What You Need to Know About Equine Asthma

You mount up for your evening ride and, just like clockwork, your horse starts coughing. Three or four coughs as soon as you start trotting—then it’s over and you can get to work. It’s just something he’s always done. Nothing to worry about, right?

Wrong! While there are plenty of horses that cough at the beginning of a ride, it doesn’t make it normal! In fact, those coughs are telling you there’s something irritating your horse’s respiratory tract. And respiratory disease is nothing to ignore. In fact, respiratory problems are second only to musculoskeletal issues when it comes to limiting athletic performance in horses. Estimates say as many as 20 to 30% of pleasure and performance horses have some level of respiratory disease, and many of those respiratory problems start with a cough.

If your horse is coughing, has an intermittent nasal discharge, or shows any other respiratory symptoms, he may have equine asthma. In this article, we’ll take a look