KikiDee
Well-Known Member
I have had 30yo pony for most of his life and "touch wood" he has never had colic until last summer. His companion horse decided to break through the fence onto the rested paddock and companion horses owner decided to move them both onto the rested field, when I went down later old horse had a case of spasmodic colic. It was thankfully managed with drugs and checking on him hourly throughout the night, and he was back to normal the next day.
He has lived out 24/7 since he was retired 14 years ago and never had an issue with grass or moving fields before, but I think it was likely the drought we had meaning he was essentially moving from a bare paddock with no new growth onto rested grass overnight (as I say, I wasn't aware this was happening) and stuffed his face.
I am however now super paranoid about moving him onto the rested summer paddock, very aware of his age and fragility with these things. I have been feeding him soaked grass nuts all winter in an attempt to keep his gut used to grass and he is on haylage rather than hay. The field they are on is growing so he is eating the spring shoots daily which will hopefully help also rather than the pretty bare field he was on last year. I also have him on Protexin Gut Balancer. My plan is to introduce him gradually to the new field - he can have an hour in the evenings while I do yard jobs building up to 2-3 hours a day while I go off and ride my other horse, but I will eventually have to move him over full time.
Is there anything else I could be doing? Any other supplements that would help? Would a muzzle be an option? I do worry that as his teeth aren't the best he would struggle eating through a muzzle. He is a relatively poor doer due to his age so grass consumption isn't an issue, more just phasing him onto it without upsetting his gut.
He has lived out 24/7 since he was retired 14 years ago and never had an issue with grass or moving fields before, but I think it was likely the drought we had meaning he was essentially moving from a bare paddock with no new growth onto rested grass overnight (as I say, I wasn't aware this was happening) and stuffed his face.
I am however now super paranoid about moving him onto the rested summer paddock, very aware of his age and fragility with these things. I have been feeding him soaked grass nuts all winter in an attempt to keep his gut used to grass and he is on haylage rather than hay. The field they are on is growing so he is eating the spring shoots daily which will hopefully help also rather than the pretty bare field he was on last year. I also have him on Protexin Gut Balancer. My plan is to introduce him gradually to the new field - he can have an hour in the evenings while I do yard jobs building up to 2-3 hours a day while I go off and ride my other horse, but I will eventually have to move him over full time.
Is there anything else I could be doing? Any other supplements that would help? Would a muzzle be an option? I do worry that as his teeth aren't the best he would struggle eating through a muzzle. He is a relatively poor doer due to his age so grass consumption isn't an issue, more just phasing him onto it without upsetting his gut.
