Wheezers and Coughers!!

We have treated a large number of "heavy" horses and I have been seeing a very interesting trend. Historically, we get orders from horse owners when their vets have tried everything else and their horse is not responding to any of the normally proscribed medicines. The breathing rate usually exceeds 40 breaths per minute. We have reports of 60+ breaths per minute.

Our standard protocol for a heavy horse is for the first week is to treat twice a day on the LOW setting with at least two minutes of massage. The second week we ask the owner to treat twice a day on the HIGH setting plus massage. By the end of the second week the breathing rate is usually half of the starting rate. It is at the end of the second week we start tweaking the protocol to match the symptoms. If the horse is wheezing or continues to cough, we add more MASSAGE time to the treatment. Usually by the end of the second week we advise the owner to only treat once a day on HIGH. Adding MASSAGE to the treatment really helps with both wheezing and coughing. The clients are asked to continue to track the respiration rate. We have to remind the clents that REMODELING the lung will just take time.

As the horse gets better and better, it will tell you if frequency of the treatments still match the protocol. What we have again found on MAINTENANCE, you have to treat at least every three days to maintain a healthy horse.