Gassy horse

[wilson1]

Hi, one of my horses seems to get quite gassy and somtimes looks uncomfortable (kicks at his tummy) but it passes when I get him moving. I give him a feed supplement and he has wet hay, am a little worried about him having cold wet hay in this weather, he also goes out in the field everyday.
Is there anything else I can do to stop the mild ache.

just to add, he isnt always like it, can go a couple of weeks or months without it.

 

[brightmount]

I would suggest you put him on Coligone powder. It's a strong peppermint flavour. If he doesn't like it straight away just put a bit in his feed and gradually increase up to the full dose.

http://www.hbradshaws.co.uk/item004.php

Very good for gassy tummies

 

[vetsbestfriend]

Does he get gassy every day or does a certain thing trigger an episode e.g. eating frosty grass, a grass growth spurt, eating wet grass when raining? etc.

As advised above there are supplements that can help with dispersing gas e.g. fennel by Global Herbs or Coligone. Walking/gentle exercise or lunging will also help shift gas as you have been doing so far.

It might be worth having a chat with your vet if it continues or becomes more of an issue. Good luck.

 

[wilson1]

I haven't worked out what triggers it except for maybe dry hay. he can get like it at a show but not every show (only the odd one) I use the colligone in the syringe when he gets like it at a show and its great.

 

[Box_Of_Frogs]

As LA suggests, you might want to put your horse on a low level maintenance dose of Coligone. In that case, the peppermint powder is just as effective but works out substantially cheaper - pence per day I think. PM H's_mum for info x

 

[Birker2020]

My horse gets recurrring gassy colic all year round and has had probably in the region of 30 colicky attacks that I know of in the five years I've had him. I find the weather conditions are normally to blame, not the quantity of grass but the quality of the grass caused by the weather. I.e if its the weather has been mild but then suddenly rains a lot both the yard owner and I have noticed he gets more colic attacks then. His colics are usually very mild and I normally treat by giving 3 or 4 bute (he weighs 600kg) and putting him on the walker for 20 mins before putting back in his stable. If his colic continues I then call the vet. This has reduced the amount of time my horse is uncomfortable and saved me a fortune on unecessary vets bills although I must stress that this is the solution the vet and I have come up with between us, and it is because my horse has the same type of colic so we know we are pretty safe doing this. I would suggest you could try pink powder, it is a very useful probiotic and a feed balancer to boot and can save you a fortune or more expensive pre and probiotices. I also make sure Bailey has his stomach lined with a small quanity of forage before he goes out onto the field as well as his breakfast. As for your ice cold soaked hay - if you steam your hay it doesn't hold as much water as soaked hay and is quicker and more efficient. Get a large plastic sack (shavings bag) or dustbin with lid on, shove hay inside loosely packed, pour a kettle of water over hay (its the heat and steam not the volume of water used that makes it work) and shove lid on dustbin or tie bag tightly with twine. Leave for 20 mins and feed straight away. Not cold, not messy, quick and convenient and saves money on water bills too!

So to recap, steam hay, feed probiotic, keep him moving when gassy (either ride or walk in hand/put on walker) and give feed before turning out onto frosty grass to line his stomach. See how you get on doing that. My horse has had his colic reduced by an awful lot since being on the pink powder.

 

[K27]

My horse has been like this a couple of times in his life-pink powder seems to have helped, and the best thing (as you have done) is to get them moving ie on the lunge etc.