Neighing instead of barking!

As far back as the Middle Ages monks appre­ci­ated the healing effect of a salt inhala­tion. The augmented water vapor relieves coughs, clears a congested nose and moistens irri­tated mucous membranes. What’s bene­fi­cial for people must also be pleasant for animals – at least that’s what one of the customers of Plas­t­puit OÜ thought. Up until now he used the salt inhaler from the Estonian company as a remedy for his asthma. Finally, he asked himself whether it could also help his horse to take a few deep breaths. Lo and behold: The horse coughed the mucus out of its bronchial tubes.

The horse inhaler in use.

This idea prompted Plas­t­puit to test various compo­nents for a horse inhaler together with its Finnish busi­ness partner Polar Health. Based on the inhaler for people that already existed, they devel­oped the therapy device further for animal patients – and equipped the portable breathing appa­ratus with a radial fan from ebm-papst. Veiko Proos, Regional Director of ebm-papst Estonia, is pleased with the coop­er­a­tion and explains: “The rugged radial fan from ebm-papst runs very quietly and reli­ably, and is there­fore a perma­nent part of the inhaler. The therapy device from Plas­t­puit went into series produc­tion at the begin­ning of this year.”

The portable breathing appa­ratus with a radial fan from ebm-papst.

Its use frees the horse’s lungs of mucus and bacteria: The horse owner places two teaspoons of salt in the lower cylinder of the device and closes the lid. At the press of a button an air stream is gener­ated that swirls up and heats the salt gran­ules inside the container. The resulting fric­tion produces a fine salt dust which is blown into the mask through a hose. It can be fastened quite easily to the halter and surrounds the horse’s nose during the treat­ment. As the inhaler is made of high-quality plastic and acid-resis­tant steel, it is resis­tant to corro­sion and easy to clean after use. Regard­less of whether it’s in a stable box or out on the farm, horses can inhale the salt parti­cles anywhere – completely without side effects. This respi­ra­tory therapy is frequently used for race horses to increase their perfor­mance. However, regular treat­ment also helps older horses breath more easily. Espe­cially in Scan­di­navia, several horse owners already swear by the effec­tive­ness of the salt dust.