Colic prevention

[Tinkerboo]

Hello I need some advice.
I currently share a horse who is prone to mild bouts of colic (impaction), I know overgrazed pasture can be a factor (which is the case) he lives out 24/7, no hay is currently being put out.
I spoke to my sharer who said there is nothing we can do about this.
Therefore I think he should be brought in for feeds in that case?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[martlin]

hmmm, if it's impaction colic he is prone to, the most likely scenario is that the horse doesn't drink enough, as the general consensus is, that a hydrated bowel should work well.

 

[CBFan]

Hello I need some advice.
I currently share a horse who is prone to mild bouts of colic (impaction), I know overgrazed pasture can be a factor (which is the case) he lives out 24/7, no hay is currently being put out.
I spoke to my sharer who said there is nothing we can do about this.
Therefore I think he should be brought in for feeds in that case?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

I would like to know how a horse who basically isn't eating much of anything buy the sounds of it, manages to get an impaction?

As already said water is a key factor - that said, my boy who drinks loads managed to get an impaction but he was eating in excess of half a bale of dry hay a day too.

I would also ensure horse has a good supply of dampened forrage and very WET bucket feeds. Gut needs forrage to keep it moving... if this isn't provided I guess it can stop working as efficiently and impactions occur this way...

 

[Puppy]

he lives out 24/7, no hay is currently being put out.
I spoke to my sharer who said there is nothing we can do about this.

Well that's just silly! If a horse isn't getting enough forage then of course you can do something about it.

If the horse wasn't getting enough water whilst out in the field (to use Martlin's post as an example) you wouldn't just say 'oh well'.

Not having a pop at you op but there are an awful lot of posts on here where people say their horse lacks grazing but they "can't" hay them because of say other horses in the paddock and it's not good for the horse, (as well as false economy) to then try and compensate for this with bucket feeds.

Can you not electric fence a paddock for your horse so that he has constant access to hay/haylage? I know it's a faff as I have to do this with both my horses, but if it's what they need, then it's what we have to do.

 

[Tinkerboo]

Hiya, that is very sound advice, I might suggest doing that, if that is what needs to be done. The vet has been out and the horse is currently stabled with instruction of starving the horse for 24hrs and to provide plenty of water, he also has been given a saline solution. If he overcomes this I want to know how to prevent it in the future.

Thank you to all who replied.

 

[CBFan]

Just one other thing... as this horse has had several bouts of colic, has it been investigated to find a potential cause?

Impactions can occur due to worm burden... has he had a faecal worm count done as well as a blood test for tapeworm? - NOTE that even if he has been wormed regularly he could still have a burden... particularly of tapeworm...

is he chewing what food he gets properly? are his teeth ok?

Adding a little salt to his feed is a good way of encouraging him to keep drinking but making sure his feeds are nice and wet and fibrous is also a good way of making sure he is getting some water.

If my horse NEEDED feeding on top of the available grass (which he does), as we can'ty feed hay in the field, I have to put myself out to either stand and wait for him to have a good nosh on a haynet twice a day OR bring him in for a few hours a day so that he can munch to his hearts content... worth considering the options...