Equine asthma (formerly RAO/COPD) is a common and welfare-significant chronic respiratory condition linked to poor stable air quality and dusty forage management.
Equine asthma causes chronic respiratory distress that significantly reduces quality of life. Horses with sEA experience dyspnoea (difficulty breathing) that worsens with physical effort, making exercise painful rather than enriching. The constant effort required to breathe against airway resistance causes fatigue, anxiety, and reduced feed intake. Welfare management requires both pharmacological and environmental intervention: bronchodilators (clenbuterol, salbutamol) and corticosteroids provide symptom relief, but without environmental management, disease will progress. Converting to soaked or steamed hay, switching to paper or rubber crumb bedding, and maximising turnout time are the most important welfare measures. Nebulised medication delivery using equine-specific nebulisers is increasingly available for severe cases.