# horse breathing faster than normal



## joseeandjade11 (Oct 12, 2012)

Hey guys, 

I have a problem with my horse since last week. She is breathing faster than normal when at rest although she doesn't flare from her nostrils. I was beginning to think it was heaves because she also coughs. When she coughs she spits little pieces/chunks of hay sometimes. I took her temparature and it was normal (37.5 c) Also took my stetoscope and tried to listen if there was any wheezing sounds or something, but nothing. SOunds totally normal. Vet checked her in may when she had her vaccines given and everything was totally normal.

She recently had pinworms so we dewormed her not too long ago but im reading that other types of worms can cause respiratory problems, any one ever had experiences with that?

She turned out 24/7 and is boarded at a ranch.

We also gave her syrop for 48 hours twice a day, that was wednesday and thursday, was hoping for her to be normal again but still the same. 

So it might be a start of heaves or if you have any ideas of something else, please tell me! The vet only comes to my hometown on tuesdays so im probably gonna get her checked out.


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

my experience is limited, but any time I see a horse breathing short and rapidly , I think colic. But, you say this has been going on for some time now. and the horse's appetite?


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## poppy1356 (Jan 18, 2012)

Could be pneumonia too. Try Cough Free, it really works for anything allergy or cough related. If allergies are left untreated long enough it can cause a chronic bronchitis which can turn into pneumonia. But anything you give her must be given daily. Other than that when the vet comes thru town I would definitely have them stop by.


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## joseeandjade11 (Oct 12, 2012)

Yes i first noticed it on july 17th when i went to see her with a friend so i dont think it would be colic, although nothing is impossible. No changes in her feed either, only changes their were, were super high humidity and +40 degrees which we never really get. My coach thinks it could be a cough but im not sure bout that.
If it would be pneumonia, would she have any signs of fever or maybe not?
As for the syrop, the reason why we gave it for 48 hours was because that's what was written as the indications on the bottle, it's called somehting like zev or zed for horses and can also be given to dogs.


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## Saddlebag (Jan 17, 2011)

Have you like us in the western end of the province had a lot of rain? I'd wonder about a sensitivity to mold spores. Did you check her resting heart rate? The heart may be beating faster in it's demand for oxygen which the lungs may not be providing. Don't let this condition linger without the vet's attention. Before you listen to the lungs again trot her a bit then listen. If you've been having high heat along with high humidity that will cause an increase in cardio as her body struggles to cool down.


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## stevenson (Sep 12, 2011)

is she too hot ? Yes i would say a Vet is required. are her sides heaving, she could be having some slight issues with maybe food lodged. is she eating normal pooping peeing ? no fever so probably not pneumonia.


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## joseeandjade11 (Oct 12, 2012)

i live in north ontario, canada and it's been very humid and hot last week but lately weve been having ****ty weather lile only 15 and its been raining for the last 3 days.
I cannot say for sure if she's eating normal as im not there everyday and she's with other horses in the field but shes peeing and pooping normally and she's not hydrated i did the pinchtest today. My guess is she is eating alright, today where she was tied while brushing there was grass and she ate it like she normally does

Yes her sides are heaving sort of


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## joseeandjade11 (Oct 12, 2012)

i dont know about being too hot, the other night when i went riding, which was last saturday, i had a coat on cause it wasn't that hot and she was breathing fast and she had been at rest while i was talking with my friend and thats when she said my horse had a breathing problem


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## joseeandjade11 (Oct 12, 2012)

Any other ideas on what could be a cause for my mare's respiratory being faster and deeper than normal?


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## poppy1356 (Jan 18, 2012)

Sensitivity to mold would most likely do it. The Cough Free would take care of that as well. But if this is still going on you really need to have the vet out. When my mare had bronchitis which was a result of untreated allergies she never had a fever.


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## joseeandjade11 (Oct 12, 2012)

When your horse had bronchitis, was it having the same symptoms as my mare? coughing, and breathing heavily ans fast...kinda looking a bit like heaves but not a lot of flaring or barealy. Her nostrils are not huge like a horse that has heaves This is the part confusing me and theres no wheezing sounds coming out. Theres a horse at the barn that does has heaves and im comparing to him


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## poppy1356 (Jan 18, 2012)

Yeap pretty much. I had no idea until the vet was out for an exam that was unrelated. He could hear it in her lungs but it wasn't super loud. Only said that it was probably allergy induced and to start her on allergy meds. When he was back out 2 months later it was gone and she was on the cough free.

People thought I shouldn't be riding because she would cough so much while being ridden but I had to wait for the stuff to kick in. Her cough was pretty bad so it took about 2 weeks to completely go away but started to notice a difference in a few days.

FYI cough free smells (and probably tastes) horrid. I had to mix it with applejuice in her grain so she would eat it at first.


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## joseeandjade11 (Oct 12, 2012)

Ok thanks Poppy1356, the woman at my barn who is going to let me try it is not using hers because it smells bad and the horse refuses to eat it so she bought some other stuff for heaves. But yes i have some applejuice boxes stored at the barn so ill mix it and see, if not ill give it in a syringe mixed with warm water as indicated into her mouth even if i know she will give me a fight lol


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## poppy1356 (Jan 18, 2012)

I found mixing it with alfalfa pellets soaked was easiest with applejuice mixed in too. The alfalfa was such a strong smell that it kinda covered up the nasty smell. Do not smell it up close it will make your eyes burn lol, tried that already.


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## joseeandjade11 (Oct 12, 2012)

all ive got are alfalfa cubes that i always soak cause she's a fast eater and sometimes chokes, mixed with cut apples and carrots with her vitamins. I really hope she will eat it!! She was eating her cubes with ZEV syrop for horses no problem and that smells exactly like the buckley syrop for human, nasty smell!


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## poppy1356 (Jan 18, 2012)

Just make sure for the loading dose you split it into two feedings otherwise it will be overwhelming and she won't eat it. Doesn't have to be morning and night but can be at the same time just mix two smaller meals with a scoop in each one. It is strong stuff so two scoops in one meal will not happen lol. I tried that too. 

If you have sweet feed this is the one time I am ok with feeding it. I sometimes had to take a handful and put it on top to get my mare to even think about eating it.


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## joseeandjade11 (Oct 12, 2012)

no feed the one i ordered is still not in so im only left with my alfalfa cubes, vitamins, carrots and apples lol and sometimes add a slice of bread and will add the applejuice as you suggested  I have two buckets so i will put some in each buckets, thanks a lot for the tips!


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## star16 (Aug 10, 2012)

As usual, talk to your vet first, but my mare is on an inhaler- like the one that I use for asthma, same size and all. She has small bronchial passages and the anti-inflammatory that we had her on started irritating her ulcer.

There's an actual inhaler mask thing for horses, but it's almost $400, so...


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## joseeandjade11 (Oct 12, 2012)

Yes i've actually seen those on youtube before, but yeah not at all in my price range...i'll see what i can do once the vet is gonna see her tomorrow even if i know he'll say light heaves...


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## KigerQueen (Jun 16, 2013)

Is the horse sweating? A horse at my barn dose not sweet and he is always breathing hard. it could be 50 degrees out and he will fall over after 10 min of work.


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## joseeandjade11 (Oct 12, 2012)

No she isn't sweating, she an appy/qh so it takes hard work to maker her sweat because she's got so much endurance 

Anyway, the vet came yesterday and he thinks it could be heaves but we can't really have a diagnose proving it really is. My mare was actually not breathing heavy but still faster and he listened to her lungs and he said they were all clear and perfect....well he gave me ventipulmin and did bloodwork so i will get results soon enough  

She's been out on green grass only for two days now so i think thats why she was breathing better and not heavy


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## joseeandjade11 (Oct 12, 2012)

Question: If she's out on green grass all day long (no bales anymore) should her respiration go back to normal? She's on ventipulmin now since tuesday...She's still breathing faster than normal but not heavy at all. She does still have more hair than the other horses i find, (which is one of the reasons why i wanted bloodwork done) cause obviously she should have a nice summer coat... and the coughing has completely stopped


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## KigerQueen (Jun 16, 2013)

Try to body clip her? My mare LOVES to hold her winter coat until june -_-' Next year I will body clip her because its in the 100 by the time she sheds. And I would not rule out Anhydrous. A TB my friend has, got it. He was a champion and was raced from 2 until 13. amazing endurance and always placed. But as it got hotter he got worst. So we hose him off until BO can get One AC.


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## joseeandjade11 (Oct 12, 2012)

What exactly is Anhydrous...i've never heard of that before


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## KigerQueen (Jun 16, 2013)

Its when a horse dose not sweet. My friend's horse was a good race horse so no one thought about him not sweating. Then we noticed him breathing hard. Now he will sit there panting like a dog, poor thing. He wont let you fill the water bucket until you hose him down first. 

Here is a link on it

Anhidrosis in Horses


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## joseeandjade11 (Oct 12, 2012)

Thank you, i have seen her sweat before it's just that it takes hard work and other horses will sweat easier than her. But i'll still keep an eye on her though. Right now she's on a break im letting her rest cause she's got bite marks on her back and is still sore from them


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## Jjaazzy (Oct 5, 2016)

So what was the end result, I'm going through something similar now.


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## Ryle (Jul 13, 2007)

Increased respiration should always be assessed by a veterinarian. It can indicate pain, overheating, or a decreased ability to move air into or out of the lungs. Getting an exam will help determine the cause so that an appropriate treatment can be instituted.


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