Old horse/ gassy colic- supplements?

[Prince33Sp4rkle]

Unicorn Bruce seems to be suffering a bit this spring despite being on a tiny paddock, thats mowed golf green short and also being muzzled, he keeps getting mild gassy colic.
Nothing too bad just gets up and down a bit and looks uncomfortable. It generally passes after an hour or so and as long as he keeps producing droppings we keep a close eye on him, walk him round if possible, and it seems to resolve its self.

I can't imagine he's eating a large volume of grass so be must just be getting more sensitive to it in his old age?

He gets double netted hay at night and that never affects him.

He COULD come in a bit earlier but are there any supplements that would help anyway?

(Obviously if this continues to happen on even further reduced grass the vet will have to check him out but I'm 99% sure it's grass gas!)

 

[paddy555]

charcoal. Equimins do one around £18 I think and it will last for ages. Look on their website.
Something like a 15ml scoop daily.
You will probably find after a short while (a few weeks) the problem will go away as the grass changes.
If it was just a minor gas problem I think you would see an improvement within days. If not then the vet of course.

 

[amandap]

I'd also consider feeding ad lib hay tested to be low sugar and carb (10% or less 10% NSC) when he is in or soak his hay and see if that also helps. Supplementing is one tool but it doesn't address any possible causes.

Just a thought about mowing the grass, the lower parts of grass are where sugars are stored. Is it possible to build a tempory grass track round the field for him and supplement with low suagr hay? May can be the worst month for grass sugars I believe, if that's the cause.

 

[PoppyAnderson]

Just a thought about mowing the grass, the lower parts of grass are where sugars are stored. Is it possible to build a tempory grass track round the field for him and supplement with low suagr hay? May can be the worst month for grass sugars I believe, if that's the cause.

I understood very very short mown grass like this to be a trigger for prone horses.

 

[Prince33Sp4rkle]

A trigger for colic or lami? It does seems to be volume more than sugar as was better today AFTER being mowed right down again. so not as simple as i first thought....when the grass is longer he can bolt it down( even muzzled...skillz!) and bloats himself up then gets tummy ache even more frequently it would seem.He seems better having to work for tiny nibbles???

He did have soaked hay to aid weight loss last year but is actually a very good healthy slim weight at mo. we've managed to keep him absolutely perfect weight wise over winter so he's got nothing to lose at mo.

I assumed it was grass volume / richness ratio but would he be better being strip grazed and then allowed small strips of longer grass or will he not be more likely to gobble and bloat up?ive never seen a horse he able to eat so much muzzled, he's a machine!

 

[amandap]

Increased quantity will increase sugar intake, you are right. Would he eat hay on his mowed patch? If he would I'd put some out to keep his gut full.
The activated charcoal is a simple thing to try. Perhaps look at any feed he is getting.

 

[Wilbur_Force]

Fennel seeds are amazing for gassy horses and more importantly, they help in sending it through! Cheap and easy to feed too ;-)

 

[Nari]

I have one that's very prone to getting gassy on grass & I do have to really restrict his grazing at this time of year. If he looks at all uncomfortable I give a dose of Coligone Liquid & walk him about for a while, the combination of the two generally helps.

I found charcoal helped, but not as much as the coligone & it also became very difficult to time it so his other drugs weren't being affected.

Another product that sems to suit him is EquShure & it may be easier to get hold of than Coligone Liquid. The downside is it's in a granule form so can't be readily syringed down & I know my lad won't eat if he's gassy, but fed as a preventative it's very good.