Colic

[Rie1972]

Hi my name is marie and I have recently rehomed a 15 hand ex retired polo horse. She had bad colic prior to me having her and last week had it twice. Vet told me to make field smaller which I have. I feed her betta conditioning fibre and Molly chaff. 2 small beakers of fibre and 2 hands of chaff along with a biscuit of hay. I half her food into 2 feeds. I thought it would make sense to stable her at night to limit grass intake but vet said it's better to keep her out :-/ is there anyone else having this issue? She's my first horse and I'm feeling out of my death with this :-(

 

[Pearlsasinger]

Dry food tends to be more likely to give horses colic than wet, hence your vet saying that grass is best. Does your horse actually need the hard (bucket) feed? If not cut it out. If she does, try cutting out the molasses, as, although we give molassed bran mash to horses who have had colic, it could be a reaction to the molasses which is causing the problem. Did your vet say what kind of colic your horse had, impaction? gas? As that will have an impact on what you should feed.

 

[Brightbay]

Polo horses have quite a stressful lifestyle, and it is not unusual to find they have gastric ulcers. Repeated colics can be caused by gastric ulcers as well. Maybe speak to your vet about the possibility of getting your horse checked for ulcers. In the meantime, it is best to make sure the horse has constant access to forage, either grass or hay. Colic is very stressful, especially when it happens more than once, so it's best to try to get your vet to help you work out what's causing it