Jul 08 2010
4 Indoor Horse Health Tips
Living inside a stall can be harmful to the health of horses due to ammonia, which can build up into high concentrations causing respiratory infections, allergies, and heaves which are frequently seen in young foals who lie close to the stall floor.
In the summer you may choose to keep your horse indoors for show preparation, or not having the space available to turn the horse out. In winter the climate in most states is cold enough to where most people likely have their horses inside a tightly sealed barn – if this is the case then you need to be aware of the ammonia health risk your horses face.
One of the more stressful things done to our horse’s respiratory tract is to keep them in a barn with the doors shut. Horses spend a lot of time with their head on the floor close to harmful ammonia. Ammonia is a very toxic compound to lung tissue. Ten parts per million (ppm), the level where you can just detect an ammonia smell, is already toxic, and at 30 ppm your eyes will water. In one study, men working a 40-hour week in 11 ppm of ammonia developed ulcers in their lungs. Air circulation studies in English barns point to increased ammonia and dust as significant factors in the development of allergic lung disease such as heaves in horses and foals.
Sometimes it is hard for horse owners to realize the level of harmful ammonia in a stall, because they do not get down to the horse’s level and smell the ground, especially after a horse has spent 12 or 15 hours in the stall. If you walk into your barn in the morning and can smell ammonia there is a severe problem, and in those barns I see a much higher instance of respiratory disease. However, many barns have an ammonia problem and the owner does not know it, because the humans that inhabit the barn have become accustomed to the smell. Ask a friend who has no horses if they can smell ammonia in your barn after it has been closed up all night. Believe their answer; theirs will be the most objective opinion.
4 Indoor Horse Health Tips
Tip 1: During the winter when your barn is most likely sealed up – and likewise during the summer, be sure to open doors and windows periodically to let sunlight in and air the stalls out.
Tip 2: Try to avoid the use of blowers in the barn, they kick up an amazing amount of dust further putting stress on your horses lungs. Try a good old-fashioned broom, unless the horses are out of the barn.
Tip 3: If you are not using an ammonia odor absorbent like Stall Genie, then try to clean the wet spots in your stalls each day; allowing these wet spots to build up, then cleaning the stall once a week increases the ammonia at nose level for the horse, even though you may not smell it when inside the stall. However, using an ammonia absorbent and odor control product such as Stall Genie can lessen the need to clean stalls daily.
Tip 4: Most straw or horse bedding is not very absorbent, and will allow the build up of ammonia and moisture housing parasite populations; use an ammonia absorbent and odor blocker system such as Stall Genie Granules and Stall Zyme sprayer to help eliminate harmful ammonia odor and the diseases that accompany the exposure to ammonia in horse stalls.
Letting your horses out to exercise and breathe fresh air, even in the winter can vastly improve their overall health; however, for when they are kept inside the stall, following these 4 tips can greatly reduce harmful ammonia exposure and increase the horses overall health, resulting in less veterinarian bills for horse owners, and happier, healthier horses that perform at their peak.
