How to cure dust allergy

When horses are kept in stables they often develop a sensitivity to dust. It mainly happens in stables, where the horses are indoors most of the time and the stalls are not cleaned out every day. It is common to throw on another layer of straw on top of yesterdays dirty one and only do a complete clean-up every two weeks or so, because it is much more economical that way.

Unfortunately that means the horses breathe in their own ammoniac gases all day, which irritates their respiratory tract. Over time they develop a serious allergy to dust, in particular to hay or straw dust. If you do nothing, they build up phlegm in their lungs which they constantly try to cough up. Their breathing becomes difficult.

There are a lot of things you can do as a temporary solution, if your horse has to stay in these conditions. The vet normally gives you a powder to make it easier to cough up the phlegm. You can also put herbal teas in their drinking water. But most importantly you put them on wood chips instead of straw and only give them wet hay to eat.

This is all very well, but it doesn't solve the problem. It only makes it easier for the horse to deal with it and can become quite costly for the owner.

The only way to cure the horse permanently is to move it away from living indoors. No matter where you live, the horse can be kept outside all year round, you only have to provide a shelter against weather. Horses are more robust then we think. When kept outside in the cold they grow a thick coat to keep them warm. They adapt very easily to their environment.

Fresh air and regular exercise are the only things the horse needs to stop phlegm building up in their respiratory system. I have heard about several horses (including my own) that have suffered severely from chronic cough and dust allergy and were nearly put down because of it. After four weeks of being in fresh air and getting exercised they ALL stopped having these symptoms and could be feed normally without any medication.