear people say he is pretending to be lame so he doesn't get ridden and your idea of your horse coughing so he can get out of work is totally incorrect. Horses- god bless them, do not have the same lateral thinking as humans. They do not have the same thought processes to the extent that you are talking about. No, in a nutshell Spot the Risk, horses do not put on lameness or coughs or anything else to get out of work. However they are clever knowing that learned behaviour, ie if I buck and she falls off she won't ride me anymore as that is a more direct result of a horses action if that makes sense.
 
Agree with Applecart.... this coughing is not normal, nor is the white discharge - have you tried giving him only soaked or steamed hay?
If he was mine I would definately give the soaked or steamed hay a try, and if there was no fairly quick improvement, I would be considering getting a second opinion from a different vet.
 
I HAVE seen a horse cough to avoid being ridden; if you produced the saddle, he watched you and produced a volley of blood curdling coughs; his owner- a v. experienced and quite formidable no-nonsense horsewoman- told me that he had been sidelined with a real cough and had been smart enough to realise that when he was being brought back into work and it turned out to be a little too early, he was untacked as soon as he coughed.

However he didn't do it at any time other than when it looked as if you were going to tack him up; not in the field or while enjoying his hay.

With my own mare, any sort of white discharge was a sign that her allergy to mould spores in hay had been triggered.
 
I agree with Applecart - I just dont think they are that smart
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I would try soaking the hay and the cough remedies, then get a second opinion
 
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