Colic And Your Horse: An Experience Full Of Bellyache, Heartache, And Important Lessons

Image from freefotouk

It was 6:30 A.M. on a crisp September morning when I received the phone call. I was at home, getting ready to leave my career and paycheck behind and welcome in a new baby. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky, the leaves were turning amber gold and red, and I was 9 months pregnant with my first child kicking away in my belly.

The Dreaded Call

My horse was experiencing another form of discomfort in her belly, and my plans for a gorgeous late summer day (and week) were about to change drastically. The call was a conversation that horse owners dread: “Your horse was down and rolling and probably has been that way through the night. Can you come right away?”

A Little Like Labor

When I got to the barn, my stoic horse looked like a woman in labor without all the moaning, screaming or relief bought about by an epidural. The barn manager had been walking her, and the vet was on the way.

Later that morning Sage would be tubed with mineral oil, have an arm put up through her rectum to feel the impaction way up in her intestines, forced to walk, and be given a dose of pain killer that seemed to me to wear off way too quickly.

We had her stabilized, but this was not the end of it. The impaction was so unreachable and so severe that it would take another visit from the vet the next day, lots of walking, round the clock vigils, and several hundred dollars to get her to the point of this conclusion: she needed to go to the nearest equine hospital (at least an hour away) for surgery, and I needed to call them and schedule it right away.

Image from jeffc5000

That Little Five Letter Word

Colic: the word that sends a jolt through the gut of every horse owner. That reaction is understandable and expected since colic is well-known as the number one killer of horses. If you and your horse are colic survivors, you can consider yourselves extremely fortunate. You probably also know, though, that horses who have experienced a colic are more likely to experience it again, so you are always on guard.

If you and your horse have never experienced an episode of colic, consider buying a lottery ticket. At minimum, give yourself a big pat on the back.

Designed By Mother Nature

I believe that humans are to blame for most of the colic episodes that horses endure and also die from, due mostly to our horsekeeping practices (the same can be said for ulcers). I highly doubt that horses in the wild have as high a rate of these two maladies as their domestic counterparts.

Nature would just not have designed a beast over millions of years to be killed off so easily and frequently by the likes of colic; if they colicked that easily out in the wild, I don’t think we would have the BLM rounding them up by the hundreds and thousands. It would be wolves removing dead carcasses.

However, I myself think that even if colic was found to take down a lot of wild horses, we should be doing what we can to prevent it from happening to their domestic counterparts. We have accumulated vast amounts of knowledge on how to prevent it, and a lot of it is simply common sense. It is far easier to prevent colic than to cure it once your horse is in the throes of a full-blown impaction colic nightmare.

An added benefit of trying to prevent colic by taking care of a horse more naturally is that when you do take those steps, you end up preventing a lot of other diseases and chronic illnesses as well and will have an overall healthier and happier horse.

An Ounce Of Prevention Is Worth Several Hundred Pounds Of Horse Flesh

As the weather warms up across the country, horses have more time to spend outside of their stalls, more opportunities for grazing, and more consistent exercise; these are all good things when it comes to colic prevention.

Following are a few colic prevention tips that are handy to have stored in your gray matter. It is not an all-inclusive list, just a few key reminders. There are lots of excellent resources on the internet and in the form of horse care books that talk extensively about colic.

My Personal Top Five

1. Water
Warm weather and increased exercise means increased requirements for water. Automatic waterers are convenient, but you will never know how much water your horse is drinking or not drinking. Going off of feed and water is a big red flag for colic; make sure that you will be able to know when your horse is waving that flag.

Having a back-up water supply is important in case something goes wrong with your automatic watering system. That water, obviously, should be palatable; clean water seems like it should be a given, but in my experience it tends to get overlooked at a busy barn where algae accumulating in water troughs takes a backseat to other chores.

Don’t force your horse to choose between his thirst and warm, dirty water with algae build-up (or rust build-up on the automatic waterers).

2. Grazing
Grazing is natural, needed by your horse mentally and physically, and keeps feedstuff and fiber going slowly through the intestines at a fairly constant rate. If your horse does not have access to grazing it is important to feed small meals frequently throughout the day; three feedings a day should be the absolute minimum.

Grazing also means the potential for ingesting sand depending on the soil that your horse is grazing upon. Sand build-up in the intestines has been linked to colic. If you know that your horse’s pasture is especially sandy, then it would behoove you to take precautionary methods.

3. Supplements
Psyllium and ground flax are two supplements touted to help prevent sand colic by helping to carry the sand out of the sytem. Flax has the added benefit of adding essential fatty acids to your horse’s diet for shining health and shiny coat. Both psyllium and flax are easily located and not cost-prohibitive.

4. Hay
Make sure that your hay is a nice, fine-stemmed variety and free of mold. A bargain price on hay is not a bargain if it costs you several hundred or several thousand dollars in veterinary bills – or your horse’s life.

5. Preventative Vet Care
Get regular fecal checks as part of a good deworming program and make sure that your horse’s immune system is up to par to take care of invading worms and other health robbers.

More To Come

Be sure to check out part two with helpful information for when your horse does experience colic.

Resources for More Information