Pebble poops

[J1993]

My mare has pebble like poos. I thought this meant she hasn't enough fibre in her diet but does anyone know something I can add?

Current feed x2 a day
Top spec balancer 1 cup per feed
Fibre beet. 2 unsoaked cups per feed (feed this quite sloppy already)
Micronised linseed half a cup per feed
Half a scoop of garlic per feed

Also fed adlib haylage. Turnout out on ok field 8-4.
Shes 16.1 and weighs 520kg. Shes 4 and currently is the perfect weight.

Thanks

 

[Errin Paddywack]

My pony always had pebble poos. Very hard to pick up when poo picking as no big lump. However he lived out full time so no lack of fibre and was like that all his life. When at 22 he suddenly became very loose I knew something was very wrong with him as it was so untypical of him.

 

[Carrottom]

I would try stopping the garlic and maybe add some chaff to the sloppy beet.

 

[J1993]

I had a go at adding some happy hoof but doesn't really make a difference. Someone else suggested taking away garlic so tried that. Has anyone got any other suggestions? Her feed is sloppy but she doesn't drink much water really whilst stabled. About half a bucket a day.

 

[Fruitcake]

Oil can be helpful to "keep things moving".
(The Omega 3:6 ratio of oil is important to avoid an inflammatory effect though, so something like linseed oil is better than sunflower or vegetable oil.)

 

[Gloi]

Is she drinking enough?

 

[Regandal]

Can I ask why the garlic? It’s not good for the gut at all.

 

[Pearlsacarolsinger]

Remove the garlic permanently, it kills off the gut flora, which will then take some time to regrow. I would then feed a good probiotic for a number of weeks and add a slosh of oil(linseed or sunflower) to his diet. You will not notice a difference immediately but change will happen over time if you are patient. Encourage the horse to drink as much as possible

 

[be positive]

I had a go at adding some happy hoof but doesn't really make a difference. Someone else suggested taking away garlic so tried that. Has anyone got any other suggestions? Her feed is sloppy but she doesn't drink much water really whilst stabled. About half a bucket a day.

Half a bucket is not really enough, she may well be constantly slightly dehydrated which will cause droppings to be hard and may cause colic at some point, I would try to get more fluids into her, there are many things you can try, a very sloppy extra feed, putting a bit of something tasty in the water to interest her, slices of apple, a little juice, some beet you should give her at least 2 options so you don't stop her drinking if she doesn't like something but usually once they start taking on more fluid they increase their intake as it becomes more normal for them to have more.

I agree with stopping the garlic, it may well be the root cause of this.

 

[Red-1]

Mine gets hard poos if eating straw chaff. I was initially using Top Chop Zero as a low cal filler 4 X a day because he was on limited hay.

He is OK on 1 scoop of it a day, along with 1 scoop soaked (so 1 mug unsoaked) of speedy beet. He also has a vitamin supplement and micronised linseed ( 2 flat 25ml measures, so not much at all).

Mine only drinks about 1 bucket overnight, but he is on soaked hay so I think that is healthy enough. He pees well, clear pee without a strong colour so must be hydrated.

With less chop, and the chop he has mixed with speedy beet, his poos are normal.

 

[J1993]

I definitely think fluid intake is a possible issue. She just hardly drinks any water. E.g her bucket was about 3/4 full last night and there is still just under a quarter left this morning. Her wee is also quite yellow and concentrated. Garlic is in her feed as she is a fussy eater although she used to be when she was 2. She is 4 now so ill completely take that out and see. I saw someone mention getting a salt lick so ill try that too. I have tried her with a sloppy choppy with electrolytes in summer but she was not keen. She is a fuss pot.

 

[meleeka]

I think you have your answer. She’s not drinking enough. A Himalayan salt lick may help and I’m sure you are already making sure her water is clean and buckets scrubbed out daily. I’d also be adding a glug of oil to her feed, just to help keep things moving.

 

[Pearlsacarolsinger]

I think you have your answer. She’s not drinking enough. A Himalayan salt lick may help and I’m sure you are already making sure her water is clean and buckets scrubbed out daily. I’d also be adding a glug of oil to her feed, just to help keep things moving.

We have one who hates to drink fresh water. It helps if we fill her stable water in the morning and leave it to stand so that the chlorine smell/taste has dissipated. Fortunately she is a very clean and tidy horse, so on some days we just top up.

 

[meleeka]

We have one who hates to drink fresh water. It helps if we fill her stable water in the morning and leave it to stand so that the chlorine smell/taste has dissipated. Fortunately she is a very clean and tidy horse, so on some days we just top up.

Mine love puddle water, but oddly when I got my cob (who only had puddle water in his previous home) He couldn’t get enough tap water.

 

[PurBee]

The micronised linseed will absorb a lot of gut moisture too. Although its very mucilaginous when wet helping gut movement...depending on amount given And water given.
Youre giving half a cup, so im not sure how much volume your cups are. Standard coffee mug size wouldnt be that much.

Doesnt sound like voluntary water intake is that much. Its always a lot less in winter compared with summer anyway yet half a bucket is still quite low. Is the forage soaked? She may be getting plenty of moisture from that so doesnt use the bucket?

definitely get probiotics into her. Protexin Gut Balancer is highly palatable and easy to feed a scoop daily. After longterm garlic use, id definitely question her gut flora condition.

On another thread someone had a horse that didnt drink much and it was suggested putting some fresh apple juice in it to tempt more consumption...maybe try that and see if more gets drunk?

 

[Goldenstar]

This is a warning of potentially serious issues .
I agree fully with those who say stop feeding the garlic it’s not good for horses .
I would not rest until I found a way to fix these poos .
Things to try adding electrolytes to her food every day as well as a salt lick this may be enough to sort your problem
Epsom salts are often used to soften poos however avoid with this with a horse who does not drink much it can dangerous .
Theres been a lot of work done on bucket preferences and horse do show strong preferences for different types and colours of buckets .
Many horses prefer water that’s been out of the tap for a good while before you offer it .
I would add soaked grass cubes to the beet .
As she’s on haylege there’s certainly something not right here .
What is her coat like ?
eta you might also try adding apple juice to water and or offering tepid water .

 

[PurBee]

This time of year when temps are 0 and colder i add boiling hot water to their water bucket and notice they drink more, so maybe very frigid stone cold water is a turn-off for horses and they’ll only sip as minimal amount needed.
If youre at a yard, are you able to boil a kettle or take a hot water flask with you to yard to top up bucket with?

 

[AdorableAlice]

I have a tricky mare over water. I soak her hay to ensure water intake. She rarely touches her water buckets unless she has done a lot of work and raised a sweat.

She was recently urine tested and was fully hydrated. Her muck will go hard and black without the soaked hay. She doesn’t need bucket feed, but I do use half a scoop of fast fibre in the morning soaked to a soup, which she isn’t overly keen on but sucks at through the day slowly. In the evening she has 500g of recover mash with her gastro supplement, again as a soup. She loves that and gulps it down.