Vet Tips 2025: How to Help Your Horse During Allergy Season 🐴🌸

By Dr Duncan Houston BVSc

Allergy season can turn any happy horse into a wheezy, itchy, miserable mess. From hives to coughing, these immune responses can seriously impact your horse’s comfort, performance, and well-being. Fortunately, with the right care and prevention strategies, you can help your horse breathe easier and feel better. 🐎💨

Understanding Equine Allergies 🤧🧠

Allergies in horses are caused by an overreaction of the immune system. When exposed to allergens—like dust, pollen, mold, insect saliva, or noxious gases—your horse’s body releases IgE antibodies. These antibodies bind to cells and release chemicals like histamine that cause itching, inflammation, and other allergic signs. 🦠🔥

Common Allergy Symptoms in Horses 👁️🐴

• 🌿 Coughing or nasal discharge
• 🧱 Hives or raised welts on the skin
• 😾 Scratching, biting, or rubbing body parts
• 💥 Labored breathing or wheezing
• 🚫 Decreased performance or energy levels

Some allergies are mild. Others can lead to serious respiratory issues or chronic skin infections if left unmanaged. 🩺

Respiratory Allergies 🌬️🐎

These allergies affect the airways and lungs. They’re commonly triggered by:

• 🌾 Dust and mold in hay
• 🧬 Airborne spores from bedding or manure
• 💨 Ammonia fumes in closed barn spaces

Horses with respiratory allergies may cough, wheeze, or struggle with exercise tolerance.

How to Help:

• 🚪 Remove your horse from the barn during stall cleaning
• 🏠 Store hay in a separate, ventilated building
• 💧 Soak or steam hay to reduce dust and spore exposure
• 🌬️ Improve barn ventilation and reduce ammonia buildup

Daily management is key to long-term respiratory comfort. 🧼

Skin Allergies (Insect Bite Hypersensitivity) 🦟😿

This is one of the most common causes of seasonal itchiness in horses. The immune system overreacts to the saliva of biting insects—especially Culicoides midges, black flies, and stable flies.

Signs Include:

• 🔁 Rubbing the mane, tail, or belly
• 🧱 Hair loss or scabbing
• 🪰 Hives or skin inflammation

How to Help:

• 🧴 Apply fly sprays daily
• 🧣 Use fly sheets, masks, and belly bands
• 🚫 Avoid turnout during peak fly times (early morning and dusk)
• 🦟 Consider feed-through fly control or fly predators

In more severe cases, your veterinarian may recommend antihistamines, corticosteroids, or allergy desensitization therapy. 💉

What About Food Allergies? 🍽️🤷‍♂️

While less common, food allergies can also cause skin and respiratory signs. Suspect a food allergy if your horse is itchy year-round and not responding to insect or environmental changes. 🔄

Your vet may recommend an elimination diet—usually starting with grass hay only for several weeks—to identify culprits like soy, molasses, or alfalfa. 🥗🧪

Preventing Exposure to Allergens 🛡️🏡

• 🌬️ Increase barn airflow with fans or windows
• 🧽 Keep bedding clean and low-dust
• 🚫 Eliminate moldy hay or old feed
• 🧼 Clean stalls daily to reduce ammonia and flies

When to Call Your Vet 📞🩺

Contact your veterinarian if:

• 📈 Symptoms worsen or do not improve with management
• 🧬 You notice hives, difficulty breathing, or extreme itch
• 🚨 There are signs of infection from constant rubbing or scratching

Your vet can create a custom treatment plan, prescribe safe medications, and help identify the specific allergens affecting your horse. 🧠

Need Allergy Support? Ask A Vet 🐴📱

Don’t guess when it comes to your horse’s health. If your horse is itchy, wheezing, or breaking out in hives, get expert advice through Ask A Vet.

Download the Ask A Vet app for 24/7 guidance on allergy management, environmental control, and seasonal symptom relief. 🌿🐎

Final Thoughts: Breathe Easier This Spring 🌸🐴

Allergy season can be tough, but with the right management plan, your horse doesn’t have to suffer. Control allergens, optimize barn care, and involve your vet early for best results. 🧘‍♀️

Need help? Visit Ask A Vet and breathe easier this spring—with expert support for every horse. 🐎💙