Soaking Hay for Horse with Respiratory Issues

HollyWoozle

HollyWoozle

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Vet has just been out for my mare who has been coughing and struggling a bit of late. She doesn't work, is coming up for 16 and lives out 24/7 with hay twice a day at the moment and a small feed in the evenings, has never had issues before. Her lungs are full of mucus and essentially vet thinks it's allergy-based rather than an infection and we will start her on Ventipulmin today (and then steroids if no improvement in a few days).

The hay we have at the moment is rather dusty as our farmer has run out of his own and has had to buy it in. Mare lives out with three geldings and they share hay, so we need to find a way to bulk soak hay - I think that would be a better option for us than haylage as they are all relatively good doers (including a chubby pony). I guess steaming could also be an option.

How do you cope with any similar situations and do you have an advice for soaking hay? Currently thinking a bathtub would work as we could fit a whole bale in and would be easy to put in and out... had considered some sort of wheelie bin set-up with a tap in the bottom but harder to get the hay in and out.

Any other tips on coping with similar issues appreciated too... I understand it's best to feed the hay from the ground so perhaps should look at some sort of ground level feeders?

Thanks for any tips :)
 
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I used to soak hay for her when she was stabled, but I wouldn't do it for a field. You would have to make sure all Horses hay is soaked as if they switch (was most herds do) then she could end up with dry hay. I switched to Haylage and was really concerned as my mare is a good doer and can't be worked, however I have been pleasantly surprised and she hasn't gained as much weight as I thought she would. We found a supplier who supplies slightly older haylage so is not as rich. Could this be at option?
 
I have a horse with an allergy based cough and he is a VERY good doer (permanently at risk of weight related laminitis). I tried soaking hay but it was, quite frankly, a hideous experience (I used a big hay soaker on wheels purchased online for £££££ and now standing there unused). Anyway now I feed him haylage - but its timothy haylage which is reasonably dry, meant to be low sugar and suitable for laminitics - not ryegrass or meadow haylage.

Basically his cough has disappeared since doing this and by making sure I feed him the recommended amount his weight is also under control. I feed it from the ground in the stable and in the field I use a sturdy black bin with holes in the bottom (in case it rains!) and secured by a big tyre so he doesn't play with it.
 
I would also suggest swapping to haylage, the grass is coming through so you can gradually reduce the quantity without them losing too much weight or gaining too much, as you are buying in poor hay soaking may not be enough to make enough difference whereas giving haylage should have an immediate impact, it is also worth thinking about next winter as the condition tends to be worse year on year.
 
Another vote for haylage. If you buy the right type you will find it is not as fattening or loopy inducing as you think. A lot of haylage now is much drier than in years gone by bit is still excellent for a respiratory challenged horse.

If you do stick with hay then I kept the bath when we had our bathroom redone and it is very good for soaking hay. I have the plug hole over a drain so it is just a question of pulling the plug out (on a very long chain) and waiting for the water to drain.
 
Yeah I’d recommend haylage but if you just soak your hay for an hour in a bucket of water it should get rid of the dust. Be careful though not to soak it for too long otherwise you will be soaking away it’s nutrientional value as well!
 
We were feeding 2 horses in the field, one of them had respiratory issues and had to have steroids periodically. We tried soaking hay but found that even though we had good quality hay, feeding haylage was far more effective.
 
Have a look at the Kentucky Research Centre. They did some research on soaking hay for respiratory problems and I believe the findings were along the lines of hay just needing to be fully submerged in water for a 90% improvement in dust spores.
We've had to soak hay this winter as mines developed a reaction to it being dry. I'm going to suggest to the YO trying Timothy haylage next winter (it's more economical when there's 3 or 4 of them, I can't quite justify the cost to do it just for mine over summer unfortunately) Hope you get her better soon :)
 
I soak hay for 3 used to be 4 field kept horses. I use a bath and soak a bale at a time . Normally soak 2 bales a day . It is not easy pulling a whole bale out i cut the string when drained & lift out the slices onto a slatted bench. It's very hard work and rather soul destroying when they tread it into the ground. !
 
One of mine who lives out has just had the same type of cough from dusty hay. 10 day course of Ventapulmin and the vet came and out twice to listen to his lungs to make sure they were clearing. Thankfully it worked but I have had to switch to haylage which is carefully rationed as he is a very good doer. He came back into work a week ago and hasn't coughed once so well worth the vets bill. I initially tried steaming his hay but it was impossible to do properly and didn't really want to soak hay in the freezing weather we have just had.
 
Many thanks for all your really helpful replies! Farmer doesn't have much haylage in anyhow but we have ordered a big bin for soaking hay and have started doing it in wheelbarrows for now, just for 20 minutes or so. She has eaten her ventipulmin last night and this morning (she's very fussy so that was my next worry!) so fingers crossed she'll be feeling better soon.
 
I have soaked hay in various ways and for different reasons. When getting weight off obese horses I soak for up to 10 hours. For a horse which coughs due to a dust/mould allergy I used to soak for 4 - 5 hours, but now I just dunk the haynet and leave for a few minutes; this works just as well for this horse and he hasn't coughed at all for over a year. Steaming also works, but it is a lot simpler to just soak and drain.
 
My retired horse had a reaction to a spore in dusty hay & was really in a bad way so changed over completely to hayledge. The vet was using steriods ect but he was still coughing & struggling with his breath, so we got a human nebuliser & a medication cause Flixotide & it was like a miracle cure! The medication gets vaperised & goes straight into their lungs.

After that I used Ventilator from Equine America & found it very good for maintenance but any time after that if he had hay - he would get a cough so I just avoided it completely - still do!
 
Haylage can be one way round the respiratory issues but we have a couple of horses that find it far too rich & they get serious squits.

I built a large hay steamer. I got a large plastic water container, the type that the window cleaners it the 'filtered water' have in their vans. The ones that are encased in an alluminium/galvanized cage? I then went on ebay & bought a professional quality steamer, they are anything from £300-£500 bnew, I got a used one for £60 & needed to replace the safety cap. The steamer runs for about 90 minutes & carries about 7.5 ltrs of water. When I connected the two together I found that my nets, I do 6/7 at a time, get steamed wonderfully well. They come out hot, damp & smell great. Using this I've had no problems with horses coughing when eating their hay. The standard home steamers do not push out sufficient steam, I've tried them & they don't last long either. Go for the frofessional Earlex Pro or similar.
 
Someone at our yard soaks hay for her field kept ponies in old plastic feed bags. They have holes in the bottom and as she is only soaking to wash it through rather than lose the sugars, she just throws a couple of buckets of water over it all, pops the bags on the wheelbarrow and takes it out to the fields.
 
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