My mare is being wearied when I have ridden her the past couple times. I go to a area to ride now that the weather about 80 for the past 2-3 weeks. The area is really dry and dusty. She keep throwing her head down like dragging it and the dirty that all she did the first time so I thought her back hurt so she getting worked on today to find out. But now the past couple time she throw her head down and start coughing to the point were we have to stop moving because she quites breathing... I have had her for 3 year now and never ones has she ever done this. I was thinking the dust was getting to her.. it scares me when my horses just quotes breathing. I don't know what to do help.......
Thank u
Brittany
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Horse Care and Comfort
cough
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I would get her lungs checked by a vet and make sure there isn't something weird going on. She might just be allergic to the dust or maybe developing asthma but I would also check her hay for mold. This is the usual suspect for coughing in a horse. My horse has a chronic cough from dry hay that depending on the quality of the hay can sometimes be down right frustrating. In fact I've taken to soaking his hay for the past couple of weeks to try and limit any dust and mold he's inhaling into his lungs. I would definitely get her checked out, better safe than sorry.
My horse also has "coughing fits" when I ride her occasionally and I've always been told that if she doesn't snort after coughing then I need to get it checked. So yes if she isnt snorting aft coughing then I would get her checked but if she does snort after then I'd just see how she goes
So I talk to my vet and he said to first start soaking her hay or take it away. Can I feed my horses the wet hay after soaking it or do I want it to dry out first??? If soaking hay does not fix it after a week then I'm going to have her look at..
Thank u for ur help
Brittany
You can feed the hay wet. I find the easiest way to do it is to put the hay into a haynet then dunk the filled net into a bath or big bucket of water for a few minutes. This allows the dust to float out of it. Then heave it out of the water and give it a quick blast with clean water from a hosepipe and hang it up until it's just dripping slightly. You can then feed it to your horse no problem. Only soak enough hay for immediate consumption, if the horse does not eat all of the hay then it must be discarded as it can grow mould - depending on the temperature it should be thrown away between within 12 hours after soaking (less time if it's really hot or humid). Hope that helps!
Brittany you don't say how old your horse is. . .some horses - usually 7 or older - will develop a form of COPD also known as "heaves" and they can get a mild version that can get worse with time and age. Worth having your vet check her for this.
We had an older horse that developed this condition and stable management is really the key to getting rid of the cough and making your horse more comfortable. We soaked her hay, used a different bedding for her stall, looked at anything that created a dry, dusty environment for her and changed it. When first diagnosed we used Bute temporarily to reduce the inflammation in her throat and the coughing went away.
Also, the more time your horse can spend outside of the stall the better. Open area with fresh air is one of the best things you can do for her. I hope and pray she gets better.
My mare is 7... both my horses are out side 24-7 they have there stall to get out of the rain and eat so that can have there own space but it come and go as they please.
Sounds like you need to take her to the vet.
Thank u guys for all ur help. I took her hay always because they do not really it this time of year. I just take it always for a week and if it help her. After that if it dose ill soak when they need to start eating hay again. If she dose not get better by next week she will be going to the and well go from there on what I have to do for her. Ones again thank u.
Brittany