Equine Health Report: Allergy News

There is good and bad news on the allergy front.

The bad news is that my horse had a coughing fit in the barn a few days ago. 

The good news is that my horse had a coughing fit in the barn a few days ago.

What?!

How, you ask, could that possibly be good news?

Well, as I was patting and comforting my horse who coughed nonstop for a good twenty seconds (believe me, it's a long twenty seconds), I realized that he had not had a coughing fit for quite some time.  In fact, some of our rides of been close to cough free.  Except for a cough here or there, I have not noticed him coughing in his stall during dinner or while tacking up to ride.  The coughing that I have noticed was usually at the very beginning of a ride and was often not even enough to stop him from trotting.  Just a couple "whoof-whoofs" and he would continue on.  Sometimes he snorted loudly during the ride or coughed once when we took a walk break, but other than that, we have been pretty fortunate.  In fact, I do not think that he has coughed much more than other horses on the farm moving about in the sandy paddocks or riding ring.  My ears are hyper-tuned to horses coughing now, so I usually make note whenever I hear another one cough.

The reduction in Harley's allergy symptoms has allowed me to stop worrying about it all the time and focus more on our rides.  This has been a huge relief.

So why would I see anything positive in the fact that my allergy-stricken horse who seemed to be improving suddenly had more coughs than usual?  These symptoms arose just a few days before his next scheduled allergy shot.  The reemergence of his symptoms suggests that the allergy shots are successfully reducing his condition!  It also means that he still needs the shots and that the schedule is just about on target for his sensitivity of response.  Hopefully the coughing will once again subside after his next allergy shot and we will be on our way to managing his allergies and keeping him a happy, healthy horse.

Related post: Allergy Shots

"whoof"

And back to grass: Harley has been feeling good!