Florida Horse Hay Sales and Delivery
I have been around horses for quite some years but I have never heard this allergic reaction described as hay fever (as in the same problem that humans suffer with). I don’t get it myself, for which I am very grateful, but I do have friends that do, and can see the misery it causes, so I can assume that it is equally uncomfortable for a horse. Although the season is closing, I thought I’d still take a look at what it’s all about so you can be on the lookout for it nest year.
Apparently it’s a fairly common condition seen in young and old horses alike, and it’s an allergic Respiratory Disease. Unlike humans, horses that have allergies tend to show more flu like symptoms and less sinus and nasal effects. Their lungs become inflamed and are more likely to get viral and bacterial infections. The horse owner sees this as frequent (recurrent) ‘chest colds’ that the horse never quite gets over, as I did, before I heard that it was in fact a form of hay fever. Other symptoms include coughing, a lot of eye discharge and they get tired easily.
There are many causes of allergic Respiratory Disease but some are more common. Several types of mould spores and weeds found in otherwise high quality hay or straw seem to bother many horses. This is a seasonal thing, so for the horse at pasture the problem may only be seen in spring and summer. However, hay that is taken from local fields can be a year round problem. Each year, the horse usually shows more symptoms as its reaction to the problem gets stronger and stronger.
Treatment of this problem can be as simple as keeping your horse outside where air circulation is available (fresh air versus stagnant dust filled air). If your horse must stay in the stall most or all of the time, try to store your hay in a separate place and ensure good airflow in the barn. If it is cold, put a blanket on the horse and soak the hay fed to the horse in water first.
If the problem is not taken care of by the above steps, then you need to speak to your Vet. To find out the cause, the vet can do a simple procedure that looks at the fluid and cells in the horse’s lungs to see how bad the allergy is. Secondly, there is a relatively new blood test that can specifically determine what ‘things’ the horse is allergic to and allows them to find a ‘customized’ treatment for that individual horse. Other general treatments include corticosteroids (cortisone) and bronchodilators (like those taken by human asthma patients). The important thing to realize is that recognizing your horse has this problem is more than half the battle. Once that is done, proper treatment can dramatically improve the usefulness of your horse.
I was very grateful when it was pointed out to me, although I will admit to feeling a bit stupid at the time. However now I know what it is, I can deal with it, so a little stupidity has bought me some knowledge that I can now use to keep my beautiful horses in better health, so that’s a price I will gladly pay any time.
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7 Responses to Did You Know That Horses Can Get Hay Fever
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Florida Horse Hay
Would you board your horse at a facility where one of the horses was diagnosed with pigeon fever?
I’m going to be leasing my gelding to a girlfriend for her daughter to have lessons on. They will be boarding him at a somewhat backyard place. I have been there, the place is clean and safe. When we went today there was a new horse there brought for training who has been diagnosed with pigeon fever. How contagious is it and should I back out of the deal?
NO cause dryland as we call it lays in the ground and waits you have to pour bleach on the ground and if she has the horse near where the other horse was her horse can get it
im actually moving my horses out of a place because they just came down with dryland
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no not a good idear it spreads ;/ u have to disenfect it with bleach etc
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Not only do you not want to send your horse there at this time, but the owners of this place should NOT even be considering taking any new boarders until this horse has recovered and is no longer a threat(i.e. cultures clean) – which can be a matter of months. Pigeon Fever is horrible and a real bear to control. They will have to completely confine the sick animal and use incredibly strict disinfectant methods when caring for it and disposing properly of his manure and other waste, otherwise it can live on in the soil and be spread months later by flies to other horses that board there. Treating your horse if it gets it could cost you into the thousands of dollars and be a nightmare you don't even want to consider. My next door neighbor had an infected horse last summer and it was the scariest, costliest, most exhausting and labor intensive trial I've ever seen trying to cure him and keep it from spreading to her other horses and to mine, 100 yards away.
I have to strongly disagree with the poster below who states that older horses normally don't get it unless they're already ill or rundown. My neighbor's horse was 7 when he got it this past year and was as healthy and well-cared for as can be. 3 other cases reported in the valley were also all older horses in good health when they contracted it. Granted, young horses and those who's immune systems are compromised would probably be EVEN more suseptible, but don't for a minute think that older horses are immune! Also – the abscesses they get are frequently devastating and can run the whole length of their belly and into the sheath or udder, requiring intensive and repeated opening and drainage of pus and fluid that is highly infectious to the other horses, and easily transferred without incredibly strict asepsis. The other poster was apparently lucky but shouldn't downplay the seriousness of this awful malady to others.
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Everybody else is RIGHT! Don’t move your horse there, it’s extremely contagious and inform your friend!
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I definitely think not. You need to keep your horse away rom that barn!!!!! Surely you can find some other place. It spreads so quickly and fastly that if your horse when in there and you didn’t douse the place in bleach then your horse would be infected before you can turn around and take him out. i would wait for it to calm down then check to make sure none of the other horses got it and just hadn’t started showing symptoms yet. Then help the owner disinfect the place and then MAYBE you can board your horse there…. Good Luck!!! Hope I Helped!!!
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Normally an adult horse won’t catch Dryland Dystemper (Also known as Pigeon Fever), if it’s healthy. Although this crap is highly contagious, I’ve never known a mature horse (6 or over) unless they were really run down to catch it.
My then 2 yr old AQHA filly was running in a pasture with my then 17 yr old QH and 17 yr old Azteca geldings. The filly caught it from another horse in the pasture, she was healthy and outside of the darned abcesses, never had an issue with it, she got over it. The geldings NEVER got it. There were a total of 4 horses who ended up with it and all were under 4. My 2 yr old TB got it back in ’84 and we layed him up for about 45 days and he got over it, no other horses in the 85 horse facility came down with it.
The only horse I’ve ever known to die of it was a VERY old QH in VERY run down condition.
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Over 40 years of training horses, riders and making/repairing saddles and tack. HPTS!!!