Colic in horses

[newfoundland]

Hardly chicken centred I know, but does anyone have experience with horse colic? My daughters miniature shetland presented last evening with his 4th bout of gassy colic this summer, never having suffered with it previously. We managed it in the usual way with walking and anticolic meds, and he recovered in about 4 hours. She is routinely feeding mint leaves and fennell seeds to dissapate any build up of gas. Any suggestions would be gratefully received.

 

[greeneacre]

Sorry to hear that you have been having so much trouble with your equine. It he a mini horse or a Shetland pony? Both have different feeding needs and discussing the best way to approach adjusting the way you manage them is dependent on that. With being so small, your vet might not have been able to do a rectal on him to see if there is anything going on. Getting an Ultra sound or xray is much easier on a little guy and you might consider getting that done to be sure you don't have a build up of sand or something else in his belly for him to be colicing so much.

 

[naturalfeddogs]

Some horses and ponies just seem to be more prone to colic than others. Could be over feeding, not drinking enough water (be sure there is access to a salt block. That will help encourage drinking), could be too much grass even. Stress can cause it, sudden weather changes even. There are so many reasons a horse can colic, but I think I would look first at diet. Too much feed, not enough water, etc....

Also, where are you feeding? If they are in a sandy area, they may be picking up sand when they eat spilled feed. Over time, sand will build up and cause colic.

 

[featherfooted]

Check his manure and see if they look dry, if so He's not drinking enough water. This can lead to an impaction. We almost lost a pony to a impaction due to him not drinking. If he's not drinking you can give him electrolytes or powered gatorade in his feed and make sure he has a salt block available at all times.

 

[animalsRawesome]

If he does have sand build-up, they sell stuff you can put on their feed... I used to give it to my gelding... can't remember exactly what the name was, but I could look if you wanted. And, in my experience, ponies can not tolerate hardly any rich green grass, especially after they have coliced once...

 

[newfoundland]

Thank you everyone for your responses. He is a miniature shetland pony and we have had him for 8 years without any problems. He is fed haylage throughout the winter with the other horses and turned out every day for as long as possible. He is having grass during the day at this time of the year. He has a night net of haylage but it is weighed to make sure he doesn't have too much. He has an evening feed of a small handful of chaff, a couple of carrots/apples, a spoonful of fennell seeds and dried mint leaves and a little garlic powder. I don't think he is overfed or underfed as the vet says he is a good weight. It would be impossible to do an internal examination as he is such a little fellow. He does have access in his stable to a salt lick. We are getting a probiotic digestion ballancer to hopefully help to keep his gut in healthy condition. The vet says this is just mild and could be caused by moist haylage that discourages him from drinking enough, so we are considering soaking his haylage. Does anyone have any experience with soaking haylage?

 

[katescountryfarm]

My TB is a colic king. I now give him a senior feed even though he is only 4. I also give him timothy hay....lots of it! I always thought he was eating sand but the vets never found sand in his poo. Just lots of gut noises. While they have the "belly ache" cut back on all food and give only water. The vet has also given meds that cleared him up quick. I only call if he's not better after 24-48 hours. Also, make sure he doesn't have an impaction.

 

[animalsRawesome]

I'm not an expert, but I have never even heard of anybody feeding their horses haylage. To be honest, I didn't even know you could

(thought haylage was pretty much just for cows)

 

[featherfooted]

You can also soak alfalfa cubes in water to get them to drink more water. Add enough water so that it is nice and soupy. We did this at the barn when we had a boarder's horse that wouldn't drink in the winter.

 

[Eggsoteric]

There's haylage and sileage (with the latter being what you may be referring to as being fed mostly to cattle). I believe the difference is the moisture content and the fact that haylage is usually baled. A lot of folks in the UK feed their horses haylage.