What is causing my horse to cough?

Question

I don't know if my horse is sick? She is turning 11, very over weight because i haven't been able to ride her. She is constantly coughing, releasing gas, and has a bit of a runny nose. I noticed today her breathing sounded a little raspy but i don't know if it was just from the warm weather. I gave her a light shower to cool her off. She is in the pasture all day and has access to her barn that we keep open through the pasture. She has full tanks of water. She shares everything with one horse. What could be the problem? How can I fix it? I can't really afford a vet. Please help!!!

Thankz

Answer 1

Hun, if you can't afford a vet, then you can't afford a horse. Second, if you suspect that even small parts of the bale are moldy then why would you have it out for them to even feed on. Honestly it could be anything from Botulism(she is having some symptoms of it) to allergies or just being overweight.

In my opinion if you can't afford a vet then you have no business owning a horse. But if owning one is your prerogative then here's to hoping you get reported for neglect cause horse's have rights to Hun, and you are depriving this horse of a healthy life style by her being overweight and also depriving her of the proper vet care and vaccinations .I've seen horses rescued from homes because they were overweight, so don't think that because your horse is fat that you're in the clear.

EDIT- Did my big bad coward troll thumb me down and run like a little puss? At least be nobel and do something surprising for a change like lets see... say what you dislike about my answer.

Answer 2

Horses can develop an allergic response to allergens (fungal spores and grass pollen) in the grass - it's a form of heaves (inflammatory airway disease), which is normally associated with musty hay, but has now been found to occur, also, as a result of being kept on pasture.  It's become common in northeaster US, and shows up in humid climates in the summer months, and the symptoms are exactly as you've described.  It's important to have it checked out by your vet ASAP, as damage to the lungs can become permanent, and pneumonia can develop secondary to this allergic response.  The vet may come out and scope your horse, and may do a trans tracheal wash.

I went through this last year at this time, and unfortunately the mare ended up developing bacterial pneumonia, which she then passed on to our yearling.  The pneumonia was really persistent in the mare, and it took forever for her to get over it.  And cost a small fortune.  No one could figure out (including the vet) how she'd caught pneumonia.  After I did some research, I guessed that she had summer pasture associated IAD, and had developed pneumonia secondary to the inflammation - aspiration pneumonia, as she really coughed a lot when eating her grain.

So this year,  the first time I heard her cough, I ran to the feed store and bought some Histall, and probiotics, started her on it immediately (mixed with applesauce in a dose syringe) and took her off the grain completely. The vet came out the next day, and agreed with my deduction,   ;-)   and we started her on Dexamethasone and SMZ (as the dex supresses the immune system).  She stopped coughing.  We nipped it in the bud, this time.  By September last year, the conditions were a lot drier, and the clinical signs of the IAD didn't reapear until just recently, which was exactly to the week when the symptoms had started last year.

Well, a very long-winded answer, but I wanted to help you avoid what we went through, if, indeed, this is your horse's problem.  Hope it helps.

PS It's very important that you take her temp several times a day, to make sure an infection isn't brewing.  Don't start her on any meds until a vet checks her out.  If she is getting hay, soak it for at  least 10 minutes before feeding - I mean SOAK it in a tub, don't just spray it with a hose.

PPS I've never like round bales for horses, as they become moldy too quickly.  Fine for cows, not good for horses.  No, do not water down the round bale, as this will only encourage mold.  I'd take her away from the round bale immediately.  You really do need to have a vet check her out.  Yeah, horses are expensive.

Answer 3

OMG my horse does this too but only when he isnt warmed up we can trot or lope for 2 strides and then he is fine afterwards!!!!!!!!!!

Answer 4

ur horse needs some penicillin. sounds like she has small cold. is she eating and drinking well?..........good luck

Answer 5

You need to take her temperature and pulse.  Do you know how?  If not , maybe you can get a friend to help you or do a search for "equine vital signs" and I'm sure you'll get some listings to help you out.  She may be sick, flu, pneumonia, cold.  But if the other horse is healthy, suspect COPD,or heaves; asthma and/or allergies. This is a chronic condition, sometimes brought on by seasonal allergies, also caused by dust and mold spores in the barn or hay.  We have a mare with this problem.  She was worse this year so I did finally get the vet. He confirmed the diagnosis and gave us a very expensive medicine to put on her feed.  It worked great, tremendously helping her cough. Now we'll try to go to just antihistamines to keep the allergies at bay. The treatment for heaves is to keep the horse outside, but you say your mare is outside!  The hay and all the flowers and weeds are in bloom, maybe she's just allergic. You could try a product called "Cough Free", you can buy it at tack shops or www.valleyvet.com, www.horse.com, or do a search for the product.  It's an herbal, all natural remedy that you put in or on the feed.  You can also mix it with applesauce and give it like you give a wormer. It's worked for me in the past.  I wouldn't just give your horse antibiotics without knowing what's causing the cough, anitbiotics are useless against a virus.  You may have to get the vet.

Answer 6

I would check out the hay situation. If it is too dry/dusty/moldy they can develop a cough from that. I always tended to have more problems with large round bales than smaller square bales as they tend to sit longer and either dry out or get rain rot.  You will especially find mold towards the bottom where it sits.If you're noticing that some parts are moldy/musty you shouldn't be feeding it to your horse, especially that she has now developed these symptoms. But I definitely agree that you need to get a vet out there to examine her...horse owners should always be prepared for events of illness/injury and know that there's always a possibility of being in need of veterinary assistance. It comes with the territory.  

Answer 7

it may be the environment. my horse developed a cough last year from wear i had him boarded... don't him there anymore... the hot dusty air with no pasture is what cuased mine... he is totally fine and healhy now.... but you may need a vet... do you know anyone that knows horses... ask around... you may come across someone that can help... also your horse probably needs exercise or maybe she is eating too much or like the others said.. is the hay healthy... anyways i hope you and your horse will work things out. good luck

Answer 8

It's either the weather like you said or Pneumonia, the symptoms of it being fever, raspy and hard time breathing.  If it is Pneumonia, I may be wrong, give her lots of water, horse pain relievers (if they have any), Antibiotics.  Don't give her any medicine unless you find out if she has Pneumonia or something else, but if it were bacterial infection or such just give her Antibiotics.    

Answer 9

She needs a vet. It could be allergies, asthma, infection.

Answer 10

uniprim is what you need, it's a packet that you give once a day for five days, its deisgned to boost the horses immune system to help it fight off the disease, it works really well

Answer 11

does she have a fever? if she does you need to get that taken care of right away before it gets worse

does the other horse have any symptoms if he does maybe  you got a bad load of hay r something

i know you said you can't afford a vet so if you have any horsey friends have one of them come and see