Horse burping/breathing funny/figdety

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BeckyD

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Apologies for multiple posts. When I was grooming Ronster outside his stable last night he started making strange noises - not unlike windsucking, but quiter and done without his mouth on anything so didn't look like the winduscking I have previously seen other horses do. There was an obvious movement in his nostrils when it happened so I wasn't sure if it was a breathing issue. He also became very fidgety and was pawing at the ground non-stop (unusual for him).

I got very worried and put him back in his stable to see what he did - was worried he was colicky or something. Once in his stable, he did the noise twice more, then stopped. Ate like normal, wee'd, and seemed fine. In the end I left him and went home, and I haven't heard from YO so I assume he's ok this morning.

Background: been on box rest for 6 months, has lots of hay (not quite ad-lib but not far off) and Hi-Fi lite, balls and licks to keep him occupied but I should imagine he is still very bored. No windsuckers in sight. I have never seen him windsuck or have any other vice.

Any ideas? Will obviously call vet if it continues/gets worse.
 
I was going to suggest colic, due to the grass, ie spasmodic gassy colic which obviously righted itself, but as your horse is on box rest I am not too sure. The burping would definetely indicate gassy colic as my boy burps and f**ts an awful lot when he gets it, but I would expect to see other signs with your horse like a raised tail and passing wind, possibly lying down, and reluctance to eat things he would normally not think twice about. My horse does a lot of head pressing, and licking and chewing. I give my boy 3-4 bute put him on the walker and then put back in the stable. If no better I call the vet out. The vet has suggested to do this to save me calling him out all the time, but I would only suggest you use these guide lines once your horse has developed a colicky pattern, as you could always misinterpret the symptoms which could prove dangerous. Hopefully this won't happen again, but if it does try not to panic, and watch the horse for a while so you can give the vet as much info as you can when you phone. You might like to suggest to him that you give the horse some bute and see how it is after say an hour and then call the vet out if it gets no better/worsens at all, it depends how confident you are and how well you know your horse. I'd say keep up the adlib hay, soaked if you can, and give him sloppy feeds which will help keep him hydrated which will help to prevent impaction.
 
Really? But he hadn't eaten anything but hay for a few hours. I suppose he could still choke on hay, that would be just like him to do something so daft!

He's shown no signs of doing it again. Very strange.
 
He did *look* colicky outside his stable but as soon as he went inside he looked fine. He's never colicked before in the 2 years I've had him (touch wood).

Thank you for the guidance, I've kept a close eye on him since and he's not done it again.
 
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