Is it worth changing his bedding?

[Gorgeous George]

George seems to suffer with an occasional cough and it seems to occur when the weather gets either colder or warmer and it is pretty much only when he is ridden (obviously I stop exercising if I realise he is coughing). When he coughs it sounds quite dry, otherwise he is fine in himself and isn't showing any signs of breathing problems.

He is turned out every day and is fed soaked hay and feed, but he is bedded on straw. Would it be worth changing his bedding to shavings, bearing in mind that he is stabled between 2 horses on straw in a barn type arrangement. Unfortunately there is no way of moving him to a different stable.

It is worrying me even though it doesn't happen that often and of course I just want what is best for George.

Thanks.

 

[Izzwizz]

If the straw is good quality then I wouldnt bother changing, especially if hes been on it all winter. Also being surrounded by others it may not make a difference anyway. Maybe keep him out of the stable when fresh straw is put down so that the dust has settled by the time he goes back in, dont know how you could time this with his neighbours when they are having their beds shaken. NAF do a cough liquid which I found very helpful for a mare I look after and she also had a Horselyx Respiratory lick which also helped her too. I also changed her to haylage and her cough has gone - it was pretty bad at one point. Hope that gives you a few ideas.

 

[AmyMay]

Yep, I'd get him on to Aubiose and rubber matting. No horse should cough unless there's a problem.

 

[Guinness]

I would definitely change. Its not so much the dust, but the spores in the straw that could be causing the problems.

 

[silverstar]

Echo what Guinness says. Yes Id change. Easibed is quite good for dust free alternatives.

 

[lachlanandmarcus]

Def do change, it may well help a lot. Can also recommend aubiose, and tho it looks expensive you can muck out in a third of the time and you dont often need to add more bales. Its worked out much cheaper than shavings for me and much less dusty plus it doesnt stick to coats and rugs and you dont have to separate out lumps of it, it just pours out of the bag. Rots down a lot quicker and better than shavings too.