Severe equine asthma (formerly heaves) causes chronic respiratory distress in horses, requiring environmental management and medication to maintain welfare.
Severe equine asthma causes chronic respiratory distress that is genuinely debilitating. Horses with SEA struggle to breathe normally at rest and experience significantly greater distress during any exercise. The work of breathing through chronically inflamed, mucus-filled airways is exhausting and reduces quality of life throughout the day. Horses stabled in dusty hay and straw environments continue to experience airway inflammation regardless of medication if the environmental trigger is not eliminated. The single most effective welfare intervention for severe equine asthma is turning horses out to pasture year-round, removing them from the dusty stable environment that drives the inflammatory cycle. For owners with stabling needs, wet or steamed hay and dust-free bedding materials (paper, rubber matting) are essential.