Gut Problems

[kafrin181995]

Hi, I was wondering if anyone had any idea on this subject or has had any problems before?
about 2 years ago our mare had a 'type' of colic bout, she ate a lot of wet grass which upset her system! vet examined and was fine, pheww! once she pooed basically! otherwise he wanted to take her in to operate.
2 weeks ago, she went out as usual in her sand paddock, but started to 'not seem herself', if you know what i mean! wanted to roll every minute (not like her!) looking at stomach, swishing tail ( a lot!) and also kicking her barrel. Got vet round as in about 10 minutes she really detorriated. Vet checked over and said she had too much wind in her gut and it was expanding. so had gut relaxant injected (such a pig having it injected!!) and a mild painkiller. vet then wanted us to free school her every 10 minutes to 'get the wind out'!!!!
she seemed fine later on and has been fine since yesterday. She got back from, yes a long, hard day, as she was in a xc clinic/lesson for 2 hours and did some jumps she would never have jumped a year ago! and she uses so much energy up doing xc!! anyway she was very restless travelling and not right. got her down to yard, sweating a lot with coooler rug on and it wasnt even that hot yesterday in afternoon. and she was extremely tucked up. So we walked her round in school to see if it was just because she had done a lot. seemed ok so she went out until later that night. seemed ok. we are just worried that it is going to come back up!
she is only turned out on sand as we do not have fields/paddocks - could this be affecting her? we have had her on equine america - sand-out this week and her poos which have been very loose, seem better. could this be an issue - being out on sand? we have also started again feeding her equilibra, whcih she was on since being a foal, as trhis may help, as we styopped her a while?
any one experienced this?? or is she getting too much feed per feed? (fed in am and pm)
any other feed she should get?
info:
15hh mare
age: 9
fed: per feed
1/2 stubbs scoop hi-fi original dengie
3/4 stubbs scoop no.4 baileys conditioning nuts
1/2 stubbs scopp sugar beet
1/2 stubbs scoop soaked barley rings
1/2 cup of equililibra only pm feed
1 scoop (v small) cortaflex only pm feed
recommende amount of equine america sand-out only pm feed


Thank you so much guys,

 

[belle31]

Sounds like the sand is the major factor, giving your horse 'sand colic'. If you cant find an option for grass turnout, you need to ensure any food given to your horse in the sand turnout is elevated. You could also consider feeding Psyllium to your horse to remove the sand from your horses gut.

 

[china]

sand could be a factor as it can cause "sand colic" to me i think thats quite alot of feed as horses only have very small stomachs if they eat large feeds like this then they find it hard to digest properly and the gut gets affect and can cause a blockage, i would split that into 3 feeds and see what happens, if you can feed her on concrete as horses that enjoy their feeds, if they spill any on the sand they hoover it up and half the sand paddock as well which wont do her any good, ask your vet about gastric ulcars as these can cause bouts of colic, if your mares insured, for peace of mind i would get her scoped for gastric ulcars to rule it out, the scoping and the treatment (gastrogaurd) will be covered by your insurance, while she is ovbiously quite sensitive at the moment i wouldnt go changing any of your feed at the moment but it wouldnt hurt to take things out i just wouldnt add things in yet.