In winter, the stable doors close and this increases the level of dust pollution, which means respiratory problems and coughing for countless horses every year.
What does dust do to the horse's lungs and why should you avoid it as much as possible?
Dust refers to the smallest particles that can be airborne and inhaled. The smaller the particles, the more likely they can be inhaled and enter the bronchi or even the air sacs (alveoli), deep in the lower respiratory tract, where they can cause major damage.
Airborne particles normally land on the lining of the nasal passages, from where they are carried to the throat to be either swallowed or coughed up. The healthy mucous membrane of the bronchi is covered with cilia. With flickering movements, these ensure that dirt (especially dust particles), bacteria and small amounts of mucus are removed from the bronchi. This cleaning process can cause a cough. However, if the mucous membrane of the bronchi is polluted or damaged by an extreme accumulation of dirt particles, the cilia cannot clean it sufficiently. It is no longer possible to remove (large amounts of) mucus. The increased mucus remaining in the lungs or airways makes it difficult for the horse to breathe, and bacteria are also provided with a breeding ground. So you can imagine that a high level of dust exposure offers ideal conditions for chronic respiratory problems or equine asthma.
The OXYGEN marine climate horse inhalation supports the body's own cleansing and helps the horses to remove mucus when stress already exists; the OXYGEN sea climate as a prophylactic treatment protects your horse effectively and in the long term from respiratory problems and keeps it fit and ready to perform.
Proper dust management is therefore a very important part of keeping all horses healthy.
How to avoid sources of dust:
- No mucking and sweeping when the horses are in the stable
- Moisten the stable lane before sweeping
- Feed hay of the best possible quality (good hay has little to no visible dust development)
- Do not feed hay in a hay net (4 times higher dust concentration in the respiratory tract)
- Don't let horses eat directly from round bales - exposure to dust is much higher here
- Steam the hay or, if not possible, water it
- Check the quality of the concentrate (possible dust or mold infestation of grain), dust can be bound by adding oil BUT take into account the high energy content of oil and feed in appropriate doses
- Use low-dust bedding (e.g. switch from straw to wood shavings or other alternatives), if possible also in the surrounding stalls, to improve the overall climate in the barn
- In general, window or paddock boxes are preferable to indoor boxes; open barn housing with adapted hay feeding and bedding is ideal
- Lots of grazing and exercise
- Water riding arenas, pay attention to potential dust formation, e.g. in horse walkers or lunging arenas, and water if necessary
- If possible, clean the horses outdoors or at least with the window open, because here too there is sometimes a high level of dust in the stable aisle or box
With sea-fresh greeting
your experts at pferdeinhalation.de
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