Horse has been bloated and gassy on and off for a month

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harrietmoles

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Hi my mare became very bloated, gassy and lethargic at the start of the month. Had the vet out twice and they couldn't find anything major wrong and suggested we move her incase she was eating a particular weed that didn't agree with her (she was in a very weedy poor field) they also suggested probiotics. We put her on probiotics straight away and moved her after a week (the soonest we could) after a week or two in the new field she seemed to get less windy and bloated and was happy being ridden. Then all of a sudden her wind and bloat has picked up again. Tried riding her and she wasn't happy at all so left her for a few days. Tried again and still bloated windy and did not want to even have her bridle on (same behaviour as when this all fist started) . She's still on gastriaid and mint mixed in with a tiny bit of chaff. She's with her 2 friends and they have had no problems. Has anyone else experienced this or have any ideas? Really stuck with what to do and vets are charging a lot to come out and do very little. Thanks in advance
 
Sorry your mare is unwell. Just a quick question - is the attending vet from a pure Equine Clinic, or from a mixed practice where they also treat small animals (dogs/cats/rabbits,etc.)?
 
npage123 said:
Sorry your mare is unwell. Just a quick question - is the attending vet from a pure Equine Clinic, or from a mixed practice where they also treat small animals (dogs/cats/rabbits,etc.)?
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They are a mixed practice we have debated swapping but have used the same vets for years and not had a huge problem. But they just couldnt give us any answers so we're now left on our own.
 
harrietmoles said:
They are a mixed practice we have debated swapping but have used the same vets for years and not had a huge problem. But they just couldnt give us any answers so we're now left on our own.
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You need to move on to a specialist .
You should not be on your own your vet should be advising you of the specialist options in your area .
 
My mare suffers from bloat and gas and has colicked 3 times in 2 years.

After the last colic I decided after conversation with my vet, to overhaul her management. She is now fed Thunderbrooks feeds (which don't contain any chemically treated ingredients, or molasses, beet, wheat, grain, alfalfa etc, all of which are known to irritate some horses hind guts) and she is on restricted grazing and has lots of hay so there is plenty of safe fibre going through her gut.

It is grass that sets her off, and if you have been having problems in the last month I expect it is the recent flush of grass, which also set my mare off and she bloated again. My adding yeasacc 1026 (to help the gut bacteria. This is the only one that makes it to hind gut without being killed in the stomach like other yeasts) and Mycosorb A+ (which absorbs toxins that are in the grass which definitely cause bloating). Within days the bloating had gone and this week I have weaned these products out of her diet again.

Give Intelligent Horsecare a ring for advise, they sell these products, and are super knowledgeable but not at all pushy. They don't believe horses should need to be on supplements long term and encourage them to just be used short term like I have done :)
 
galaxy said:
My mare suffers from bloat and gas and has colicked 3 times in 2 years.

After the last colic I decided after conversation with my vet, to overhaul her management. She is now fed Thunderbrooks feeds (which don't contain any chemically treated ingredients, or molasses, beet, wheat, grain, alfalfa etc, all of which are known to irritate some horses hind guts) and she is on restricted grazing and has lots of hay so there is plenty of safe fibre going through her gut.

It is grass that sets her off, and if you have been having problems in the last month I expect it is the recent flush of grass, which also set my mare off and she bloated again. My adding yeasacc 1026 (to help the gut bacteria. This is the only one that makes it to hind gut without being killed in the stomach like other yeasts) and Mycosorb A+ (which absorbs toxins that are in the grass which definitely cause bloating). Within days the bloating had gone and this week I have weaned these products out of her diet again.

Give Intelligent Horsecare a ring for advise, they sell these products, and are super knowledgeable but not at all pushy. They don't believe horses should need to be on supplements long term and encourage them to just be used short term like I have done :)
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Hi thanks for the reply.
My problem is that she is in a field with 2 others and can not be separated ( she has severe separation issues) and she is not a huge fan of hay so will pick the grass over they hay leaving it for the other two to eat. I know with winter coming she will be on just hay soon anyway so hopefully that will help but its so frustrating her being so ill and and not being able to make the most of the last bit of good weather. I will definitely try the yeast. I think she has always had a small tummy problem as has always been gassy but all of a sudden it has become so much worse. I don't really want to feed her too much as she doesn't need it especially when I'm not exercising so its a catch 21 trying to give her supplements etc without a huge amount of food. I am currently using a handful of chaff without molasses in could that be making her any worse? Or would giving her more help at all? https://www.countrywidefarmers.co.uk/dengie-alfa-a-molassses-free-20kg
Thanks
Harriet
 
It is hard. I have my mare in pretty much a bald pen within the field she shares with another mare. She just cannot have grass. Tried long dead type grass but that was a disaster, so pretty much no grass and hay is the only way I can manage her. She would choose grass over hay too if it was offer!

Personally I don't feed alfalfa as it can be an irratant. If you were looking for a chaff look up something like Thunderbrooks Healthy Herbal Chaff.

And remember when looking for yeast, look for yeasacc 1026 :) you can buy it just as that fairly cheaply :)
 
I haven't thought about tying to fence her within them. could try that but again she is that clingy she will go through gates and stable doors to not be separated so not sure if it would last. So im a little stuck until winter and they all go on to hay.
Just looking at yeast now and searched for yeasacc 1026 and will get some of that to try will look in to the food to but she is having such a small amount of it with the mint and gastriaid I don't know if it would have a huge effect.
The vet originally said to not ride for a week to let her stomach settle first. After that I was riding again until she started getting bad again. I cant lunge her as again she is that clingy she will chase me rather than go around me. So I am just walking her around for 5-10 mins in the hopes it helps but the vet didn't really give much advise on exercise even when I asked.
 
i would use mycosorb A as a precaution. Then I would give charcoal (separated from the mycosorb) on a daily basis. You may find that does the trick. Otherwise there is equishure which could well make a difference (without the charcoal) I have had a horse that did this at this time of the year. No real conclusion. These are the things that helped mine.
 
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