Sudden chronic sneezing whilst exercised

[strangeways]

Hi,

A couple of weeks ago my 14yo horse started breathing strangely when he's exercised. He gets out of puff easily and makes a strange groaning noise, followed by several sneezes. This happens only when he's ridden and whenever we get out of a walk - we'll get a little way, then he starts making a noise sort of like throat clearing - "ur hu - ur hu - ur hu" - then usually but not always a sneeeze. He also tries to drop his head, presumably to help clear whatever he's trying to clear with the sneeze - this isn't a bad habit as it's only started with the sneezing. There's no discharge in particular, just some watery droplets inside his nostrils after he's sneezed.

He's very well and full of beans in every other respect, but obviously it's limiting our exercise as he runs out of steam very fast. He did have a bad respiratory infection in June last year which took about 6 weeks to clear up, so I'm not sure if this is related?

He definitely does not cough, he sneezes, and there is definitely no headshaking involved. Any ideas? He's on soaked hay and shavings already but has never shown any signs of allergy in the 10 years that I've had him.

 

[Nollaig Shona]

Is he stabled? A lot of horses do this sneezy/cough thing when ridden, from what I've read [online] it's caused by them standing in a stable for hours with their lungs "relaxed", then when you bring them out and start exercising them, they fully inflate their lungs, which causes them to cough.

Hope that helps!

 

[strangeways]

Is he stabled? A lot of horses do this sneezy/cough thing when ridden, from what I've read [online] it's caused by them standing in a stable for hours with their lungs "relaxed", then when you bring them out and start exercising them, they fully inflate their lungs, which causes them to cough.

He is stabled, but has been for ten years and this only started two weeks ago! He's also not coughing, but very definitely sneezing.

 

[Black_Horse_White]

My horse was doing this about 2 weeks ago, but he had snot outside his stable. It cleared up after a few days he also didn't have a cough. A few horses on the yard had it too. But it went on it's own and he's not doing it now.

 

[strangeways]

My horse was doing this about 2 weeks ago, but he had snot outside his stable. It cleared up after a few days he also didn't have a cough. A few horses on the yard had it too. But it went on it's own and he's not doing it now.

Ah, that's interesting to know - thank you. Perhaps there's something going around. I an hoping it isn't the beginnings of RAO or something left over from the bug he had in the summer, since we've not long been back in proper work.