2009 has not been the greatest year for Raymond and I. He started coughing in June so I put him on Respi-Free which worked for June and July. And then in August, he started coughing again, so I had the vet out and he was scoped, and found to have an "allergic airway". He had a lot of inflammation so he was put on Prednisolone. I also put him on outdoor board so that he could be in the fresh air all the time, although I've continued to pay for a stall so that he can come in on the really bad-weather nights. He comes in maybe one night a week...the rest of the time, he stays out.
After the Prednisolone, he was still coughing, so I decided to try some natural remedies before going back to drugs. I did that throughout October and part of November, and they didn't really do anything, so decided to go back to my vet.
I managed to get him to three dressage shows in '09 (May, June, July) but had to skip the August one because he was coughing too much. I basically had to stop doing any real work with him, and could only take him for walking hacks...but I overcame my fear of hacking by doing this. We only have roads to hack on and Raymond has been such a steady-eddy, so that was a big accomplishment for me

In early December, I heard about a study that the OVC is doing for horses who cough and have allergies, so I took him there on Dec 17th and they discovered that he had pneumonia (this did not come up when he was scoped in August...it developed after that time). So he just finished a round of antibiotics to clear that up, and is on Prednisolone for another month, to clear up any residual inflammation. In February, he will start allergy meds (needles) through the OVC, which are free as part of the study...so there is a light at the end of the tunnel in that regard.
I haven't been able to ride him for most of December

It has been a long haul, and a pretty sucky year, but I am hopeful that, once he is on the allergy needles, this will maintain him so that I'm able to resume a normal riding routine with him. My goals for 2010 are not geared towards showing...my BO has a 4-horse trailer and I'm trying to talk her into trailering a group of us to places where we can go hacking on real trails. I just want to be able to have fun with Raymond, and I think I'd have a lot more fun hacking than showing. He is with me for life, and I want to do easy things that will not stress his lungs too much...the allergies are something he will always have.
So, that's it for us. Next??