Severe summer allergies- Can anyone help?

McNally

McNally

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I know its very early to start getting worried about this but i need to try and prevent rather than help this summer or i really feel we will loose our pony.
Does anyone have any experience of a REALLY SEVERE pollen (i guess) allergy in horses/ponies that they have managed to an extent where the animal has a quality of life during the summer months?
Things like breathe easy just dont come close to helping so dont really want herbal supplements as a suggestion! (not being ungrateful just they are what everyone says!) I did wonder about nostril vet? but any info/stories advice or idea's would be much appriciated. Thanks x
 
only throwing in ideas here - keep the horse away from grass, trees etc as much as poss, try buying a local honey (as local as you can get ) and adding it to ponys feed to build up an immunity. if you do try any additives eg global herbs pollenx/ naf respiraze start pony on them before pollen becomes a problem. have you had any allergy tests done to determine what the allergy was? another good thing was a horse type vicks like gel that i bought from mole valley farmers that i put up his nostril every day. went through allsorts with my horse, turns out he is broken winded but can still be rode gently.
i know its a nightmare and i hope you find something that works with your pony. havn't tried the inhaler type devices but i'm sure there's a few people on here that have...
 
Hi there,
I had a horse with a bad (not severe) pollern allergy that was present from April- september.
He ended up with white gunk coming out his nose, it was very red and itchy and his head shaking was awful.
I managed this by wearing a nose net, frequently spraying beconase (human medication) up his nose and shake relief (herbal supplement - sorry!) This worked well enough for him to have fun in the field and be able to hack/jump without headshaking.
I tried a couse of equiwinner patches (type in on google) they did not help my man but my friends ex racer they worked miracles on - if they do not work they give a full refund. Well worth a go and really easy people to deal with. I know its also possible to have the nerves in their nose cut which mean they become senseless to any smells. I thought it was a little un ethical but it may help.

Feel free to PM or ask any questions on here if you think i can help!!
 
Hi McNally, I have a horse that suffers in the summer. I have tried nostril vet and it did help a bit but it is very hard to squeeze the tube to get enough right up the nose!! I tried beconase (for humans) that helped also and my horse loved the smell!! I have had my horse on suppliments, tablets, sprays etc and nothing seems to completly stop it. I ride in a nose net in summer and tend to ride early in the morning when there seems to be less pollen about. I put a post on here not so long ago about this and had some good ideas posted. I will post again in a month or so for more ideas!! I try to stable my chap during day in hot weather. It seems to be worse in a wet summer, last year he wasn't too bad but it was quite dry.
 
Hi, Thanks for the suggestions!
Blackinblack- I have been told not to do the honey thing as the allergy is too severe otherwise its something i would and was going to try last summer, I will look up the gel stuff though.
I did get her a nosenet but she is completely unride able in the summer, she's not a headshaker but she cant breathe- like a person having an asthma attack, she struggles to walk from her field to stable at worst.
I stable her during the day and this seems best she also has a high dose of Ventipulmin all summer which costs a fortune and helps but isn't perfect. Maybe with a combination of the above idea's started early i can prevent her from becoming so bad. Will also look up the patches.
What month does this sort of thing start? It was our first summer with her and i dont think i noticed the beginning until it was too late.
 
try Pm'ing Loubiepoo as her vet is doing a trial this spring and he needs more candidates to scientifically prove a new treatment. I have got my ponys name down for it already. It costs nothing. You just need to send/email video links of horse being lunged every week or 2 showing the symptoms with the drug and with the placebo (you wont know what is placebo or drug so he can idependantly see if its working or not. Its using a antihystermine drug that humans use but hasnt been approved for horses. He used it on Loubiepoos horse last year and a few more with very good results, but to get the drug officially approved he needs to do a trial with more horses. It costs nothing so worth a try.
 
I have just looked at Equiwinner Patches and they seem more geared towards headshakers.
Where did you get your Beconase from? I did wonder about giving her my inhaler which is a Ventolin but had no idea how or if such a small dose would help a horse!.
I suspect Rape is our problem also, sadly our yard and whole area is surrounded by the stuff.
 
Claracluck- thank you i will pm her, worth a go. I cant lunge her when its worst (actually if i'm honest she's a little brat and wont lunge full stop!!)
 
[ QUOTE ]
it's Carl Hester nasal vapour - worth a try x

[/ QUOTE ]

Never heard of it- Mentholy type things make me feel better when i get coughy so may well be worth trying also! will google that too! Thanks
 
Unfortunately Nessie is a summer headshaker. I have successfully managed this for the past two summers using Traditional Chinese Medicine which I get from Annabelle Knight (www.tcmequine.com). Yes, I do still get bad headshaking days but I am able to ride and have competed unafiliated dressage last summer.

May be worth taking a look and dropping Annabelle an email.
 
You can get Beconase from your local supermarket or chemist. I contacted someone re the chinese herbs (another poster mentioned these) but it worked out so expensive. Would def pay if I knew it would work, but not convinced. Having said all this it is a pain in the backside but I have managed to compete in dressage all summer as once you have focused his attention he seems to forget about it a bit!! Would love to hear if you find any other solutions!!
 
Ask your vet about antihistimines!
My girl has chronic pollen allergies, to the extent walking to and from her stable was very difficult, nearly collapsing, (this was on high does preds and ventipaulmin, costing me £350 a month) and I had considered PTS on many occations, as she had no quality of life
She has been on Cetrizine antihistimines, for yrs now (on and off obviously, with the seasons, and it has literally saved her life, my vet orders them in for me, I get about 3000 tablets for about £30! which lasts 2 - 5 months, depending on dosage required
I can ride her all yr round, and do 15 mile rides, with no breathing problems at all

If your vets say antihistimines dont work on horses, like my old vet did. Call up other vets and ask them. My old vets would rather keep my girl on £350 a month meds that didnt work, than £6 - £15 a month meds that work wonders, its not a surprise why I changed.
 
I have a pony with severe pollen allergies in Spring / summer - both to tree and grass pollens - diagnosed by allergy testing. His symptoms are head shaking and sore eyes, runny nose. I tried practically every supplement on the market, plus the monthly desensitising jabs (did this for nearly 2 years) with no improvement. Then I discovered an over the counter cheap antihistamine called Periactin and within 4 days he was rideable, and within the week his other symptons ceased. We do use a nose net as he hates anything bug like hitting his nose, but can get away without it for WHP classes / dressage. I now get the Periactin online in bulk. My vet did say that this particular one reduces the amount of light taken into the eye (sorry, not a very technical description!) which helps him as he does seem to be light sensitive, but the various different drugs on the market do different things so it may or may not work or everyone, but I am overjoyed! I do hope you find something to help - sounds like an awful time for him.
 
I cannot help but have found this discussion useful - my horse was diagnosed with recurrent airways disease due to allergies last summer. All allergy tests were negative so management is a real challenge. At the moment he is great but I know come April/May he will deteriorate as I now recognise this has been a pattern for a few years. My (very) business orientated vet also poo-pooed the use of human antihistamines and prefers the steroid, ventapulmin route. I am going to give something like beconase this year as he is off the insurance for this now.
 
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