Mild colic?.....(long, sorry!)

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Tabbi

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Exercised my pony this evening, and may of fed him a tad too quick, then noticed he was stomping his back feet.... so checked his boys bits (which does need a good clean as was a bit smelly, even tho I cleaned it
about 2 weeks ago!) but seemed fine apart from needing another clean...... scratched his tummy which he really seemed to like, and his tummy was making noises so things inside were moving, but really did not like the way he was stomping his back feet....
Anyways, I asked another lady at the yard, and she said I may of fed him too quick which may have given him a tummy ache/mild colic
I took him out and walked him in hand got him trotting (and he was farting!) and he seemed fine, took him back in, picked out his feet, rugged him and he still stamped a couple of times, and the lady said he kept looking at his tummy...
I am a newbie owner (I know, no excuse) but I am now kicking myself about feeding him after the exericse, as I thought I left plenty of time for him to cool down :(
I have put him out with his field buddies this evening, and he went and had a good drink before walking over to his friends, and I am going back in the morning at 6am to check on him....
Have I done right to turn him out with his friends? as at least he will be moving around, rather then couped up, if he has got mild colic being able to move around would be better for him....

Am fretting like a goodun :(
 
I have a mare that likes to colic, normally grassy gassy colic, but stomach sounds are a good sign, did he poo? im sure he will be fine! if he didn't chuck himself on the floor and roll loads, he could just have a bit of tummy ache! how long did you leave him before feeding him? i'd be more worried if you fed him and rode straight away?!

ps. I've never cleaned my boys, boy bits!!
 
He poohed while being exercised (twice), and weed in the stable.... I think it was about 20 mins, I took him in, gave him hay, groomed him, pottered around him then got his food ready.... after his exercise he was not sweaty so thought it would be ok..... but in future I am not feeding him (weekdays) after exercise he will get extra the following day, just to be on the safe side.


I have only had my boy about 2 and a half months and his bits have been cleaned three times and this will be the fourth time! lol

kerrieberry2 said:
I have a mare that likes to colic, normally grassy gassy colic, but stomach sounds are a good sign, did he poo? im sure he will be fine! if he didn't chuck himself on the floor and roll loads, he could just have a bit of tummy ache! how long did you leave him before feeding him? i'd be more worried if you fed him and rode straight away?!

ps. I've never cleaned my boys, boy bits!!
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I wouldn't change his routine, you cant just give him more the next day if he's used to being fed daily! would be like you not having dinner after doing a hard work out at the gym and just having a bigger breakfast!

I would just make sure you leave him half an hour after exercise and make sure its nice a wet!!

you want to keep an eye on him pooing after he's had any colic like symptoms!!! I usually put my mare on her own so I can see how much she had drunk and how many times she's been to the loo, but your boy had stomach sounds and wasn't chucking himself on the floor, so I expect its something he will get over quite quickly!! how long did you watch him for when you turned him out?
 
about 10 mins.... saw him drink, walk down to his buddies and put his face down to eat

kerrieberry2 said:
I wouldn't change his routine, you cant just give him more the next day if he's used to being fed daily! would be like you not having dinner after doing a hard work out at the gym and just having a bigger breakfast!

I would just make sure you leave him half an hour after exercise and make sure its nice a wet!!

you want to keep an eye on him pooing after he's had any colic like symptoms!!! I usually put my mare on her own so I can see how much she had drunk and how many times she's been to the loo, but your boy had stomach sounds and wasn't chucking himself on the floor, so I expect its something he will get over quite quickly!! how long did you watch him for when you turned him out?
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I'd be wondering whether you need to check on him sooner rather than later as at 6am he'll either be 100% ok which is probably the case.....or he could be much much worse,. I wouldn't leave it to chance as colic can be so unpredictable.
 
So done my early check (5.30am) would have gone earlier but we are liveried on a farm so had very little chance of finding him in the field...... was bad enough at 5.30am when I nearly brought in another horse as I thought it was Gilbert (but he was much bigger than my Gilbert lol)

I had to go to the bottom of the field to retrieve him as he did not come to the gate when I called (as he normally comes when I call him), he had his head into the grass, so brought him in and observed him for 30-40 minutes and no stomping or kicking up to his tummy, a wee and some lifting of his tail to pass wind (was hoping for a poop, but who can poop on demand?! lol) so all in all VERY relived.

Thanks for all your comments guys.

:) x
 
Tabbi said:
I have only had my boy about 2 and a half months and his bits have been cleaned three times and this will be the fourth time! lol
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Glad he's feeling better, but this is far too much.
When you clean a geldings sheath, you disturb the natural ph of the area, and the imbalance triggers the production of more smegma which makes it dirtier.
In short, the more you clean it, the more you need to.
The sheath NEEDS a certain amount of smegma to keep it clean. When you 'clean' it and remove the smegma, the body overcompensates by making too much.

I've had geldings 20years and have NEVER cleaned a sheath. My horses are all happy and healthy. Leave well alone!
 
but its REALLY smelly..... i have looked at his bits and even a previous owner said Gilberts bits are really smelly and dirty.... I would rather not clean but the smell in the summer attracts flies and irritates him (which I suppose its a good thing we are now going into colder months).... any ideas other than cleaning would be most appreciated as its not the nicest job willy washing lol :-D

Patterdale said:
Glad he's feeling better, but this is far too much.
When you clean a geldings sheath, you disturb the natural ph of the area, and the imbalance triggers the production of more smegma which makes it dirtier.
In short, the more you clean it, the more you need to.
The sheath NEEDS a certain amount of smegma to keep it clean. When you 'clean' it and remove the smegma, the body overcompensates by making too much.

I've had geldings 20years and have NEVER cleaned a sheath. My horses are all happy and healthy. Leave well alone!
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Tabbi said:
but its REALLY smelly..... i have looked at his bits and even a previous owner said Gilberts bits are really smelly and dirty....
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Like i say - the more you clean it, the dirtier it gets. Give it 6 months, over the colder months (so theres no worry about flies) without cleaning it and I can almost guarantee that after that you won't need to clean it again.

Tabbi said:
any ideas other than cleaning would be most appreciated
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DON'T clean it!! Seriously! It's one of my pet hates, can you tell?? :D
You sound like a really caring owner, which is great but it will honestly be better for him, and the natural balance of that area to leave it alone :)
 
OK I will leave it alone..... but if his winky falls off I am blaming you Patterdale lol :D x

Patterdale said:
Like i say - the more you clean it, the dirtier it gets. Give it 6 months, over the colder months (so theres no worry about flies) without cleaning it and I can almost guarantee that after that you won't need to clean it again.



DON'T clean it!! Seriously! It's one of my pet hates, can you tell?? :D
You sound like a really caring owner, which is great but it will honestly be better for him, and the natural balance of that area to leave it alone :)
Click to expand...
 
Tabbi said:
but in future I am not feeding him (weekdays) after exercise he will get extra the following day, just to be on the safe side.
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He almost certainly ate too much grass and got a bit of gassy spasmodic colic, which is normally settled with a good old lunge, or horse walker. If the horse is bad and trying to get down to roll then call the vet.

It wasn't anything to do with feeding him after exercise. The weather is cold then warm then raining then dry. My horse gets colic if we get rainy weather after a period of it being mild. The grass tends to shoot through and you get a late flush this time of year anyway - just look at your garden lawn and you will see what i mean.

He almost certainly stuffed himself in the field. You did nothing wrong, don't feed him the next day as it is really not necessary.

As for willy cleaning my vet took a humungus 'bean' out of my horses willy yesterday under sedation! But stressed it was not a good idea to do it yourself as it can cause a PH imbalance. You must always use warm water and just warm water, don't be using baby oil or anything else as its easy to cause lots of problems with the flora in there!
 
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I have only ever used warm water and a clean sponge, so not to upset his bits too much.....

That would sum up my pony .... eating too much lol :)


applecart14 said:
He almost certainly ate too much grass and got a bit of gassy spasmodic colic, which is normally settled with a good old lunge, or horse walker. If the horse is bad and trying to get down to roll then call the vet.

It wasn't anything to do with feeding him after exercise. The weather is cold then warm then raining then dry. My horse gets colic if we get rainy weather after a period of it being mild. The grass tends to shoot through and you get a late flush this time of year anyway - just look at your garden lawn and you will see what i mean.

He almost certainly stuffed himself in the field. You did nothing wrong, don't feed him the next day as it is really not necessary.

As for willy cleaning my vet took a humungus 'bean' out of my horses willy yesterday under sedation! But stressed it was not a good idea to do it yourself as it can cause a PH imbalance. You must always use warm water and just warm water, don't be using baby oil or anything else as its easy to cause lots of problems with the flora in there!
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spasmodic choke has the same symptoms as colic, and as you fed him carrots he could have been choking on the carrot, it isnt full blown choke which would come out of the nose etc, movement will help it pass, so best out than in. Only a vet could confirm if it was spasmodic choke or colic. Gut sounds are a good sign. Glad he is okay, but worth thinking about next time, slice your carrots do not feed whole or chopped up, they can cause choke.
 
Patterdale said:
Like i say - the more you clean it, the dirtier it gets. Give it 6 months, over the colder months (so theres no worry about flies) without cleaning it and I can almost guarantee that after that you won't need to clean it again.

DON'T clean it!! Seriously! It's one of my pet hates, can you tell?? :D
You sound like a really caring owner, which is great but it will honestly be better for him, and the natural balance of that area to leave it alone :)
Click to expand...

BAD advice. Some geldings (and stallions) stay clean - others don't! My vet has seen twice as many 'mild colics' this year that were actually horses reacting to maggots in their sheaths! And no - NONE of the owners cleaned their horses' sheaths!
 
:-O never knew that...thanks putasocinit :)

putasocinit said:
spasmodic choke has the same symptoms as colic, and as you fed him carrots he could have been choking on the carrot, it isnt full blown choke which would come out of the nose etc, movement will help it pass, so best out than in. Only a vet could confirm if it was spasmodic choke or colic. Gut sounds are a good sign. Glad he is okay, but worth thinking about next time, slice your carrots do not feed whole or chopped up, they can cause choke.
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Don't feel too bad about it you're a new horse owner so you are still getting to know each other ! I used to be on a yard where one lady would literally untack and chuck the feed straight in horse was always fine. My TB has had gassy colic lot's in the past but now I know what can set him off and can spot it really early as I know him so well he hasn't had it for a while (touching wood). with regard to the sheath my 13 yr old TB has it cleaned once a year by the vet under sedation as when he gets a big build up he struggles to wee so I know t needs to be done. I also have a 19yr old gelding who has never had it cleaned and although it looks really horrid he's fine with it so I guess each horse is different, but I generally go with the rule that the less you interfere the better.
 
OMG Maggots?! ..... am looking to get the vet out next week to do his teeth and check his back.....will ask to him to have a look at Gilberts bit too :-/

JanetGeorge said:
BAD advice. Some geldings (and stallions) stay clean - others don't! My vet has seen twice as many 'mild colics' this year that were actually horses reacting to maggots in their sheaths! And no - NONE of the owners cleaned their horses' sheaths!
Click to expand...
 
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