My horse coughs alot after rides...?

Question

I have a 13 year old Tennessee Walker and everytime I take her for about a half hour ride she coughs and hacks. I have asked people at my barn about it and i got that it was allergies. Does anyone know if that's true?

April eats sweet feed and pellets. I do ride western and on dirt trails alot. Thanks for all the help everyone.

for the girl that thinks im over working my horse im just letting everyone know that i never get my horse into a canter on trails. Its not safe. And she does it even if we go on 10 minute rides so its not that shes not ready for the work. I am having the vet come out as soon as I get home from vacation.

Answer 1

Different causes create different types of coughs. Your veterinarian can pin down exactly what you're up against, so you should consult him/ her. It is odd that the coughing starts AFTER the rides, not at the beginning, or during them.

A deep, wet cough will oftentimes be the result of an upper respiratory infection. A shallow, dryer one can be caused by allergies, or 'heaves'.

Until you get the vet out, start by reviewing good barn maintenance practices: keep turn out at a maximum, when the horse IS in, be sure there's excellent ventilation in a moderately humid environment. Be sure hay is free from dust and mold, if there's any question, wet the hay with HOT water to knock down dust and kill mold spores. Lastly, you could try adding a supplement like 'Cough Free' or "Air Power" to your horse's meals.

If your vet does suspect allergies, you can anticipate him wanting to treat it with drugs as well: Prednisolone, ventipulmin, albuteral, expectorant, tri-hist, etc. are all different medications used to help a cough. If it's an upper respiratory infection, you'll also be prescribed SMZ's or Sulfamethoxazole Trimethoprim to knock out the infection...

Answer 2

Whenever a horse presents with a cough a thorough exam is
warranted. The most common causes may be difficult to prove with
an exam but more serious causes can be eliminated. Temperature,
examination and palpation of the throat, auscultation of heart
and lungs, and a look at the hay should all be done. If he horse
has been nonresponsive to treatment then an endoscopic exam of
the pharynx, larynx and trachea is warranted. This will help rule
out inflammatory problems there.

A developing allergy to hay mold and recovery from a viral
infection are two common causes of a cough with few other
clinical signs. Careful exam and history along with examination
of the hay will usually lead you to the correct answer. Contrast
these differences:


1. While exercising, the cough from hay allergies improve but the
cough from a recovering infection will worsen. The exercise and
coughing helps the horse clear out the secretions caused by the
allergy but will irritate the pharyngitis.


2. The horse with pharyngitis will sometimes demonstrate
sensitivity to laryngeal and upper tracheal palpation while the
allergic horse may have changes in the lung sounds on
auscultation. In mild cases you may find neither.


3. Does the hay have a musty odor? When you first open the bales
do you see a little cloud of "smoke" that disappears rapidly? If
the answer to either question is yes: be suspicious of mold
allergies.


Treatment for Pharyngitis

Horse's with mild pharyngitis will respond to stall rest. Usually
21 days is plenty of time and if the cough persists beyond that
further work up is warranted. If you strongly suspected
pharyngitis, and the hay was excellent, examine the pharynx with
an endoscope. If nothing turns up on reexam try treating him for
hay allergies. Or even better, wet the hay while resting him for
the pharyngitis. Once he is over the cough begin him back on good
hay. If the cough returns when he is put back on hay you have
your culprit.



Treatment for Allergies to Hay Mold


If you suspect hay allergies, begin by removing hay from his
diet. Either leave him out on pasture, feed cubed hay, or use one
of the hay substitute feeds made for heavy horses (Sweet Rely tm.
by Manna Pro). If these are not practical you can try thoroughly
soaking the hay just prior to feeding. If the horse shows
improvement over the following week you will need to be more
careful about the quality of your horse's hay. Continued exposure
to hay that makes him cough will only make him more sensitive and
can lead to heaves.

Corticosteroids can be used to help a horse get over the effects
of exposure but must not be used as a substitute for removing the
cause.

Hay Allergies Can Progress to a PERMANENT Debilitating

Disease In the early stages of hay allergies a light cough develops that
disappears as the horse works. As the disease progresses the
horse's cough begins to worsen and then breathing becomes
difficult. What is happening is that long time exposure to the
hay molds is causing permanent changes in the lungs, reducing the
amount of air he can breath in. When a horse becomes affected to
the point of difficult breathing he is said to have heaves.

Answer 3

There are many thing that could be causing your horse to cough. What are you feeding it? is the hay dusty? Is it kept in a stable with straw? as a lot of horses are allergic to straw these days and that could be a cause, especially if your horse is eating the straw and perhaps it is dusty.
Perhaps you ride in a dusty menage, or the horse is in paddock with lots of buttercups or something similar.
OR if none of these apply has your horse been near another horse with a cough? In any case sometimes they just pick up viruses and they get a cough, try putting Benlylin in his feed twice a day, and rest your horse from work, and keep away from others until its cough has gone, about two weeks minimum.
The Benylin really does work.
Another cause could be, has your horse been living with donkeys? as they can pass lung worm onto horses.
Hope this is helpful.

Answer 4

(Don't take this personally or offensively but...) You are either over working your horse, or your horse isn't ready for the work you're making it do. It is also possible that after being ridden, the dry air has caused your horse's throat to dry out. It could be just a simple case of allgergies that can be treated and prevented by a proffesional vet.

Answer 5

do you ride on dusty trails??? it could be allergies, or dust thats making her cough. id be safe and get the vet out there with a stethescope to listen and see if its an infection or a cold or just allergies. try wetting her hay for a while and see if that helps at all.

Answer 6

If u feed her hay it could be the dust in the hay i don't think that it would be the trails. U should probably get the vet just 2 make sure what it is.

Answer 7

it sounds a lot like heaves. A condition where they are allergic to the dust in hay. Exertion makes the lungs spasm causing chronic coughing. This is easily treated, but still needs a veterinarian to examine her.

Answer 8

It could be her lungs, asthma maybe. If her lungs are heaving and you can see that her lungs are working hard, it probably is asthma.
Have you changed her eating habits? Have you changed her hay type? Our horse eats rye and gets the cough every time. Because it is after some exercise tho it sounds suspicious..

Answer 9

It could be allergies. Maybe she has some kind of respatory infection thing or something. Ask the vet! good luck

Answer 10

it could be allergies in the air or cob webs and dust and stuff that is in the air u should take him to the vet...or calll the vet cuz u dont take horses to the vet the vet comes to u...