Colic ...why? :(

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HayleyandBob

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My horse seems to be prone to colic, touch wood its mild spasmodic colic and doesnt last to long. But i cant find a cause of it yet? and of course id like to sort this out pronto !
i can rule out feed changes (i think) as i always feed him the same, alpha a, balancer and calm and condition mix, and in winter sugar beet to, all mixed into 3 feeds a day, always at the same time(ish).
He does seem to be a bit of a sensative ned and reactes to fly bites, hay dust etc if that makes a difference:(
Hes ridden fairly regularly and kept fit.
The only thing i can think of is that every time hes had colic its been when the weather has been particularly bad ( isnt it always in england?) i.e. windy, raining, lightening.
o and hes a irish sports horse if that makes a difference ?

Thanks
a very worried Bob_the _cob
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My horse used to have random bouts of colic and we never got to the bottom of it....she got it really bad last time and had to go to Leahurst. When she recovered they recommnded that I feed her a suplement called yea-sacc (D & H do a tub for £20 and that last 3 months) and fingers crossed she hasnt had any signs of colic since!

Hope you get to the bottom of it
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My Irish Sports Horse had a few bouts of colic last year, they came on after worming. Other things that can be a problem this time of year are frosty grass and stress from stabling.

I really recommend Coligone. My horse has been on the powder version for 2 or 3 months and hasn't had colic in that time, even though she has been wormed and we were on red alert for an attack.

You can get it from here:

http://www.hbradshaws.co.uk/products.php

My horse wouldn't eat it at first, it is very minty, but I just put a small amount in her feed and increased it until she wasn't suspicious of it any more.
 
a vet told me years ago that he treated a horse that used to get colic when the pressure in the atmosphere changed, i.e. to a storm front etc, so that might well be related. no idea how on earth you are supposed to combat it though.
if i had one prone to colic i would give it bran in every feed. as a vet said to me, the imbalance it causes (calcium etc) is not going to be anything like as dangerous to your horse as colic...
 
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if i had one prone to colic i would give it bran in every feed. as a vet said to me, the imbalance it causes (calcium etc) is not going to be anything like as dangerous to your horse as colic...

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I so agree with this! Bran is not the big bad wolf it is made out to be from my experience and Leahurst gets through sacks of the stuff too!
 
gosh ! so many things :S
kerilli- you may be on to something there! as yesturday we went from -10 bitter cold weather to 7 degrees and rain, and poor horse was feeling a bit uncomfortable ever since
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I think ill start from the top and work my way through
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Thanks everybody
signed a slightly happier Bob_the_cob
 
no, the main issue is scalding and calcium phosphate ballance which can effect bones.

how dry are your horses droppings? if wet i would not recommend bran however if he is normal it can just help clear it all out.

no chance of weight gain or excitability.
 
no, it's just like eating bran flakes for your breakfast, it just gives your gut lots to do, tbh... it's pure fibre as far as i know. i'm sure a nutritionist will know a lot more.... umm, it is carbohydrate after all, but it is the husk from the outside of the grain as far as i know, so it's not the energy-giving bit in the middle!
it must be wetted down a lot to make a sloppy-ish feed (either hot or warm or cold water), and possibly add a bit of epsom salts too... that's what we always used to do with it. most horses love it, such a shame that it's gone so out of favour. new campaign for 2009... Bring Back Bran, I think...!
 
Do you feed carrots at all? I can't feed my mare carrots as they not only blow her mind but they really do make her colicky too
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I'd also consider knocking the sugarbeet on the head and seeing how that helps too - I don't like feeding sugarbeet (especially in colicky horses). I know if someone has put a handful of sugarbeet in H's feed by accident as she gets all tucked up and spooky!
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Kate x
 
I find with my horse his recurring spasmodic colic is normally brought on by a period of cold weather followed by mild weather, or a dry period followed by rain, ie large variations in temperature changes. Also has your horse had a different haylage recently. There can be large fluctuations in the different types of haylage, even if its all been cut from one livery yard, the different fields can vary hugely. This is often the problem with my horse and although I try to mix the old with the new best I can, sometimes there is not always enough time to mix it before it runs out. Try him on a probiotic like Pink Powder which is not only cheap, but it lasts for ages. If you do change your feed make sure you start introducing the new stuff at least 5 days before the old stuff runs out so you can mix it and therefore introduce it very slowly. I am sure your vet will be only to glad to help you reach a diagnosis, and he may suggest sending off a stool sample for a worm count as one of the first indications of recurring colic can be due to worms.
 
i would try a pre/probiotic in her food and some fennel seeds. is there any horse close to her that is getting on her nervous is she in a busy inveriement?
 
I have always fed bran and have never had any problems with colic. I do feed 1 mini scoop of limestone flour for ever feed scoop of bran though. I think its great stuff!
If your horse is really prone, I reccomend that, and soaked hay which is left fairly wet...could be that the horse is not taking on enough water I would feed your feed fairly wet and well mixed and put two (clean) half bricks, or a square salt lick broken in half, so he does not eat to quickly - gobbling up is not good.
 
thanks everyone.
He is fed well soaked hay has a plain salt lick and a naff rock thing which he is very good at only licking a bit at a time:D
erm im going to try bran and epsom salts maybe once a week or when the weather changes dramatically because as far as i can remember its always been when its really codl then mild and wet as you said.
There are only 3 horses on the yard.. my ancient very chilled out pony and my cob although does occasionally get a bit stressed it has been around the time of the colic episodes.
he does have carrots but not often or coinciding with the colic.

gosh so many thign :S thanks everyone for your help !
 
My lad was on soft n soak ready mash and I never had any problems at all with weight , fizz or with colic, but when I moved yards he went onto hard feed and had two small attacks of colic. I cant get my hands on the ready mash now so I rang the baileys nutritionist who was really helpful and suggested speedi beat and chaff which seems to be settling his tum. He also had the colic when the weather went very cold but I think the main thing was too much hard feed and not enough fibre. He's on a pro biotic now for a few weeks and then I’ll change to a pre biotic. It seems to be doing the trick and his poos are getting softer as they were really hard. Good luck I know it hard finding the right balance!
 
My mare had colic this morning for the first time. It was v scary. She ate all her hay overnight, there was a normal amount of poo in the field this morning, but she was not right at all. She kept rolling and laying down. Called the vet and he checked her all over. No temp, normal heart rate and sounds of movement from the gut. He gave her anti-spasm and painkiller injections, and she was tucking into her hay very quickly. It was so wierd. Am racking my brains to think what could have caused it, and am v worried it will happen again. She is a v good doer (Welsh D), she lives out (always has), has 4/5 slices of hay a day, plenty of clean water, and a small feed each eve of 2 scoops of Alfa-a, 1 small scoop of cool mix, a few carrots, magnesium, seaweed, and linseed oil. All of these things she's been having for over 2 months apart from the seaweed which I have started adding for 2 weeks. Could it be that? Could it be coz it's got really cold again? She was absolutely fine last night... Am a bit baffled...
 
Im glad she is ok now! Some horses get colic when there is a sudden change in the weather! We had 4 horses down with colic after a dodgy batch of apples!

I will ask though How big are your scoops, just that sounds like rather a big feed to me! My eventer is on 1 scoop Alfa A Oil and 1/2 scoop topline twice a day!
 
The alfa-a scoop is one of the round scoops with a handle (I worked out how much to feed her from the bag) and the hard feed i use a small scoop, like a dog food scoop, if that makes sense. A bag of Alpha-a lasts me nearly a month. Do you think I'm overfeeding her? Will speak to vet tomorrow - he's coming back to do jabs which I booked ages ago!

I gave her 1 scoop of Alpha last night, small scoop of hard feed and some carrots. She's fine today, much to my relief!
 
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