I lost my mare last night....

[showaddy1]

My lovely girl, who has given me my confidence back, who knew I wasn't well anymore and who looked after me everytime I rode her died last night and I am just gutted.
I'm not looking for sympathy, just wanted some answers.
She came in at five thirty her usual happy to be having dinner self. An hour after leaving the yard, about six thirtyish, phonecall to say she was down. I was out with kids doing Christmas crap, partner went over (very experienced horseman). Luckily he phoned vet on the way... When partner arrived mare was colicing. Vet arrived ten minutes behind him. She was PTS 90 mins after initial phonecall... In agony, in the rain on a gravel road.
I'm gutted.
Nothing changed, same feed... Same hay.
Why would she colic? And so quickly too?

 

[Shysmum]

SENDING HUGS HUGE... colic can happen in the blink of an eye, IT WAS NOT YOUR FAULT. Run free, dearest one.

 

[Shysmum]

COLIC IS A " GENERAL TERM" FOR GASTRO PROBLEMS....Horse colic. Colic in horses is defined as abdominal pain, but it is a clinical sign rather than a diagnosis. The term colic can encompass all forms of gastrointestinal conditions which cause pain as well as other causes of abdominal pain not involving the gastrointestinal tract.

 

[Cowpony]

So sorry to hear this. Big hugs to you. I know it's hard, but sometimes there isn't an answer. You did everything you could and you didn't do anything to cause it. Although it's a huge shock, sometimes it's better that these things happen quickly.

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

Sending huge hugs to you and your family, this was us in October last year with livery, found 6.50am gone 11.30am. There are many types of colic and really unless you do a PM you wont know and personally unless it is for insurance I would not do it.

It could be a twist or Mesenteric rent entrapment, or anything , this claimed my pony this type which unless the entrapment is released is fatal.

I lost two to colic and it is gut wrenching as it is so quick and unpredictable. Sending huge vibes at this time of year when your in a happy time it is extra hard, I lost my MOAL on the 3rd 5 years ago and my other mare 30th Dec 1995 so I never feel joyous at this time of year.


Run free little lady . xx

 

[showaddy1]

I've lost two this year. Mother and daughter. Daughter was ten. They came as a pair seven years ago and then mum dropped another!
Weirdly they have all died. One choke, one broke her leg clean in half earlier in the year and now my gorgeous girl.
I have experienced colic twice in the past, but not with such a quick onset.
I'd love a pm, but we pay cash for our vets and it's been a bad year...

 

[Shantara]

I'm so so so sorry for you and your mare what an awful thing.

As others have said, it can be unpredictable. At my old yard, YO lost her gorgeous TB in just over an hour too. They had been to a show - a usual thing - where he had done very well. When they got back he just collapsed and never got back up again They never found out why, just one of these cruel and horrible things.

Sending virtual hugs xxx

 

[_GG_]

Colic is the C word of the equine world. It doesn't discriminate, it just does, as and when it likes. As said above, it's any abdominal pains. Whilst a PM can tell you why it happened, it can't that it happened, so don't worry about not having one done.

The best we can do is make timely decisions for their welfare so you and your husband absolutely did right by her. Please don't doubt yourself.

I'm so sorry you lost all of them. We lost a mare a filly and two foals within 3 months of each other early this year, horses can utterly break us when they leave us.

Really hope you're okay and huge hugs to you all. Xx

 

[ozpoz]

I am so sorry. I know how this feels having lost a very dear horse this way. And I questioned and questioned what could have happened until I realised that there can be so much going on internally and we know nothing about it until the horse colics.

Take care of yourself, it is a horrible shock for you. xx

 

[limestonelil]

What a horrible shock for you OP so sorry for your loss. xx

 

[Sussexbythesea]

So very sorry. What an awful year you’ve had.

Colic is such a nightmare. I don’t think there is much anyone can do to prevent the type of colic that’s fatal. It’s usually a twist or growth where surgery is the only solution if that’s even viable and it isn’t in many cases.

Being on a very big yard for a number of years I’ve seen a fair few go from perfectly alright to severe colic to pts within a couple of hours or less. Absolutely awful.

I think the only thing that might be of comfort is that she had a great life with you and she was not in pain for very long and had your husband with her to the end. Xx

 

[Andalucian]

Devastating for you, so sorry.

 

[Midlifecrisis]

Really sorry to hear this..I have no words..just a virtual hug.

 

[twiggy2]

I can only imagine how you must feel. Xxx

 

[DD]

sending huge (((HUGS))). its just one of those things. it happens. So sorry x

 

[Snowfilly]

Hugs, we lost our dearest boy last week in a similar way - from fine to gone in less than 3 hours. As others have said, if it's an internal twist or growth there really is nothing to see and nothing to do until it's too late. It might have been a tumour, or an entrapment of the gut or loads of other things you could never have known about.

It's not the last couple of hours that matter but all the thousands of good ones that came before. Thinking of you all.

 

[honetpot]

I lost my mare in foal last year. She was in blooming health and only nine. When the vet examined her she had none of he classic colic signs but was obstructed and in severe pain. She thought is was lipoma colic.
From me finding her stood quite right in the field to having her PTS it was two hours. You just have to take comfort that she died without pain at the end, but its gutting. Hugs.

 

[claireandnadia]

I'm so sorry, how heart breaking. I haven't personally dealt with colic but seen a couple of cases on my yard, both fatal. My last horse Nadia sadly had to be PTS from suspected grass sickness. This also escalated very very quickly.
Sending massive hugs xx

 

[On the Hoof]

I am absolutely gutted for you OP and sending massive hugs. RIP little mare x

 

[turkana]

Colic can happen out of the blue, my mare was waiting at the gate for me (which she never did, she would just come over when I called her) She was obvioulsy very ill but did a poo on the way in so I was hopeful that it wasn't too bad. She laid down as soon as she was in the stable (which she also never did as she was a real out door horse)
She was dead within an hour.
So sorry that you are having to go through this but many of your fellow horse lovers know how you are feeling.

 

[PapaverFollis]

I'm so sorry for your loss. Take care. Be kind to yourself, you did all the right things by her. x

 

[hopscotch bandit]

I think the constant temperature fluctuations with wet and the mild weather has caused a lot of colics lately. Rest assured its not anything you have done. My mare went down with colic in nov. It was gassy but the vet said dont treat the grass as you would for december as id increased her strip grazing by a foot. He said treat grass as per weather conditions, i.e just because its normally cold in dec its still growing grass.

Sometimes old horses grow stalks of tissue like fatty lumps in their stomach which wrap around the colon and this can cause colics which can be quite nasty. This may have been the case with your horse.

Whatever the reason there is no need to think you are to blame. Colic is a quuck and indiscriminate killer and often there can be no reason found. So very sorry for your loss x

 

[scats]

I'm so sorry for your loss, take care of yourself xx

 

[Equi]

I’m so sorry this happened. As everyone else has said colic is one of those things that really can “just happen”

Vet recently out for same thing at my yard and when asked what he thought caused it (before further investigation) he said “take your pick” between literally everything Horse related.

 

[SEL]

Tomorrow it will be 12 months to the day that I had a youngster die in my arms because the yard had struggled to get hold of the owner and then the vet couldn't get there quickly enough. Colic is awful and it can come on so quickly. You may never know why, but please hang on to the happier memories xxx

 

[Pearlsasinger]

I've lost two this year. Mother and daughter. Daughter was ten. They came as a pair seven years ago and then mum dropped another!
Weirdly they have all died. One choke, one broke her leg clean in half earlier in the year and now my gorgeous girl.
I have experienced colic twice in the past, but not with such a quick onset.
I'd love a pm, but we pay cash for our vets and it's been a bad year...

We never have a PM either. The trouble is that even if you find out what the cause was, you can't change what happened. Try to concentrate on the good memories that you have of her, that will help you to 'get over' your loss better than anything.

I do understand how you feel, I had to pts my Cushings mare last month. She seemed to be doing well on Prascend but suddenly started stumbling and losing her balance. We don't know whether the cause was the Cushings or something else but it doesn't really matter - there is still an empty stable and a huge hole where she should be.

Thinking of you.

 

[Cinnamontoast]

Oh god, how ruddy awful, you poor girl I’m so sorry.

 

[Wagtail]

I am so, so sorry to hear this. It sounds as though it was nothing to do with management or feed. The ones that end up being PTS are normally those with a tristed or trapped gut, or in the case of greys, internal melanoma. It is utterly heartbreaking. I have gone through it twice. Once with my own horse (entrapment of the gut and despite a successful operation, he was unable to get up after it) and once a livery's horse due to internal melanoma. Both times the horse was perfectly fine up until the moment they colicked. I am just so sorry for you and your horse. It's just horrible.

 

[splashgirl45]

so very sorry that you lost your girl. only consolation is that she didnt suffer for long and is now running free.....hugs...

 

[southerncomfort]

How absolutely devastating. I'm so sorry.

xx