Possible sand colic?

[Cavewoman14]

My mare had two minor colicky type incidents over the summer. Both times she displayed the usual colic signs, curled lip, biting her side, trying to roll etc. Both times I walked her around and after about 5 or 10 minutes, she farted and then quickly recovered, and was back to her normal self. As she is kept on sandy soil, I did wonder if it could be the sand causing these incidents. I have read that with sand colic, you sometimes get several boughts of mild colic over a longish period of time, before getting a really nasty one. I sent her poo to be tested by Westgate labs and it came back as 3% sand. I decided to give her a course of Equimins Sand Ex pellets and then sent off the second test to Westgate. I’ve just had the results and it’s still at 3%! I’m now really confused! Is 3% a high reading? Westgate Labs give virtually no information on their website. Doe this result mean that the sand ex didn’t work or that it wasn’t the sand that caused the colic incidents? Can anyone shed any light on the results?

 

[HappyHollyDays]

I can’t help with the results but if you want to see if there is sand in the poo get a few droppings, put them in a surgical glove, add water, shake and let the sediment drop to the bottom of the fingers. As sand is heavier than the digested matter it will show up straight away. It might give you more of a visual sense of the % rather than a figure on paper. A friend lost a mare to sand colic many years ago and now feeds all hers physillium husks to drag the sand through the digestive system.

 

[Cavewoman14]

I can’t help with the results but if you want to see if there is sand in the poo get a few droppings, put them in a surgical glove, add water, shake and let the sediment drop to the bottom of the fingers. As sand is heavier than the digested matter it will show up straight away. It might give you more of a visual sense of the % rather than a figure on paper. A friend lost a mare to sand colic many years ago and now feeds all hers physillium husks to drag the sand through the digestive system.

Thank you. I’ve fed the Equimins Sand Ex for a week, which contains physillium, but the results are the same. I’m tempted to try a different brand and see if that works better. I’ll try the glove thing. She’s living out at the moment, so I’ll bring her in early today for her dinner, and hope she poos!

 

[Chianti]

My mare had two minor colicky type incidents over the summer. Both times she displayed the usual colic signs, curled lip, biting her side, trying to roll etc. Both times I walked her around and after about 5 or 10 minutes, she farted and then quickly recovered, and was back to her normal self. As she is kept on sandy soil, I did wonder if it could be the sand causing these incidents. I have read that with sand colic, you sometimes get several boughts of mild colic over a longish period of time, before getting a really nasty one. I sent her poo to be tested by Westgate labs and it came back as 3% sand. I decided to give her a course of Equimins Sand Ex pellets and then sent off the second test to Westgate. I’ve just had the results and it’s still at 3%! I’m now really confused! Is 3% a high reading? Westgate Labs give virtually no information on their website. Doe this result mean that the sand ex didn’t work or that it wasn’t the sand that caused the colic incidents? Can anyone shed any light on the results?

I would go back to Westgate and ask for advice. Mine had a very high sand count and one of the staff there was very helpful in giving strategies I could use. I don't think 3% is high - mine was 15%!

 

[Tiddlypom]

3% is quite low, though ideally there'd be none. Did you find this video on the Westgate website? It's pretty helpful.

Chianti, 15% . Did your horse have symptoms?

 

[Chianti]

3% is quite low, though ideally there'd be none. Did you find this video on the Westgate website? It's pretty helpful.

Chianti, 15% . Did your horse have symptoms?

No. I was shocked when the result came back. With treatment it eventually went down to 5% but I couldn't get it lower than that. He was in a small paddock which was quite bare and the ground was very sandy. I've moved him to a yard that's on clay. I had a couple of tests left so out of interest sent one off and it came back as 0%. Do try Westgate again I found them very helpful. Hope you get it sorted.

 

[PurBee]

Some beet pulp pellets contain grit/sand - presumably the beet root veg doesnt get washed down after harvested from the field if its for animal feed.
I can soak 1kg dry pellets in excess water - agitate once swollen and skim off the soaked pulp and there is about 1teaspoon of sand/grit at the bottom of the soak bucket.
I accidently stumbled across this discovery as i had only molassed pellets available to buy so decided to soak in loads of hot water and rinse off the molasses, squeezing out the pulp - it works, yet i also discovered all the sand in the pellets!
If i were to soak with just enough water to swell and feed it as a sloppy mash, i’d be feeding my horses a spoonful of sand a day!

 

[Cavewoman14]

I would go back to Westgate and ask for advice. Mine had a very high sand count and one of the staff there was very helpful in giving strategies I could use. I don't think 3% is high - mine was 15%!

Wow! That is high! Thanks for the advice, I’ll give them a call

 

[Cavewoman14]

3% is quite low, though ideally there'd be none. Did you find this video on the Westgate website? It's pretty helpful.

Chianti, 15% . Did your horse have symptoms?

I hadn’t seen that, thank you