Feeding after shock

[SVMel]

A friend's pony was discovered in a river this morning. Thankfully she was got out quickly and seems ok, just cold (shivering). Put in stable, rubbed down, rugged and watched for the day. She was eating her straw bed straight away.

My question is this. I advised the owner not to give her hard feed for a while, until she had time to warm up and get over the initial shock, as I feared she might colic if she had it straight away. Was I right? Was sure at the time, but wondering if she would have been ok as she was eating her bed anyway? (she had hay, but seemd to prefer the straw!)

Usually wouldn't feel unsure, but its been a long time since I dealt with shock and wondered if thoughts had changed on it.

 

[brighteyes]

I'd err on the side of caution - the pony would be fine on hay and a nibble of grass wouldn't go amiss as after standing in cold water, I'd prefer to see her moving about, albeit gently. Kept rugged and possibly bandaged for the duration.

 

[GLEEK]

Hope the pony is ok. I was wondering if you were on about feeding aftershock as in the alcohol shot. I would advise not to feed that!!!!
I would agree with brighteyes!

 

[teddyt]

i think you did the right thing to advise no hard feed. Just hay would be fine- fibre digestion warms the horse up from the inside as it releases lots of heat during digestion

 

[SVMel]

Hope the pony is ok. I was wondering if you were on about feeding aftershock as in the alcohol shot. I would advise not to feed that!!!!
I would agree with brighteyes!

I'd err on the side of caution - the pony would be fine on hay and a nibble of grass wouldn't go amiss as after standing in cold water, I'd prefer to see her moving about, albeit gently. Kept rugged and possibly bandaged for the duration.

I think we all could have done with the alcohol!!! We didn't want to put her straight back out in the field, as it is large, marshy in places and is shared with other horses (although company is obviously not a bad thing!) So, she had to go in a stable as this also got he out of the breeze. Also, she is not well handled, so leading her away after the event was difficult enough, and she hasn't had a rug on before, so we did quite well under the circumstances! Should probably have said she is only a youngster, she didn't even understand being rubbed down to dry her off!! She is fine, just wanted to know f I'd done everything we could.

ETA Thanks for the replies!!!!

 

[Echo Bravo]

sounds like you did everything right, no hard feed, just a haynet and a good bed. It's nice to know there are sensible people out there. Congrats

 

[SVMel]

Many thanks, I try!! Was good to be dealing with someone who actually listened to me too......