RE: [RC] [RC] animals and smoke inhalation - Susan E. Garlinghouse, DVM
I think it depends a lot on how much smoke was in your area,
etc. I know in my area, the sky is blue (well, it was yesterday) and you
can’t actually see anything like you could last week, but after an hour
or two, my throat and head starts to ache and my eyes are itchy and red.
In theory, I should know not to be running or exercising hard until the air
quality is better. For the horses, we’ve all seen lots of horses
that SHOULD be slowing down at rides and/or are exercising at a level that is
going to be a problem, but the horse still wants to go. Doesn’t
always mean he should be, right? It’s our job to be smart(er) on
their behalf.
Maybe it is being overcautious to give them some time off, but
consider what *could* happen if a horse with irritated respiratory
passages did go back to hard work. A much higher chance of permanent fibrosis
and scarring in the pulmonary tissues, thus less gas transfer, thus less
exercise efficiency. Potentially, development of problems like COPD (“heaves”)
and the end of a career. Caisson’s a really nice horse and that
would be a shame.
My husband just reminded me that about twelve years ago, I was
recovering from a simple cold, was entered to run a 5K that I didn’t want
to miss and ran (in reality, puttered) even though I was still a little
wheezy. Dumb idea, I got a lot wheezier and now have some permanent pulmonary
fibrosis. Not life threatening, but it was still dumb. All for a
stupid t-shirt that has long since gone into the rag bag.
I think this is one of those things that everyone has to decide
for themselves depending on how bad things got in their area, but it definitely
falls into the Better Safe Than Sorry category, as well, for humans as well as
horses. At least two weeks off won’t lose any significant
conditioning, and it’s a great excuse to do some schooling at a walk, or
ground manners, or trailer training, etc etc etc. There’s always
SOMETHING you can work on for a week or two to condition the brain and let the
respiratory system recover.
Susan Garlinghouse, DVM
>What about horses
that aren't showing any signs of problems (feels fine, wants to rip around, no
coughing)? Should I still give him a month off ? Do >I just assume that the airways are irritated,
even without any coughing or other symptoms?
>
>Most of the folks at
my ranch think I'm being overly cautious, since I haven't done anything but
hand walk Caisson, or get on and just walk for about >20
minutes. I've only turned him out in the round pens, since he doesn't
tear around in those.
