Can horses be slightly constipated?

[Haphazardhacker]

My horse coliced last week, she came in from field fine and went rapidly downhill after eating her dinner. Vet came out did rectal exam and said he thinks she may have had a small blockage, we starved overnight. He gave her some bute and "something for her gut" - sorry i am a new owner and can't quite remember what he gave her.
The next day i started regular small wet feeds (bran mash) and checking every hour, she was pooping fairly regularly.

Fast forward a week and im not sure if this is me still in bit of a panic and watching out for colic. But ive noticed she lifts her tail a fair bit and farts rather than poops, also overnight (she comes in between 7.30pm - 7..30 am) there isnt loads of poo in her stable,
four piles max.

Just a bit worried something is brewing again. Is there anything I can try to get stuff moving. The vet will be called if she goes downhill at all but she is fine in herself and hasnt shown any signs of discomfort, I just feel that is like to see a bit more movement in the digestion department!!'

 

[JillA]

Soaked beet pulp (ideally unmollassed) is quite good for "digestive transit", as I was advised by a vet when a mare failed to poo after foaling. For yours once you get her used to it, it might be an idea to feed a small amount daily, instead of or with her regular diet if she can't have access to decent grass? How much is she getting to eat? She can't poo out what doesn't go in the other end - ad lib forage if she isn't out at grass?

 

[Shay]

Wet bran has the same effect - but if fed for long periods you need to supplement with limestone flour. Dry bran is binding - so don't use that!

 

[Exploding Chestnuts]

Agree that modern bran is not really a good feed, it is a different feed from years ago, but all your feeds should be fed damp or wet if you are worried about colic.
Sugar beet nuts which are molassed take hours to soak in plenty of water, the non molassed beet is quicker, and again make sure it has plenty of water.
Keep the gut moving by ensuring there is no more than two/3 hours without forage, obviously this is more difficult in winter. You don't want to end up with a fat horse or something a bit hyperactive due to too much sugar in diet, so a lot of people soak their haylage/hay, the longer it soaks the less sugars. But you may remove minerals so need to add these back in .......... its not rocket science, but it is difficult to get it right sometimes.
If stabled 12 hours per day I think you need to make sure she is getting enough forage, some greedy types can get through a haynet in two hours.
I suggest you weigh what she is getting, soak it for four hours and monitor how long this is lasting, if she has eaten up by 11pm then double the amount of forage, but soak it for longer, amounts are a bit vague, but a lot depends on the individual and also on the forage.
most nuts can be soaked or fed dry, but certain feeds MUST be soaked as they are de-hydrated, this includes sugar beet and beet based feeds like Fast Fibre. Fast Fibre might be a good feed to try, it takes 15mins to soak and is not going to make her frisky. Sometimes people add non molassed chaff to make it more appetising. Again the feed must be wet.
ALWAYS have at least one large bucket of clean fresh water, if she sometimes poops in it then use two buckets.
You can add 25gms of salt per day.

 

[Exploding Chestnuts]

PS What is she bedded on, you don't want her eating a lot of bedding straw.
At this time of year colic is often due to horse gorgeing on lush grass which is sweet [hi in sugar], and low in fibre, this can ferment, and of course the gut bacteria are not adjusted to it.
If she is gorging on grass, you can give her a tiny feed before she goes out, something like Fast Fibre or non molassed beet and chaff [soaked] will help to keep things moving.

 

[Haphazardhacker]

Wow thanks for all the replies. Well she is currently stabled on shavings (she was on straw but when vet said to starve overnight he wanted her on shavings to be sure) for 12 hours and spends the other 12 at grass - they have all moved into the big summer field start of may which has loads and loads of grass. - perhaps the cause of the colic although she was fine the first week of stuffing her face.

She is due to be going out 24/7 from next week until October. She has breakfast then goes out (scoop of hifi lite) and grazes for around 12 hours then comes on and has dinner (scoop of hifi lite) a large soaked haynet , am keeping her feeds pretty wet at the moment.

During winter she would eat two big nets at night but now she is eating a fair bit of grass during the day she isnt eating much of her hay at night.

I like the sound of soaked beet pulp or something that is soaked that i can either add to feed or replace with. Whereas the bran i sort of got the impression it isnt a good long term feed, especially as getting her to eat it was a challenge, had to add so much molasses to it so couldnt have her eating it full time !!