Wind-broke horse

[Cara]

My father in law and his wife brought me a free horse home on Sunday night from a friend's neighbouring ranch. We bought me a mare back in October that's quite green, so the idea was that this guy will help rebuild my confidence while they and my husband work with the mare. We didn't know anything about it until they called us to tell us he'd be in our pens when we got home!

He is 20, and wind broken from someone riding him too hard 6-8 yrs ago. He hasn't done a whole lot since other than being ridden a couple of times a year. I rode him yesterday and he did great, but he gets wheezy if he trots for long or climbs hills. Is there anything I can do to help him, other than take it easy?

 

[Birch Run Farm]

Not much you can do, keep him on flat terrain and go easy with him.

 

[Tn Gamebirds]

Nothing you can do if he's wind broken. Just take it real easy on him

 

[buck-wild-chick]

Can someone give me a definiton of windbroke?

 

[Cara]

Here's the best definition I could find. It's a lot like Asthma in horses:

Heaves or broken wind is a respiratory disease of horses resulting in signs of chronic coughing, decreased exercise tolerance, difficulty breathing and abnormal lung sounds. These signs occur as the result of narrowing of the small airways of the lungs caused by: inflammation and thickening of their tissues; constriction of the smooth muscles that surround them; and accumulation of mucous and exudates within their lumens. The end result is trapping of air in the lungs (emphysema). Technically heaves is called chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

I'm confused by the difference between Heaves and broken wind though, if there is one. My husband and his father don't think any of the Heaves treatments (like a dust-free environment or medications) will work for him as his condition was caused by over-exertion. Basically he was ridden so hard that his lungs were permanently damaged, and now he can't breathe efficiently.

 

[al6517]

Lassics should help that is what is why it was developed, it helps the horse breath more freely.

 

[Chick_a_dee]

Heaves is COPD in horses. My boy has severe heaves/COPD. What you CAN DO is ride him easy, short bursts, and start feeding a wet hay, reducing the dust as much as possible, keep him outside and not stalled, this will help with his breathing.

We fed a yeast filled hay to our boy, it was sweet smelling, and came in a bag and did wonders for his heaves. He also got watered down hay cubes and sweetfeed. Was pasture boarded 24/7 365, and ridden three or four times a week for short periods, on the flat.

 

[ninjapoodles]

I could be way wrong, but I think Lasix (furosemide) wouldn't work in this case. Isn't it primarily used, in a horsey context, on "bleeders," particularly racehorses? I think it's used strictly for control/prevention of exercise-induced pulmonary hemorrhage (or something like that). It's a diuretic--my husband has had to take it for a spell once when another medication caused severe edema in his extremities. It's a hard drug on your system, too--you lose so much fluid that you lose electrolytes & minerals & stuff at the same time.

 

[Cara]

Keeping him pastured won't be a problem. The lady who gave him to us recommended that we don't keep him penned up on sweet feed as he can still have a buck in him at 20!

He'll have a home for the rest of his life, and I want to make him as comfortable for his last few years as I can. He still wants to go, and was pretty excited when he saw the cattle, but all he'll be doing is gentle trail riding. He's the only horse i've ever ridden that wanted to turn back the opposite way to home! He's for riding for fun/relaxation, the mare is more of a project as she's only 4.

He doesn't wheeze at rest, but you can hear it when he whinnies and when he's been trotting or climbing anything steep. He is a little out of shape too which probably doesn't help.

 

[Chick_a_dee]

Quote:
If you can keep the heaves in control, he may have quite a few years left in him. My guy is somewhere around 26 years and still going strong, being ridden every day right now by a 12 year old.

Your problems is going to come with controlling the dust in hay, we ended up spending extra cash and buying hay good for horses with heaves. Before the hay, he couldnt walk the length of a barn without wheezing and having to stop for air, now he can run in the field with no problems.