The medications helped clear up the heaves along with a schedule of 20 hours in the stall and 4 hours turned out in a sand ring with no access whatsoever to a pasture. I also made sure that he got at least one hour of good exercise a day. We lived in Florida for 2 years after that, all the while on this strict regimen of medications and exercise/stall routine. He ended up being my best schooling horse for students and in the best condition of all 15 horses in the barn.
We moved to New England after the 2 years were up. It was a cold April. Bubba walked off the trailer after a 3 day trip to get here and about a gallon of mucous poured out of his nostrils when he put his head down. He was, again, a very sick horse. Again, we set up a medication schedule and exercise. Fortunately, here in New England, we don't have the molds and such in the grasses so Bub was finally able to be turned out again 24 hours a day after heavy doses of his medicines. He became a happy camper. New England agreed with Bub and Bub agreed with New England. At 22 years of age we jokingly entered Barrel races at a local show and ended up in First place out of over 50 entries! I couldn't believe that a 22 year old, chronically ill horse could run so fast. Particularly one who had been so very ill. But, we did it ... in 16.3 seconds!
Since our move here in 1994, I've not had any problems with Bub's heaves until this past spring and summer. For whatever the reason, Bub has had a most debilitating year. He has had his steroid shots again and he's been getting two different medications at the same time but still did not rally until I began earnest studies in Herbal Remedies and decided to try him on Comfrey and Mullein. Literally, within 24 hours of receiving his first 'dose' of Mullein leaves, his wheezing in his lungs and the rales in his bronchial tubes disappeared. His flanks stopped showing the tremendous muscles efforts to expel his air and the whites of his eyes have turned back to white after being yellow-orange since April. I did nothing different than I had been doing ... watering down his hay, allowing him 24 hour turnout, making sure his stall was immaculately clean and always had plenty of fresh air moving through when he so chose to stand in it. When I gave him the first handful of chopped Mullein leaves, I stopped his chemical medications. I really didn't expect such a dramatic response. The last two days have been rather humid and I fully expected him to begin his heaves again, but other than a bit of exertion upon exhaling, he's been fine. He's not coughed in close to a full week's time. The last two days I also added Comfrey leaves to his Mullein. Just a handful of crushed, shredded fresh leaves. I added this as a buffer against the humid air. It's such a blessing to know that finally, I've found *something* that will help this now 24 year old horse. I expect that he'll be around for a good number of additional years. His coat is glossy; his eyes are bright; his body is beginning to get back into condition and his attitude is that of an adolescent horse!
