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Vetdle Archive

Archive Case #25: Equine Asthma

Horse veterinary case - Medium - March 28, 2026

Clinical Clues

  1. A 14-year-old gelding is evaluated for chronic coughing and poor performance.
  2. The owner reports the signs worsen when the horse is stabled and fed dusty hay.
  3. At rest, the horse has increased respiratory effort with an obvious abdominal component.
  4. A heave line is visible along the caudoventral abdomen.
  5. Endoscopy and airway sampling support chronic non-infectious lower airway inflammation.
  6. Long-standing hypersensitivity to inhaled organic dust can cause severe equine asthma with chronic expiratory effort and airflow obstruction.

Diagnosis

Equine Asthma

This case is most consistent with Equine Asthma because the horse has chronic cough, increased expiratory effort, and worsening signs in a dusty stable environment. The heave line, environmental trigger, and chronic lower-airway inflammation support severe equine asthma, historically called recurrent airway obstruction or heaves, over an acute infectious process.

Learning review

Review the case evidence

Use the paired clues to explain how the evidence in this horse case supports the provided diagnosis, Equine Asthma, then compare your reasoning with the case explanation.

Evidence checkpoints

Clues 1-2

  1. Clue 1: A 14-year-old gelding is evaluated for chronic coughing and poor performance.
  2. Clue 2: The owner reports the signs worsen when the horse is stabled and fed dusty hay.

Clues 3-4

  1. Clue 3: At rest, the horse has increased respiratory effort with an obvious abdominal component.
  2. Clue 4: A heave line is visible along the caudoventral abdomen.

Clues 5-6

  1. Clue 5: Endoscopy and airway sampling support chronic non-infectious lower airway inflammation.
  2. Clue 6: Long-standing hypersensitivity to inhaled organic dust can cause severe equine asthma with chronic expiratory effort and airflow obstruction.

Self-review prompts

  1. After clues 1-2, what evidence from this horse case shaped your initial interpretation?
  2. When you compare clues 3-4 with clues 1-2, what changed in your reasoning about Equine Asthma?
  3. How do clues 5-6 align with the case explanation for Equine Asthma?

Educational Use

Vetdle archive cases are educational veterinary games for diagnostic reasoning practice. They do not provide veterinary advice, diagnosis, treatment, or professional medical guidance.