A common cause for problems of the respiratory system and bad performance is ‘Inflammatory Airway Disease’, or in short IAD, which is the same as equine asthma. IAD is characterised as a combination of inflammation and hyper sensitivity of the airways. Affected horses are often found to suffer from work-intolerance, coughing and runny noses and camera examination of the trachea may reveal increased amounts of mucus. In many cases permanent adjustments are required to the air-hygienic management of affected horses.
IAD stimulants can both be genetically-based as well as caused by stable environments. A dusty stable environment is obviously very bad practice for asthma-prone horses. More insidious presences of dust must also be prevented, such as from feeding hay and storing hay above stable units.
IAD in horses is comparable to asthma in humans. In both cases inflammation of the lungs leads to poor respiratory functioning and has a significant impact on the sport horse’s aerobic capacity. Recent research has shown a correlation between viral infections and IAD in horses.
Three pillars
Management of the IAD-prone horse must be seen in a much wider perspective which includes alertness to the prevention of exposure of IAD-prone horses to viral respiratory infections. Basically the approach rests on three pillars: First and foremost make sure the horse is properly vaccinated so that it has the best possible resistance to defend itself when it is exposed to airway infections.
Secondly, make sure to reduce the exposure to possible environmentally-induced infections to a minimum. Use your common sense with a view to interaction between horses. Avoid sharing feed containers, buckets and stables and isolate newcomers away from the herd for at least a two-week period. Also try to group horses according to age categories.
Third pillar: pay due attention to the management of air hygiene. The horse should never be in the stable when mucking out and providing new bedding. Always feed haylage or good-quality hay.
As printed in the KFPS Newsletter
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