Bad luck or something serious

[lucymb]

New horse arrived Saturday.
Very exciting until it came of the trailer and came down within colic in 5 minutes.

Very quiet getting of the trailer and lay down as soon as it got to the field.
Vet out and horse was ok. Few hours later the horse was much worse so had vet out again. Monitored constantly and seemed ok.
Next day was down again but not rolling or in distress. Vet out again and said horse is probably very drained/stressed from travelling and all the meds and pain it was in.
Horse has been fine since sunday evening. Bright, no lying down, eating/ drinking and pooing all normal.

Owners have been brilliant about this and i have till the weekend to decide if i want buy the horse.
She is on my land because we didn't want to stress her with more travel.

Would you buy the horse or return her. Never happened before apparently and have put it down to travelling. She's lovely other than this incident with colic.

Never experienced colic before. Very traumatic to see, does it keep coming back or is it a one off.

 

[shortstuff99]

How far did the horse travel? What are your aims for the horse? If you are wanting to compete or travel then this could be a real problem. Has she clolicked with the previous owners?

TBH I think I would probably return as now insurance is going to be a pain too.

 

[lucymb]

How far did the horse travel? What are your aims for the horse? If you are wanting to compete or travel then this could be a real problem. Has she clolicked with the previous owners?

TBH I think I would probably return as now insurance is going to be a pain too.

She is just going to be for hacking, no travelling because i don't have a trailer
Owners said it's never happened before.
I believe them because they were very shocked and wanted to do everything to get her better. Stayed in my field with her till gone midnight to monitor her.
Travel was around 1 hour.

 

[shortstuff99]

She is just going to be for hacking, no travelling because i don't have a trailer
Owners said it's never happened before.
I believe them because they were very shocked and wanted to do everything to get her better. Stayed in my field with her till gone midnight to monitor her.
Travel was around 1 hour.

Okay well it will probably be less of an issue then, but be careful what diet she has, stress, ulcers etc as she may be prone to colic.

 

[cobgoblin]

Do you want this horse enough to have the constant worry? I think that is the question you have to answer.
It may have been a one off because of the travelling or it may not, no one can really answer that.

 

[be positive]

She is just going to be for hacking, no travelling because i don't have a trailer
Owners said it's never happened before.
I believe them because they were very shocked and wanted to do everything to get her better. Stayed in my field with her till gone midnight to monitor her.
Travel was around 1 hour.

It may be a one off and they could be totally genuine but I would suggest a month to see how it pans out and give you a proper trial even if it was not the original deal, having to buy and not being insured for colic in future is a big risk, if they have her insured and anything happens in the next month at least they will not have to pay for treatment if it did happen again, if she is not insured it is their problem not yours.
It is tough but worst case scenario is very expensive.

 

[AdorableAlice]

Is she an experienced traveller or was the journey her first in a very long time.

 

[lucymb]

Is she an experienced traveller or was the journey her first in a very long time.

I dont know how long it has been since she travelled before Saturday but in previous homes she's travelled because she used to show.
Last 4 years has been hacking.
I honestly do not know what to do.
Yes its a big worry but what If i send a good pony back and its doesn't happen again.
I have no experience with colic and no idea if its a recurring thing once they've had it or its a one off.

 

[AdorableAlice]

I dont know how long it has been since she travelled before Saturday but in previous homes she's travelled because she used to show.
Last 4 years has been hacking.
I honestly do not know what to do.
Yes its a big worry but what If i send a good pony back and its doesn't happen again.
I have no experience with colic and no idea if its a recurring thing once they've had it or its a one off.

Not even the worlds best vets know why colic happens, if they did a lot of horses would still be alive. Horses guts are so delicate anything can affect some of them.

 

[lucymb]

Not even the worlds best vets know why colic happens, if they did a lot of horses would still be alive. Horses guts are so delicate anything can affect some of them.

Yes i know. I have just been very lucky that all my past horses have never had it.
Do you know how much treatment for it is. I don't mean the surgery. Just the meds and painkillers they give them.

 

[TheMule]

In this situation I would request access to the pony's previous veterinary records. If they're clear of colic then I would ask for an extra week of trial and proceed if that was all fine

 

[LaurenBay]

I would also look at the previous records. I had my mare for 8 years and she did colic once and then never did again. I did lose her, but it wasn't to colic.

 

[Landcruiser]

Bear in mind you won't be able to insure for colic or probably for any gut issues. Also, how much do you trust previous owners?