** Pony Is Colicing ** Final UPDATE #64

[farrier!]

Sorry, works on every horse we have ever seen when put on correctly.
Edited to add. When they are sucking air they are windsucking, everything else is a form of cribbing. Does not matter what the name is. If left alone it can often lead to a horses death.

 

[allison finch]

I works , but I almost always see serious gum recession.

 

[buck-wild-chick]

She just chews the wood.No cribbing...

My vet suggested i paint the wood.So im going to the feedstore now to find some of the sour paint stuff.

But i will have to replace the wood slats in her stall first

 

[buck-wild-chick]

Thank you ALL who gave me advise or prayers.
Farah is doing awsome and is being the typical moody pony.
Im so glad to have people out there to talk to for advise at 3:00am LOL
I luv byc

 

[jellybean]

Just ran across this, glad your horse is doing better! The others are right, if a coliced horse wants to lay quitly it's fine to let them rest. You don't want to exhaust them by walking too much. It's the rolling and thrashing that causes a twist and you cannot let them do that!
Also with Banamine you have to watch closely. It will make them feel better, but if it's a serious impaction it might cover the signs and you won't know it's more serious and needs to see the vet asap.
If your horse is chewing wood a lot she might be mineral deficient. My horses used to all crib, I changed their salt/mineral supplement and with a brand new wood fence and shed. They haven't chewed one spot in the several months they've been in it. Completely quit.
Try a salt/vitamin/mineral supplement formulated for the type of hay you feed. There's also a supplement called Quit that is supposed to stop cribbing, but I haven't tried it. It's guaranteed though. Has minerals added.

 

[siroiszoo]

Quote:
I'm reading this late & hopefully all is well now. But I agree with this one. When the horse lies down and rolls back and forth is when you have to worry. Vet's also told me to feel the hooves. If there was heat to them, the colic was causing founder and walking was the worse thing you could do.

No one REALLY knows what causes colic. Usually if you own a horse long enough and are very alert to things, you can figure out the triggers. Sometimes, its just a matter of weather change, maybe a bite of something contaminated, overworked without proper watering or cool down; etc, etc, etc. - and, yes, sometimes sand.

Thankfully, I've only had to deal with it twice with my paint mare - still never knew what caused it and its never happened again. 1st time I called the vet out; second time I dealt with it myself as I had caught it at the very beginning and banamine did the trick.

My gelding got into a whole bag of hen scratch when I was gone one day. (long story short, at the time, I wasn't sure which of my 4 horses or if all of them had eaten it.) Vets told me that there wasn't much they could do until symptoms began to show & since I didn't know what time of day it happened, most of their treatments would be useless. Panicked I researched on the internet desperately seeking a way to STOP founder & colic instead of treating it once it started! I came across Tahitian Noni Juice (or more accurately - Equine Essentials). I found a local distributor who rushed it over to me. I pumped that stuff into my gelding and I'd swear! It looked like a cow had passed through my pasture. That stuff was amazing! It worked much better than the tubing the vets do and it literally floated all the grain out of him. He never colicked and he never foundered! I will never be without that stuff ever again.!

Wow, sorry. Only meant to comment on the walking thing.

 

[siroiszoo]

Just finished reading the posts. Glad it all turned out.

Thought I'd throw my two cents in on the wood chewing.

My paint & palomino turn into beaver every year when the grass quits growing. I've always feared they'd progress to sucking wind. Thankfully, they haven't yet. I pet sit and have worked with a number of these horses (cribbers). Not pleasant at all; for the owner nor for the animal.

I've tried everything! The Chew Halt pellets from tractor Supply Store (or other equine supply stores), I've tried minerals & salts, I've tried the sweet lick tubs for horses, I've painted all the wood with Crib Halt, I've used tobasco, I've used hay rolls (poor hay/top quality hay/etc) so they can eat 24/7. I've tried stalling them with toys and not stalling them ever. I've tried keeping them exercised and in shape and i"ve tried letting them have most of the winter off. There is nothing I have come across that stops them from eating my fences & trees once the grass stops growing. That is, except for electricity/hot wire but I can't hot wire everything! When spring comes around, they stop. Thankfully, the Arizona Ash trees on my property are pretty hardy and haven't succumb to my horses dietary winter habits - yet! Although, a number of rails have had to be replaced.

I really hope you can find a solution for you little mare. Even though I haven't found a solution for my horses, a lot of the time, its just pure boredom. Maybe, a hay roll in her sandlot would help or a toys (my horses like the dog balls with ropes running through the center). If she's young, she probably is just trying to entertain herself.

 

[patandchickens]

Liquid dish detergent is a good temporary fix for wood chewing. Just pour on the top of the fence rail, you can just walk along squeezing and pouring. Lasts until it rains, then you have to reapply it. I have not found a big difference among brands, but if you know of one (usually it's a cheap brand) that is really *nasty* perfumey-smelling that would probably be the best to use. Does not harm the horse nor stain clothing.

Good luck, glad your pony is okay,

Pat