According to Tufts University Veterinary School report, 25-80% of horses in the U.S. suffer from equine COPD/Asthma. That is a lot of money spent and a lot of time lost dealing with expensive inhalers and other steroids for your horse. The total yearly cost of these medicines can reach over $2500, that is a lot of money! Fortunately, there are simple and cost-effective solutions for a complex epidemic that affects many horses.

Equine COPD can have many names for the same condition such as equine recurrent airway obstruction, heaves, equine small airway inflammatory disease, equine asthma, equine allergic airway, and broken wind. Although the diagnosis name may be different, the symptoms are the same.

The disease typically begins in horses between 8-10 years old presenting as thick mucus in the airway creating labored breathing. It affects all breeds equally regardless of of the horse’s gender. Typically, once the horse has been exposed and it’s immune system compromised, the airway becomes constricted. Eventually, mucus accumulates in airway paths, further constricting airflow and causing spasms that reduce the flow even more. Because of a lack of oxygen, COPD can create abnormal heart rates which in turn cause a thickening the walls and bring inflammatory cells into the heart muscle.

Some common symptoms of equine COPD are:

• Exercise intolerance
• Coughing more and possible “puffing”
• Mild nasal discharge that is very watery, thin mucus, not yellow or green
• Breathes about two times the normal rate at 24-30 times a minute
• Reacts to vaccines more often than other horses due to a hypersensitive immune system
• Weight loss
• Grunting

 

Seeing the decline of your horse because of lack of oxygen can be scary. But luckily there are several treatments to help your horse get back out to the pasture! Eating soaked hay outside can reduce respiratory particle numbers by 60%. This is critically important for a horse that has or is currently suffering from COPD.

Another treatment is to use fluffy pine shavings as bedding. This has been shown to produce 20 times less dust particles than traditional bedding. We also recommend to add Heave Ho supplement to your horse’s feed. This incredible supplement has high doses of Vitamin E that boosts the immune system to help fight off decreased and chronic lung infections. By implementing these treatments and adding high doses of Heave Ho, COPD will no longer be a worry.