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  Discussion on Cough in older mare at start of excersise
Author Message
Member:
Jnmteal

Posted on Monday, Jun 27, 2005 - 12:47 am:

my 20 something mare seems completely normal most of the time except, when I first take her out for exercise, when she breaks into a trot,she always has about 2 or 3 deep coughs, no mucus come out,(sometimes some chewed alfalfa) and she has no other symptoms.Im curious as to whether this is just because of age please let me know what I should do Thanks
Member:
Angel77

Posted on Monday, Jun 27, 2005 - 2:00 am:

Dear Jennifer,

I take care of a 28 yr old missouri fox trotter mare. She has not worked at all in a year except for the flat trail rides I have taken her on for the last year as I ride my horse and pony her. I always make sure we walk for at least 20 minutes just in case she has some residual food left over. She also has a gap in between her front teeth that collects hay. I have to brush her teeth every day to removed hay debris. Have you checked for gaps in your horses teeth?

Recently she now has 2 little girls who love to groom her. The girls are 7 and 10 yrs old. They both weigh under 65lbs. The girls get to ride her 1-2 times a week for 15-25 minutes not in a saddle but a very cushy bareback pad.(less weigh as she is only 15 hands) Both girls are great riders. They are able to trot once or twice around the small arena until she coughs and then they walk until she is ready to go again. The quality of her life has improved dramatically over the last few weeks. I don't know if it is the watered down hay or because she is so happy to have two little girls riding her. She carries them like precious cargo. She never spooks and is very gentle for a mare that has not worked in over a year.


She too has a cough sometimes very slight and during heat waves quite severe. Several vets have examined her. The out come was to soak her hay for 15 minutes before feeding.

After pulling the hay out of the water put it somewhere it can drain the water out as the horse eats. For example a feeder with small holes in the bottom. Or maybe a hay net if it is safe enough to hang from the stall. Or as a last resort you can put in on the ground to drain.

No fever is involved in any of these incidents. She lives in a 24X48 open 1/4 covered pipe corral. I have wood chip bedding at least 12" deep covering the entire stall with a layer of shavings 6" deep under the 1/4 cover. On hot days I will slightly wet down her stall and her cough goes away.

I might also mention that she has Cushins disease. The owner has not started any kind of medicinal administration because of the cost. I just do everything I can to keep her clean(dust free-like that is possible-Ha). Keep her stall dust free by watering lightly as well as soaking her hay at every meal.

Good luck, God bless all the animals and all of the people who care for them.

WTG
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Monday, Jun 27, 2005 - 6:43 am:

Is this a recent development Jennifer?
DrO
Member:
Jnmteal

Posted on Monday, Jun 27, 2005 - 12:47 pm:

No dr. O this has been going on for at least a year, she has had her physical last september and he said everything was fine! also this only happens at the very begining of either riding or lunging at a trot! and it is not constant only a few coughs and then shes food to go! I do sometimes wonder if it is due to dust or something when she first starts running. thanks!
Member:
Onehorse

Posted on Monday, Jun 27, 2005 - 3:06 pm:

Jennifer,

My older palomino (18 yrs.) will sometimes cough a couple of times when I first begin to lunge or work him ... especially if he's just coming out his stall. It gets a little more noticeable in the winter (when he spends more time indoors).

After he 'clears his throat' so to speak ... he's fine no matter what we do or how long we ride. If he's been out in the pasture and I bring him in ... he usually doesn't exhibit the cough.

If your horse has no other symptoms and it goes away quickly I would not let it worry you. Sometimes I think we all (me included) over react to the little things that are simply part of living -- equine especially.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Tuesday, Jun 28, 2005 - 5:12 am:

I think they are right Jennifer, this is a pretty common event and often called a "barn cough". This is where the combination of dust and inactivity result in a build up of a bit of fluid in the lower respiratory tract. It is coughed up during the early part of exercise. The one concern is that this will lead to a serious allergic condition called COPD. You should review management for more information see, Equine Diseases » Respiratory System » Heaves & Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.
DrO
Member:
Chrism

Posted on Tuesday, Jun 28, 2005 - 12:51 pm:

My 22 yo mare has done this at the start of exercise since about age 6.

It never got worse - just a few hearty coughs followed by a snort when we first start trotting. If she doesn't snort, another cough is likely.

Cheers.
Member:
Jnmteal

Posted on Tuesday, Jun 28, 2005 - 3:02 pm:

Thanks everyone for your input! I'm very confident that this is also not something serious especially after hearing that others have the same problem. I dont ride that often maybe 1 or 2 times a week so it makes since that it could be due to inactivityand dust is a big part of where we live in southern californa! thanks again for all the input its great to be able to go online and find advice for problems from so many different resources!

Jenniffer
Member:
Paul303

Posted on Wednesday, Jun 29, 2005 - 12:24 am:

Jennifer: I had a 38 yr old gelding that had the same two coughs at the first trot for the 30 yrs. I owned him. We watched it carefully but it never changed. Our vet was curious to learn the condition of such an elderly gentleman who always enjoyed robust health and so were we. After an extensive post mortem, everything checked out exceptionally well, above average, for a 38 yr. old ( ridden regularly - WTC ), even his lungs which were biopsied along with other tissue samples.
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