Spring . . . pollen . . . supplements . . .

[welshcobmad]

Hiya!

The last 2 years since my horse developed a pollen allergy (after catching a respiratory virus on our old yard) he's been unrideable from the end of April through until end of October. Hes only 8!

Over winter then he's absolutely fine even stabled every night on straw so not COPD. The vet scoped him & did a tracheal wash & the conclusion was an outdoor allergy but they wouldnt investigate further than that. Ventipulmin doesnt make a difference & I cant put him on inhalers due to his fantastic nature (he'd kill me before allowing me to squish anything up his nose) & his breed (Section D) as they're steroid based & can increase the chance of him getting laminitis!

His symptoms are slightly runny nose but mostly his breathing. He struggles for breath under ridden work, nostrils flared & doubles exhales plus makes sharp blowing noise occasionally both when ridden & turned out.

He's been on Brinicombe equines Think Mud all winter which has worked fab not a hint of mud fever. So was wondering if anyone has tried their Think clear product? Also, are any of the Global Herbs respiratory products any good? I want to try getting him dosed up starting March so hes got a fighting chance of keeping it at bay. Will also be buying a nose net for both turnout & ridden work (if we get that far!) Any other suggestions would be fab!!!

Thankyou!!!

 

[juliette]

My retired cob had a pollen allergy and I spent a small fortune on herbs, supplements etc. none worked. The only things that helped him were a nose net and an inhaler from the vets. Sorry, not what you wanted to hear I'm sure.

 

[putasocinit]

Search vetmeds on internet, they have lots of stuff for respiratory.

 

[holeymoley]

Definitely try the nose net from equilibrium. Works for my boy. I also use pollenx from global herbs.

 

[Ella19]

No global herbs didn't touch my mare in full pollen season, ok to start with but then back to head shaking. I have stopped her shaking by plastering her nostrils with vasaline twice daily and before exercise. When ridden she has a nose net, and cruicially for her, a fly mask. She's also better in a grackle than a caverson or flash.

I have however ordered some spirulena herbs to try from pro earth on eBay.

 

[spotty_pony]

I use Global Herbs PollenX (in liquid form, not powder form as my boy absolutely refused to eat the powder form!) and it really works - noticed a difference really quickly! Would definitely recommend it This combined with an Equilibrium nose net equals one happy pony!

 

[whizzer]

My horse is a pollen triggered head shaker,I've yet to go down the herb/supplement route as he's only been badly affected for the last 2 years following extensive sinus surgery,prior to that his headshaking was so mild it was barely noticeable. I found last year that the equilibrium nosenet,an ear cover & avoiding areas & situations I knew would trigger it helped a lot. I'm dreading spring tbh & I'm considering trying a supplement but it will be difficult as he's not a foody horse & generally if he's got plenty of grass in the summer he just will not eat any bucket feed st all.

 

[Hen]

The nosenet can be useful but I'd certainly look at whether your grazing in itself could be causing a problem - I believe some horses (and I think I may have one) do particularly badly on ryegrass and clover especially when these come into flower. I'm going to have my horse off the grass completely and will be trying a combination if jiaogulan and spirulina with the aim of trying to shut down the histamine response before it can get a hold on the system.

We had a worrying phase last year just as the rapeseed came into flower which hit the respiratory system and products like Respirator Boost and Pollenex has absolutely no effect whatsoever - the only solution was to get inside and give the heart and lungs a rest from any effort for a few weeks, which is what happened.

 

[laura7981]

Try chlorphenamine tablets (piriton). I had a pony that was allergic to something in our grass and this caused her heart rate and respiratory to increase massively. Chlorphenamine 4mg was the only thing that worked. She was 10.2 and on 30 tablets a day to start with and that was reduced to about 5 which was her maintenance level. Could be worth trying for your horse.

 

[ribbons]

Hell's teeth. 30 piriton a day !!!!!
Did you need a second mortgage.

 

[Hen]

Hell's teeth. 30 piriton a day !!!!!
Did you need a second mortgage.

A friend had some success with piriton (I think about 20 daily) and recommended Hyperdrug, I think you can get a pack of 500 for around £8.

 

[Lil Ferg]

Hiya!

The last 2 years since my horse developed a pollen allergy (after catching a respiratory virus on our old yard) he's been unrideable from the end of April through until end of October. Hes only 8!

Over winter then he's absolutely fine even stabled every night on straw so not COPD. The vet scoped him & did a tracheal wash & the conclusion was an outdoor allergy but they wouldnt investigate further than that. Ventipulmin doesnt make a difference & I cant put him on inhalers due to his fantastic nature (he'd kill me before allowing me to squish anything up his nose) & his breed (Section D) as they're steroid based & can increase the chance of him getting laminitis!

His symptoms are slightly runny nose but mostly his breathing. He struggles for breath under ridden work, nostrils flared & doubles exhales plus makes sharp blowing noise occasionally both when ridden & turned out.

He's been on Brinicombe equines Think Mud all winter which has worked fab not a hint of mud fever. So was wondering if anyone has tried their Think clear product? Also, are any of the Global Herbs respiratory products any good? I want to try getting him dosed up starting March so hes got a fighting chance of keeping it at bay. Will also be buying a nose net for both turnout & ridden work (if we get that far!) Any other suggestions would be fab!!!

Thankyou!!!

Have not tried Brinicombe products but I think have tried every other supplement for SPA COPD. My pony has a pollen allergy and the vet meds stopped working. Like yours he is fine in the winter. Cant use inhalers, even bought an Aeromask which I thought would make it easier to administer the inhaler, it cost a fortune and it didn't work he just held his breath and then got stressed about the whole thing which made him even worse.

I was about to give up on him, he's 20 now and suffered with this for the last 7 years and I was running out of ideas.

Last year I thought I would give herbs one last shot and put him on herbs from a company called Equinatural. They worked!! I started them in early march and he had them all summer. Really is worth a try.

 

[welshcobmad]

Thankyou ever so much! Certainly gives me a few more things to look into & try! Ive been so disheartened past 2yrs Ive just turned him away but really want to try getting him through it, even if its trial & error this summer. What Id do to take him to a show or on a fun ride!! I cant give up on him being only 8!!

 

[welshcobmad]

Weeks of research later narrowed it down . . . .

Winergy Ventilate
Equistro Secreta Pro Max
Feedmark Clarity

They all seem to sound good

Anyone tried any of the above before I take a stab in the dark - all work out around the same price bar Winergy being a bit more pricey.