Anyone have any experience w/Collic in horses????

[Coco]

It sound's like I got pretty lucky with my filly! I'm very relieved. I went to check on her this morning. She was acting fine and didnt seem to be feeling bad at all. She was excited for "breakfast" her grain and ate every last bit. I watched her, she went out to graze w/the others in the pasture and seemed to be acting fine. But I will definately keep a very close eye on her for awhile.

There is something I am concerned about with her though. She does appear to be pretty thin these days...she's up to date on all Vet work & shots as of March. Including wormer...and I'm worming her again this evening. She eats really well and is on a high fat grain, receives 1 3 Qt scoop in the morning and then again in the evening. She'll be 2 years old in August...so I wondered if maybe she's gone through another growth spurt and that's why she looks thin. We let them graze in the pasture during the day and at night she has free access to hay in the dry lot. What do you think?

 

[ibpboo]

She's probably at the dorky stage. If she isn't showing ribs and stuff she is probably fine and just needs to grow. Two year olds are often long and lanky and look disproportioned at times. Can you post pictures of her?

What kind of horse is she? Are you looking for poop piles?

 

[Wolf-Kim]

Is she on a sandy pasture? We use Sandclear every now and then to help clean out their systems. Sand can collect in their gut and make them more colic prone. This happens often on sandly terrain or when the grass is low to the ground and they pick up the sand/dirt while grazing.

She could just be in her adolescant stage. You know, tall and wiry. Some of them mature at different stages than others. My QH colt just started really filling out and he is just over three years old.

-Kim

 

[Coco]

She is a Morgan and on the smaller size, not sure on exact "hand" size. She does appear "ribby" and boney...yes, I'll take some pics to post on here so you guys can see her and get a better idea. We live in Missouri, the dry lot is "dry" right now but since we are in the midwest we often do have a lot of rain but havent in the last week or so. She does often clean up grain off the dry lot, so maybe that's what caused the Collic...hmmm. And it has been pretty dusty lately too. What exactly is Sandclear? How do you give it to them? I might ask the vet about that.

 

[ibpboo]

I love Morgans!! Can't wait to see picture! Maybe she has picked up some sand. I mix mineral oil with wheat bran on occasion to help with that. A 5lb coffee can with a quart of mineral oil that you get from feed store. I also do not grain my horse unless I work them hard. And if I do, it is plain rolled oats, no molasses.

 

[ibpboo]

colic sites



http://www.dvshui.org/Articles-08_16153.html

http://extension.oregonstate.edu/catalog/html/ec/ec1474/

http://www.gaitedhorses.net/Articles/Colic.html

 

[Momo]

Yep, what patandchickens said. (And I love Morgans too!) Also I find some mild exercise can be helpful if it's gas colic (with my gelding who is prone to gas colic, the best thing is some gentle trotting and walking in the round pen). But you don't want want to exhaust the poor horse.

Also the horse's pulse rate may be the best indicator of how serious the colic is. You can feel the pulse under the horse's jaw, and should be familiar with how to do it. The more pain the horse has, the more elevated the pulse will be.

You filly is getting an awful lot of grain. Does she also get free choice hay? I ask this because it's common to increase a horse's caloric intake with concentrates instead of forage, but statistically the more grain a horse gets the more likely they are to colic. Good forage is really far more important than grain.

 

[patandchickens]

Yes, now that Momo mentions it, that is a considerable amount of grain for a young horse, 'specially a Morgan. Is it possible that there are resistant worms involved - with what, and on what schedule, have you been worming her? Or is it possible that she would benefit from a higher quality of hay? Or that another horse is preventing her from having *true* free-choice access to it?

That said, I'd MUCH MUCH rather see young horses a bit ribby than fat.

BTW, if she should ever colic again, although of course it is devoutly to be hoped that she does not, it might really be worth having the vet out to take a look. The reason being, to determine what type of colic -- impaction, gas, etc. "Colic" is a really vague catchall term for Tummy Pain In The Domestic Horse, and it can arise from a fairly wide variety of causes... your chance of identifying and fixing the problme is vastly higher if you can at least classify what *sort* of colic it is.

Good luck,


Pat

 

[DuckyBoys]

Quote:
I took several years of equine nutrition in college and if I were you I'd get rid of the grain and give her oil for calories and some beet pulp instead. If she had colic already and she's only 2 - not a good sign. Typically horses only NEED grain if they are in trianing - i.e. they require a LOT of energy due to performance. If you keep her on grain - only give her oats - absolutely NO CORN.

 

[Coco]

My vet actually was concerned I wasnt giving her enough grain as it was (2 3 Qt scoops a day...one in the morning & one in the evening) but when I told him the fat content amt and the brand he told me that was perfect for what she requried. I feed the other two brood mares who both foaled a month or so ago, each 8 3Qt scoops a day...4 in the morning and 4 in the evening...the vet looked at our grain and the scoop and measured it out into the bucket in my prescence to show me exactly how much. The little ones are now starting to creep feed, and he also said it helps the mares because they are nursing. All our horses have free access to hay 24/7 and my filly and her 2 adult buddies go out in the pasture every morning to evening now. I have been following my Vet's instructions to a tee...every thing he says to do, I do right away. I figure, he's obviously the Vet and I'm not...so he's going to know more than I do about this kind of thing. He is the Vet for the majority of those I know in our community regardless if they have farm or domestic animals and is so wonderful. So I dont doubt at all what he is instructing me to do...but do find it interesting there's a few people who wonder if it is too much grain.

By the way, I havent had a chance to take pics of my filly as I told people I'd post her pic, my morning sickness has been really bad lately and I've just not been up to doing much at all on my feet. But I will try to soon.