Equine asthma, formerly called heaves or recurrent airway obstruction, causes chronic breathing difficulty in horses. Environmental management and medication can dramatically improve affected horses' quality of life.
Chronic respiratory disease in horses causes significant ongoing discomfort and distress. Breathing difficulty during exercise and at rest is inherently stressful, and horses with severe asthma may struggle to breathe normally even when standing still. The characteristic labored breathing of severely affected horses is a clear welfare indicator. What makes equine asthma particularly relevant from a welfare standpoint is how much it can be prevented or controlled through management. Horses kept at pasture with minimal stable time, fed soaked or steamed hay, and housed in well-ventilated barns have dramatically lower rates of severe disease. Many horses suffer unnecessarily because management changes that would prevent disease are not made.