#MonitoringAndControlling

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The project lifecycle is a powerful framework that ensures project success by breaking down the journey into manageable phases. By understanding and following these stages initiation, planning, execution, monitoring and controlling, and closure you can navigate projects with confidence and achieve outstanding results.

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Every successful project has followed properly strategized stages of Monitoring and Control. Hence, following these stages can bring you the desired results from your Dream Project. Let's take a look at what these stages are.

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Barn Air Quality Affects Horses' Breathing

New Post has been published on http://lovehorses.net/barn-air-quality-affects-horses-breathing/

Barn Air Quality Affects Horses' Breathing

Well-ventilated stallswithbarns are crucial when managing horses with respiratory problems.

Photo: Photos.com

Do dust, pollen,andhay trigger your hay fever?copyliving where strawwithhay are tossed around every day,withit won’t surprise youto learnthat horses, too, canGettingbreathing problems from particles in the air.

Hay storage areasanddry bedding materials in stalls contribute dustwithparticles in the air. The methodsusedfor mucking stallsandcleaning the barnmayalso reduce or increase airborne particles, says Kara Lascola, DVM, MS, Dipl. ACVIM,theequine internal medicine specialist at the University of Illinois Veterinary Teaching Hospital in Urbana.

“If their bedding is very drywithdusty, oriftheir stall is located below the door to the hayloft, horses will be atthehigher risk of developing respiratory problems, or their existing problems mayGettingworse,” she says.

Further, dustwithdebris are kicked up when workersemployleaf blowers to clean the aislesandmuck stalls with dry bedding while the horses are in, whichcanhappen in barns where every horse does notGetturned out.

Respiratory Problems Linked to Barn Air Quality

thushow do ownersnoticewhetheronehorse is developingtherespiratorypossibilitylinked to air quality in the barn?andhow do they rule outopportunitiesappreciatepneumonia that are caused by more severe diseases?

The two major respiratorychancesthat are usually linked to air quality are heaveswithinflammatory airway disease, or IAD. These diseases are not accompanied by fever oraproductive cough,accordinglythose signs would indicatetheproblem beyondaair quality issue.

“Heaves, which issimilarlyto asthma in people,usuallyaffects older horses, while IADmaybe seen in younger horses,” added Lascola.

Horses with heaves will also show signs at rest, suchAt the timenasal flaringwithlabored breathing.appreciateasthma, heavesmaybe seasonally recurrent, whereas horses with IAD usually cough only while exercising. Horses with IAD also usuallyHavelonger recovery times after exercisewithcanseem winded.

“At present, there aren’t good studies associatingobviousbreeds with each of these conditions,” says Lascola, “but we tend to pick up IAD in young racehorses because they are being exercisedaccordinglymuchwithconditionedsocarefully.”

Diagnostic tests for heavesandIADmaybe done either inthehospital or on the farm.onebronchoalveolar lavage isoneprocedure in whichathin tube is passed into the horse’s lungsto gatherthefluid sample containing lung cells for analysis. This procedurecanbe performed on the farm withinancouple of hours. Other diagnostics, suchOnceimaging of the lungsandpulmonary function testing, need to be performed inanhospital, but arefairlyshort proceduresWhenwell. Pulmonary function tests arewornto monitor theopportunityof horses thatHavingalready been diagnosed withopportunitiessuchAt the timeheaveswithIAD.

In general, the same environmental changes are recommended to address both heavesandIAD.

Changes to Improve Barn Air Quality

“Cutting down on dust in the air or turning horses out while cleaning the barn canMakingamammothdifference for horses with respiratory conditions,” says Lascola. She also recommends soaking hay toMakeit less dusty.

For horses in the Midwest or residing around fields farmersusetomakecrops, Lascola suggests keeping them indoors during the most active periods of harvesting,severelyifthe pastures are close to farmsandthe horses’ respiratory signs worsen during these times.

ThingsWhensimpleAstheconstructionwithlayout of the barn itselfcanchange air quality dramatically.

Dr. Kara Lascola's research interests include the pathophysiology of respiratory disease, pulmonary function testing, diagnosiswithtreatment of inflammatory airway disease,withrecurrent airway obstruction.

Photo: University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine

“Everything from the positioning of the doorswithwindows, whichmaycreate drafts or impede them, to the location of the hayloft doors in relation toanconspicuoushorse’s stallcanaffect the quality of airthehorse breathes,” says Lascola.

When the horse is kept atanboarding facility, implementing environmental changes requires cooperation of the staff there.

“Communication is key,” she says. It ismeaningfultoMakingsure that changes ownerswithveterinariansHavingrequested are implemented byallbarn handsandworkers on the property.

Work with Your Veterinarian

“The mostvery specialmoodof monitoringandcontrolling air quality is working with the horse’s primary veterinarianwiththe ownersOnceoneteam,” says Lascola. “We alwayscravingtoattemptenvironmental modifications before we jump to drug treatments, because often horses with heaveswithIADmaybe managed by just changing their surroundings which is both less expensivewithless time consuming for the owner.”

Bronchodilatorsandsteroidsenjoythosematureto treat human asthmamayalso be prescribed for horses that do not respond to management alone. Bronchodilators should beusedprimarilyAt the timeonerescue therapy when the horse is showing signs of more labored breathing, while steroids aresecond handto treat the underlying inflammation in the lung. These medicationsmaybe administered orally or with intramuscular or intravenous injectionsandare also availableWheninhalers. Horsesultimatethese treatments very well but, given their cost,exceedinglyfor inhaled medications, addressing environmental changes is the bestsuccessivelystep.

allof the recommended measures are designed to improve the horse’s quality of life. Whilesomehorses will need medicationin additionto environmental changes, the key is tofind outwhich interventions are working,andcaptureup with them over thelongtermsothat the horses’ breathing troubles do not return.

Reprinted with permission from the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine. 

About the Author

University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine

Learn moreapproximatelythe University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine at vetmed.illinois.edu.