Odd behaviour

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MollyMoomin

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www.petandanimalfeeds.co.uk
I'd appreciate any ideas anyone could throw at us for this. I haven't spoken to the vet (yet) but I have my mares trimmer out tomorrow to see if she can see anything.

I rode my little mare on Friday night in our outdoor arena in the rain. After we'd finished she did a large dropping (unusual for her to poo while tacked up) then when I put her in the stable she laid down straight away - highly unusual for her. Assumed colic (which she is prone to) and walked her for a bit. Lots of wind and no more laying down so put her to bed and she was fine. YOs checked on her twice during the night and each time she was either eating her net or sleeping while stood up. She had worked hard (for her, she is a little HW cob and is working at nov-ele), but not excessively so. Maybe 30mins max. Not hot, not sweaty, not blowing, just wet as it was raining.

Saturday I had a lesson and she worked HARD. We started out in the outdoor arena but went into the indoor as we thought it might be cooler. No random lying down.

Rode last night in the outdoor again and apart from 15minutes warming up (in walk a bit of trot and lateral work) we worked on our walk-canter-walk transitions. As we've been struggling on the right rein for a while, we did 4 good true transitions on that rein, walking a circle, cantering a circle then walking another circle, the same on the other and then hacked round the fields and the yard in walk to cool off.

As soon as I tied her up outside her box she had another poo and again as soon as she went into her stable she lay down. Walked her up and down the drive (gravelly) then took her to the outdoor school where she got down again. Got her up - she is very obliging and kept getting up whenever I asked - but she soon lay down again. At one point she had 5 liveries and a dog all stood round her and she just wasn't bothered. She was never in any distress at any point and was nuzzling everyone and checking for sweets etc. She'd come off the grass at 3pm and I rode at 7.30pm

The more I think about it the more I think it is her feet. By chance my friend filmed us last night and I keep watching them back and I can't see any soreness/lameness/stiffness but I do think it's odd that it only seems to be after being ridden in the outdoor school. Like a fool I didn't think to feel her feet afterwards, but do pick her feet out daily and there was nothing....odd there.... She wasn't hot, blowing or sweaty after I'd ridden yesterday. My instructor is going to watch me ride tonight to see if I'm asking for too much too soon or just too much in general. Moomin is unshod, but has been for the last 2.5years with no issues. Hacks out over all sorts of terrain in any pace and is (and always has been) fine. She isn't fat in the slightest and as we're trying to prove cobs can do dressage she is mostly ridden on a surface with occasional hacking.

Her trimmer is out tomorrow so she is going to have a look at her as well and see if it is her feet, but like I say the more I think about it, the more I think it is related somehow. I just think it is bizarre that she isn't unlevel or stiff at all if it is.

Any other ideas?
 
In all honesty it sounds like a classic colic case to me; if her feet were so bad she had to lay down immediately then I am sure you would have noticed lameness at some point when riding her.
 
Sounds like colic. To be honest, if my horse had had colic one evening I wouldn't be working him hard the following day, or the day after that even.

This colic seems to be rumbling on. I would try to find the cause and not work her for a few days to give her a chance to get over it and/or get the vet.
 
I'll try and get the video of her lying down - if it is colic, then it isn't showing as normal colic - once she is down she is perfectly happy down, she isn't thrashing about or looking uncomfortable or looking at her belly, nothing colic like at all, other than the fact she is lying down. Instead she has her head up, ears pricked, interested in everything, just lying on the floor.

I have her trimmer coming tonight to check, but she isn't unlevel/stiff/sore/uncomfortable - we trotted her up a gravelly track last night to see if we could recreate any of it so my instructor/YM (one and the same) could see and she produced the most fabulous medium trot the second time up as she was racing a mare in the field next to us.

Instructor told me to ride last night so she could see it - she worked well, put her in her stable - and she didn't do it. Instructor, having seen the video and knowing her [how she is when she colics], says doubtful colic. If I thought it was colic I wouldn't have ridden her either, but instructor said to work and see how she is with it and we'd go by how she went. I'm speaking to vet today anyway and get them out for an MOT. If I hadn't seen her, I would have said colicky too but once she's down she's....not colicky, just lying down.
 
Mine went through a spell of spasmodic colic a few years ago. He had it three times in the space of two weeks. His only symptoms were doing a big poo on the way in from the field (which he wouldn't do normally), and lying down when he got inside his stable. No thrashing, rolling or groaning, just lying down (and not even flat out), which again was/is completely out of character.

He had the vet out each time and the cause was eventually attributed to a high tapeworm burden (was blood tested and tapeworm antibodies were sky high). Thankfully now, that problem is now solved.
 
Just typed out a reply and got Proxy error jobby.

They don't have to be rolling/groaning/thrashing to display signs of colic. Mine went through a spell a few years ago where he had three bouts of spasmodic colic in two weeks. His only symptoms were doing a big poo on the way in from the field and lying down as soon as he got inside his stable - not flat out, just lying with legs tucked under him. Both symptoms are/were completely out of character.

Had the vet out each time and the cause was eventually attributed to a high tapeworm burden (had the blood test and his tapeworm antibodies were sky high). Thankfully that is all cleared up now.
 
That is interesting. It was explained to me that the tapeworms attach to the lining of the gut by suckers and that sometimes when they come away due to the action of the wormer they leave sores behind.
 
Colics can rumble on (excuse the pun) for weeksand never get to a vet emergency.

If you're concerned then get the vet to have a look.

I have a horse that kept coliking - every 3-4 weeks and that was scary. We removed all sources of grain from his diet, and gave him linseed meal which acts as a mucilage and that helped him enormously - no more colic.

Could be just a bit too much grass.
 
Welcome to the world of spasmodic colic! I think that's what she had. Next time lunge her or put her on the walker to get the gas through her and see what she's like when you put her back in the stable.
 
Yep I would agree with the above, not all colic cases will present themselves distressing symptoms, might be as simple as just lying down frequently or not passing their poos properly...my old pony used to get impaction colic a lot and never created a fuss either. Just doing things slightly out of character is a good warning sign.
 
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