I am no stranger to colic, as I’m sure many of you aren’t either. Colic can be incredibly scary as a horse owner. My beloved horse, Farley has endured 2 colic surgeries, and as a result I’m adamant about his care and how I can prevent it from happening again. Let’s dig deeper into this condition, and best practices to help with prevention.
Colic simply refers to abdominal discomfort in the horse. There are many types of colic, including:
Impaction
Spasmodic
Gas
Sand
Twisted gut
Displacement
Strangulation
Identification of the cause is essential for successful treatment, recovery and prevention, and it’s absolutely paramount that you involve your veterinarian should your horse colic.
There are several risk factors for colic:
Old age
88% of impaction colics occur in older horses vs. 29% of episodes in horses of all ages
Dental abnormalities leading to poor chewing
Suboptimal forage intake
Restricted turnout
Feeding more than 6 pounds of concentrate (grain) per any given meal
Changing the batch or type of hay or concentrate too quickly
Changing stabling conditions
Changing quantity or frequency of feeding and feeding times
High starch meals
Changes in weather
Parasites
Dehydration
Foreign material ingestion
Ulcers
Knowing all of this, what can we do about it? Here are several steps you can take to decrease the risk of colic:
Annual dental exam
Introduce pasture, new hay and new grain slowly, over the course of at least 7 days
Divide concentrates (grain) into several small meals
Feed forage and high starch meals together
Provide continuous fiber meals and pasture when available
Deworm based on fecal egg count
Feed above ground in a sandy location
Alleviate boredom in the stall with hanging toys and hay nets
Keep hydrated-encourage drinking by providing daily salt or electrolytes
Keep waterers and water buckets clean
Consider pre / pro biotics
While I wish we had all the answers to preventing colic from ever happening again, it’s sadly not the reality. So take the above-mentioned steps and fiercely protect your equine partner the best that you can. Knowledge is power!
