b'Creating an Airway-Friendly Environment particulates (blowers, tractors, etc.) and before dusting or removing cobwebs.2. Sprinkle the aisle with water or hu-mectants (substances used to retain moisture) before sweeping.Bedding1.Straw is bad bedding for horses with equine asthma. Mazan confesses that she still uses straw when bedding foal-ing mares because shavings get all over the foals, but good, clean wood shav-ings tend to be better. Sawdust tends to be very dusty, as well, but the pelleted FRANK SORGE/ARND.NLbeddings and shredded paper are really good, even though they dont conform to our romantic visions of what a stable should look like, she says.2.Reduce ammonia levels by using the Throwing or plumping up hay can leave harmful particulates in the air for hours. most absorbent bedding possible, cleaning stalls diligently, and perhaps respiratory disease symptoms by nine to2. I f your horse has to be in a barn,using an ammonia-eliminating stall 10 times above baseline. Montgomery says you can still improveproduct. High ammonia levels irritate While you wont be able to completelyhis ventilation access by locating himairways in both humans and animals, rid your horse of asthma by improvingcloser to an exit and further from theMontgomery says.air quality, you can help him live morearena and removing him from areas comfortably and perform better. If youbeing swept or blown.Feedinghave a horse that was going to developIf you work full-time, you cant1.If possible, feed hay and grain outdoors severe equine asthma, we think you canalways be there to move or monitor theso the wind can carry particulates away.stave that off by managing your barnshorse, but you can talk with your vet2. Move your horse out of his stall if you air quality, Mazan says. If your horseabout how to work with caretakers tohave to throw hay down from a loft. already has the disease, you can improvefind doable solutions, she says. Throwing or plumping up hay can the disease. The single best thing you can3. Concentrate on moving air throughleave particulates in the air for hours, do for a horse with equine asthma is im- the barn more than you worry aboutsays Mazan.prove the environmental quality, and thekeeping the barn warm. The best3. Avoid hay dispensers that horses tend most important place is in the stable. way to maximize ventilation is toto bury their noses in, inhaling par-You certainly cant go around with ahire a trained barn architect, Mazanticulates in the processthese include finely woven net trying to capture all thesays. They can make sure your eavessome types of hanging haynets, upright particles you see in that sunny ray of lightand other top-of-structure ventilationhay mows, and large round bales. In-by the barn door, but you can take stepssources act as a chimneynot for heatstead, Mazan says, soak or steam hay to to reduce the number of particulates tobut for air release at the top of thehelp eliminate airway irritants and keep which your horse is exposed. barnand are designed for maximumparticulates from becoming airborne.ventilation that doesnt necessarilyMontgomery adds that round bales Improved Ventilation make the barn colder. are also more likely to spoil toward the 1.Keep your horses outdoors as much as4.Sometimes indoors may be better. Ifcenter and harbor mold. If you must possible. As long as they have a three- the air quality outdoors is poor but be- use round bales, she says, take them sided shed to get in out of the windyond your controlfor instance, fromapart with a fork to inspect them be-and rain, theyre usually much happiersmoke during fire season or dust fromfore feeding. Also, placing large, slow-outside, Mazan says. gravel or dirt roadshorses might befeeding haynets around such bales She relates an example of a clientbetter off indoors, Montgomery says.prevents horses from tunneling.in a very cold area of Maine who hadAnd, she adds, horses with summer- 4.Haylagecuttings wrapped in plastic grand-prix-level horses with a geneticpasture-associated asthma (these ani- soon after harvesting to maintain predisposition to early onset asthma.mals react to outdoor allergens presentnutrients and moistureis great if it The only way the client could keepin pasture) may be better off in a barn. comes from a reliable source. Poorly her horses healthy was to keep themmade haylage can harbor (the toxin turned out 24 hours a day and use rub- Barn Management that causes the neurologic disease) ber mats without bedding when she did1.Move horses outdoors before youbotulism, Mazan says.bring them into their stalls. use equipment that will increase air5.Storing hay in another building is 18February 2020The Horse|TheHorse.commAsthma_USE.indd 18 1/3/20 10:32 AM'