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  Discussion on Heaves horse hates being outside
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New Member:
Minty

Posted on Friday, Apr 14, 2006 - 9:19 pm:

*i apologize for the lack of caps with certain letters, my keyboard is broken*

i have an 18yr old qh gelding that i've owned since he was 3. Just recently he was diagnosed with heaves, was put on Azium and Clenbuterol for a 2 week period and moved outside, or at least we tried to move him outside.

for the first 3 days he was outside and on the azium and clenbuterol he was doing wonderfully. he only coughed twice in that short time period.

The big problem we are having is that he detests being outside. he hasn't spent a full night outside in too many years to count, i actually can't recall a time he's spent all night outside since i've owned him. When we attempted to leave him outside following the heaves diagnosis he would frantically pace the fence from 6pm until the next morning when he would have normally been turned back out. Even having other horses turned out with him didn't change anything. he got no real rest for the three days he was outside and was making all new problems for himself.

So we brought him in, put him in the first stall of the barn, and kept the barn doors open to keep it as airy as possible. he's been going badly downhill though. it's been two weeks since he's been off the azium and clenbuterol and his cough is worse than ever. i called his vet today and we are going to put him on Prednisolone as a long term solution. his vet said he doesn't feel it works quite as well as the azium but he prefers it for long term use because of the side effects of azium when taken for a long period.

i guess my question is will that be enough? is there a way to get him used to being outside for the night? if i can't get him used to being outside where he is, is there any chance that changing barns, and changing up his entire routine, might make him more likely to accept being outside at the new place? i'm feeling desperate, it seems he would be helped so much if he could just stay outside but he was well on the way to hurting himself with his pacing. Each of those three mornings his hay and water would be completely untouched because he just spent the whole night pacing and he would be soaked with sweat.

Ugh, i'm feeling very frustrated and worried for my horse.

oh, other changes made were he now gets all his feed from the ground, his hay is soaked for whatever good that might do, and i'm going to talk to the barn manager about changing him over to alfalfa/timothy cubes.
Member:
Corinne

Posted on Saturday, Apr 15, 2006 - 12:13 am:

Don't know what to say to help you Minty but I will be thinking of you and your boy and hope Dr. O and others can help you find a solution.

Good luck.

Corinne
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Saturday, Apr 15, 2006 - 9:36 am:

No I don't think long term glucocorticoids is a suitable solution. Follow the directions closely in our article for management to avoid this.

You certainly could try changing up his entire environment so that he has no routine that he is use to. Are you leaving another horse out with him at night?
DrO
Member:
Choney

Posted on Sunday, Apr 16, 2006 - 1:00 am:

Hi Minty,

As an owner of a horse with heaves, I suggest eliminating the hay entirely. Forget the soaking. Try the cubes or Dengie.

I have now had my 20 y.o. mare for ~1 1/2 years and following the guidelines Dr. O has written out, along with my vet's advice, she is now virtually heave-free. The only time she has heaved is when someone who doesn't understand about the disease gives her hay. And plenty of people don't get it. "Oh just a little bit won't hurt her." Funny, when she got sick those same people sure didn't offer to pay for her vet bills.

I firmly believe that mold in the hay- visible or not to the naked eye, is at the root of the issue. Lucerne Farms, the makers of Dengie, heat the hay, killing the mold, and this does the trick with my girl. It is relatively expensive, but after watching my horse struggling for each breath with a bout of heaves, I feel it is worth every penny.

Might you have access to a spot with a run-in shed or stall? The well-ventilated barn you have your horse in sounds good. The last spot my horse was in, she spent some time in a barn that stored hay up above in their loft and she had no problems with it. That barn was also very open, with a run-in situation.

Best of luck, it sounds as though you are giving it your all.

Cher Mc.
New Member:
Minty

Posted on Wednesday, Apr 19, 2006 - 6:27 am:

Thank you all for your replies and suggestions. I'm feeling a bit like I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place right now.

I live right outside of NYC and barns with a lot of pasture are basically non exsistant around this area, so my choices are pretty limited. As it is it's a 45 min drive to get to my horse.

So far what I've been able to come up with are two possiblities:

He stays where he is, they've agreed to building a run in shed for him and we try keeping him outside. He can get the dengie hay if we keep him there (thank you so much for the name! It was recommended to me by a person at the barn because awhile back a horse there was on it but no one could remember how to spell the name so I couldn't find any info), but chances of him being okay with being outside at that barn seem pretty slim. Oh, we did have another horse outside with him after his first night of pacing but it didn't seem to help.

Or

I move him to another barn that has a 10 acre rehab/retirement pasture already setup with run in sheds where all the horses stay outside for the night. So likely since he won't see any friends going inside he'll be more okay with that arrangement. But since he'll be being fed with all the other horses he won't be able to get the dengie hay.

Basically it's keep him inside with the dengie hay or outside with regular hay.

I think I'll be trying to keep him where he is first and see how he does and if there is no improvement I'll try moving him to the other barn and have him be outside all of the time.

Worst case scenario is there is a retirement barn where he can get the dengie AND be outside all the time (they seperate the horses for feeding), but it's almost 3 hours away and I don't want to put him into retirement unless it is absolutely necessary. He's an awesome, calm, almost bomb proof horse and I have a 6yr old son and 4yr old daughter and I'd love for them to be able to use him.
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