managing grass allergies

[blob]

MM's allergy tests came back and unfortunately the biggest triggers seem to be just about every type of grass that grows in the area -- particularly bermuda, but also rye, fescue and some weeds--clover, dandelion, sorrel. Essentially she's allergic to GA pastures. Currently she also gets bermuda hay, but I don't that is as big of a culprit as the actual grass--that's also easier to change/eliminate.

If I had my own property this would be much easier. But as a boarder, it's more challenging there are very few barns in the area that have dry lots and I don't really want to keep her stalled all the time. I've spoken to the barn manager at the barn we're moving to and we are trying to find a solution--putting her in the pasture that is the most sparse, not re-seeding it with bermuda, trying crabgrass instead, etc. Grazing muzzle will be hard since all hay and food is fed outside.

Anyway, wanted to source this group to see if anyone had suggestions or thoughts on what we can do.

[exvet]

Dry lot, lots of bathing to keep the pollen and hay seed that will invariably get on her skin off, allergy support products that you find work AND contacting your nutritionist to design a mostly alfalfa (or other legume, northern cool grass) based diet. Though I'm not saying that you will have to do this, I do know of at least 3 people who moved their horses out of state due to similar issues. Their horses went on to do very well. I am very fortunate that where the stinker lives right now, he has absolutely no exposure to Palo verde trees and is symptom free. There is the occasional feral cat (he is allergic to cats) but they don't really come in direct contact.

[blob]

Dry lot, lots of bathing to keep the pollen and hay seed that will invariably get on her skin off, allergy support products that you find work AND contacting your nutritionist to design a mostly alfalfa (or other legume, northern cool grass) based diet. Though I'm not saying that you will have to do this, I do know of at least 3 people who moved their horses out of state due to similar issues. Their horses went on to do very well. I am very fortunate that where the stinker lives right now, he has absolutely no exposure to Palo verde trees and is symptom free. There is the occasional feral cat (he is allergic to cats) but they don't really come in direct contact.

Exvet--she will be getting orchard/alfalfa hay mix (both were fine on allergy test) in addition to her grain. The hay will be free choice. Do you think there are other things I need to do to compensate for the lack of grass?

She lives in a sweet itch blanket in the summer anyway so that will keep everything off her skin and wills tay on the apoquel for now. We only ran a panel for SE allergens, so before I would consider selling her (which is what I would have to do to move her out of state), I would need to run other regional panels because it would break my hear to sell her only to find out she has allergies in the other location too.

Unfortunately, we a true dry lot isn't an option for any boarding facilities in the area.

[exvet]

We have several horses here on orchard/alfalfa (not mine because fortunately they do very well on cheaper options like bermuda) that do very well without the need for more fiber or calories (energy). These are mostly warmbloods but the neighbors who are top of the world charts (literally) also feed this combination to a few of their competition stallions. I can't say with certainty if they don't supplement but knowing what's in their storage barn it really doesn't look like it. The ONE thing that all of us here in dry lot central have learned is that you really should supplement Vitamin E, natural vitamin E to avoid muscle and neurological issues that occur with deficiencies.

[khall]

Do they not do allergy shots anymore? I cared for a TB years ago who had so many allergies and we did SQ injections

Jingles that you can get MM back to working mode blob

[exvet]

I realize that this was directed to Blobu; but, yes, they still do allergy shots and the stinker pony was on them for a few years. I found that they helped but they became too cost prohibitive without enough benefit. I was lucky that the stinker's symptoms were mostly skin/hair issues so we were able to continue to work. Fortunately for me I didn't really lose out on competing but the pony still had occasional flare ups that required steroids. With the hyposensitiization injections It still took close to 6 months to get him to at least have some relief from them. I eventually moved him to a property that didn't have any palo verde trees close enough to cause him issues. Though I do still worry that he may develop allergies eventually to something else.

[Chisamba]

I'm amazed that boarding barns do not have dry lots. What do they do for laminitis and PSSM?

I have unfortunately not had success with allergy injections which resulted in a severe reaction. I know it is statistically very rare.

I am sorry that is sad

[khall]

Chisamba is extremely difficult here in Georgia to have dry lots. Grass grows everywhere. I regularly have to hit my arena with roundup to keep the grasss out.

[blob]

We are planning to try the allergy shots, but MM has a very hard time with shots, so that is a challenge. And she gets bad reactions to pretty much any injection so it's also a risk. I know allergy shots have had mixed results. But I am discussing with my vet.

And yes, it takes a LOT of work to have a dry lot in GA, things will grow unless you're actively removing them. Arenas have to be dragged and treated to keep them from turning into fields. People with metabolic horses use grazing muzzles down here for the most part. But because MM is responding to the grass pollen more than consumption the muzzle won't help her much.

Right now the plan is to put her in the worst pasture in terms of grass and overseed with crabgrass, which is pretty aggressive and see if that helps. We can also limit her turnout in the summer and will keep her on apoquel. I'm not sure if these things will help, but we will try

[khall]

Blob that’s good MM is not allergic to crab grass. It’s a good forage and extremely hardy. Very difficult to eradicate! We finally (cross my fingers) found the right Pre emergent for crab grass. Boy it’s pricey though! For our Bermuda hay fields.

[blob]

Blob that’s good MM is not allergic to crab grass. It’s a good forage and extremely hardy. Very difficult to eradicate! We finally (cross my fingers) found the right Pre emergent for crab grass. Boy it’s pricey though! For our Bermuda hay fields.

She's not currently allergic to it, but I suspect over time it might develop. But the good news is that it is a low pollen grass compared to something like Bermuda or rye (I've been reading a lot about grass lately, lol), so that will also help a lot. And thankfully it's aggressive enough that it should hopefully take over the Bermuda quickly

[khall]

Rye bothers my DH pretty bad my DS is bothered by most grasses. I’ve heard of several mustangs having issues in the south. Such a different environment than what they were born into. Elisa wallace is one of the few who seems to not had issues with her mustangs allergy wise.

I hope you can get MM better. Is it true copd? Where the lungs are damaged

[blob]

The vet thinks we caught it in time for real damage but only a BAL test or time will tell. Vet didn't suggest doing a BAL yet as lungs sound good and even though it is easy for her to get winded, recovery time is good. But if things do not improve we will do it. But we're also being aggressive with treatment right now.

[khall]

That’s good blob. I hope there is no damage. I faced all that uncertainty with Rip and his cicatrix. Jingles for MM and I’m glad you have RP.