Edna Bucket

Everything is very similar at the facility where I help out, except that they use wood shavings for bedding as straw isn't available.

Oh, and nobody seems to have heard of haylage.

mandymoochops

Thanks for all the advice guys - have put feelers out here (yes we are down south ) for people who may need a hand then will go from there.

I ride short and for me thats comfy so i'll stick with that, as for the hard hat - well I do have a nice cowboy hat too.............!

dbd33

<looks up haylage>

Commonplace here, for cows, I haven't heard of it for horses.

Edna Bucket

It tends to be less dusty so is good for horses with coughs.

YYZlover

ANd prevent healthy horses from getting coughs and COPD.

the davis family

Talking of coughs my horse today was coughing rather a lot whilst out riding (he was fine while stood around just when he had to do some work) and I'm not sure what to do, he lives out with five others so is fed from a round bale in middle of field. There is no sign of any mucus from nostrils and all the others seem to be OK. Does it sound like its the hay or possibly a virus? The hay is about as good as you can get. The owner even takes off the first layer before putting it out. Is there anything herbal I can give him to help one way or the other?

Edna Bucket

A simple experiment you can try if you think that the hay is the problem is to feed him separately from the other horses and to give him hay that has been dampened with water to remove the dust. It is important not to allow the hay to lie around in water for too long and it needs to be very well drained otherwise it goes rotten quickly.

I must stress that I am NOT a vet, and that it might be worth your while speaking to one to make sure there are no epidemics circulating in your area.

bandit

Hello

Has the humidity changed since he was last ridden? Can often lead to a cough. Some virus's show no physical signs, apart from a lack of performance. He may need a good gallop to clear his chest? Also Benelyn cough mixture works well too!

Again - I'm no vet and it may need to be checked out, but I'm bit old fashioned and don't call the vet for everything!

Bandit!

Edna Bucket

Thyme, echinacea and garlic are suggested on this site


http://www.freevetadvice.co.uk/cough.htm

YYZlover

Do NOT give Garlic to horses. Horses have a different digestive system to humans and Garlic make them anemic. This has been proven. I believe the vet and research center in Guelph did a paper on this.

As for coughing horses, if the cough is not an infection but related to feed and humidity then DO ride the horse. When he coughs DO NOT STOP! Keep going. Keep trotting, keep cantering. The cough aids the horse in removing mucus and irritants from the lungs. But have your horse checked. Know his normal body temp and check what he has now. (37.5 - 38.5 celcius is a gage. I've had horses who's normal temp was 37.0 which means that 37.5 - 38.5 would be fever).

Also, feed from the ground as much as possible. Horse are born/mad to eat with their head down at ground level and not from nets half way up a wall. Keeping the head down also helps removing mucus from the lungs. The horses teeth are also worn the way they should be when eating from the ground. Their back and neck muscles are stretched and kept supple.

I wanted to be a vet when I was a kid and read everything I could get my hands on. I ended up in the music business instead.

bandit

YYZ

Interesting what you say about Garlic. In the UK it must be THE most common additive in feeds for horses!

The one thing I've learned in all my years with horses is that everyone who has one thinks they are (rightly or wrongly) somewhat of an expert. And if you ask advise from one person, the next person will have another idea, and so it goes on!!!!

And if all else fails - ask the vet!!!

B!

YYZlover

I know. Horse and Hound did write about it a year or two ago and most horse owners in UK went "bah humbug - works great on me so why not on the horse" Two completely different digestive systems, m'dear. :-)

Words about garic being bad for horses started surfacing in Sweden about 7-10 years ago. and again a year ago.

http://www.allabouthorses.com/site/h...es/garlic.html
"More important, says O’Neill, garlic has been shown to induce a type of anemia in dogs and sheep. In addition, onions (a rela-tive of garlic) are known to have toxic effects on horses, and it’s possible garlic could react the same way. So, before garlic can be consid-ered a safe antimicrobial agent, researchers have to investigate that potential for harm."

http://www.equisearch.com/horses_car...d/eqgarlic528/
"The toxic element in allium (a family of plants including both garlic and onions) is well known to be a chemical called N-propyl disulfide. By altering an enzyme present within the red blood cell, it depletes the cell of a chemical known as phosphate dehydrogenase (PD), whose job is to protect the cell from natural oxidative damage.

When the PD level gets low enough, the hemoglobin in the cell oxidizes and forms a "bubble" called a Heinz body on the outside of the cell--it's quite distinctive and readily seen under the microscope. The spleen--which acts as a red-cell "bouncer" of sorts--quickly removes the deformed cell from the bloodstream. As more and more red cells are prematurely damaged and removed, as will happen from consistent poisoning with N-propyl disulfide, your horse gradually becomes anemic. This is called Heinz-body anemia."


And I was right about the Guelph study (although in extreme quantities). I believe I read about that one in H&H
http://www.uoguelph.ca/atguelph/04-0...es/horses.html
"Their red blood cell count fell and the red cells developed Heinz bodies, deformations in the cells caused by denatured hemoglobin. "They become clinically anemic at the highest dose," says Lindinger. "

But to not bore the cranks out of the non horsey readers here I won't quote more articles. garlic horses was all I used on google to pull these up.

That is the best piece of advice anyone could follow.

the davis family

Hi all thanks for the advice.

I use to feed garlic all the time when I was in UK, didn't even think about it here, probably wont now after reading those articles.

Had thought about pushing him through it when riding but today I noticed there was mucus coming out his nostrils and a couple of the others so I guess it could be a virus he's fed a round bale from a feeder plus hay is put on the ground. Not sure I want to soak it as the temperatures drop here to the -30's regularly so not sure what that will do as regards to keeping the quality of the hay.

However the humidity has changed going from very dry -20's to 0 and the humidity high (only for a few days mind). So it could be that as I see no other signs of off colour in fact quite the opposite they were all on there toes today.

So I will just keep an eye on it and if it doesn't clear up try to get hold of the somewhat vet over here, just don't have much faith in him

But thanks everyone as I learnt something new today which I can pass onto my horsey friends back in UK.

the davis family

So true found that out that a long time ago. even worse when it comes to cowboys!!

YYZlover

Speak with your vet first but there is a drug given to humans (acetyl cysteine) given to asthmatics but can also be given to horses. The water soluble one here in sweden is normally on per glass of water for a human. I remember our vet telling us to give one of our horses 8 of those mixed in sugar beet, twice daily. The horse had a "false strangles" at the time.

She had mucus coming out nose and mouth and this helped loads in thinning it and expelling it quicker.

Just a hint.

And the one thing horses (or animals in general) has taught me is to never think I know everything and always question what I know.

Good luck with your neddie.