Managing equine mild to moderate asthma (formerly IAD) in horses through environmental management and targeted treatment.
Mild equine asthma is a welfare condition that is frequently overlooked because its signs — reduced performance, occasional cough, mildly elevated respiratory rate during exercise — are subtle and commonly attributed to fitness or training factors. A horse competing at reduced performance due to chronic subclinical lower airway inflammation is experiencing ongoing respiratory discomfort that is neither apparent to observers nor addressed by training. Environmental management is the cornerstone of treatment and prevention: moving from dry hay and straw bedding to haylage and shavings dramatically reduces airborne antigen load and often resolves mild asthma without medication. Welfare-aware management means recognising that respiratory limitation affects not just performance but the horse's fundamental comfort during work.