Sand Colic

[Lou2006]

Hi. Due to no winter grazing my horse goes out in a sand arena for a few hours everyday. He hoovers the floor picking at bits of grass and also drinks from the puddles so he is probably swallowing sand. I was hoping to know what people use, I've found a product from Equine America called Sand Out. Would this do the trick? He is not actually grazing on sandy ground, he is just picking at tiny bits off the arena floor. Any suggestions welcome.

Thanks.

Lou.x

 

[Tia]

I don't know what people use over here however I do know that sand colic is a fairly big issue and I'm glad I don't have to keep mine on sand.

Equine America are a decent company so I expect that the product is beneficial for a horse in your situation.

 

[Fairynuff]

To check if hes passing sand get yourself some long plastic vet gloves, the ones for internal examinations. Put some of your neds poo in the glove and fill it with enough water to cover it completely. Tie the end and hang it up for a few hours till it goes really soggy (the poo). If there is sand, you will see it seperated out from the poo in the fingers of the glove. I dont think he will be picking up much sand but best to be careful. Ive heard that the American product works quite well. Mairi.

 

[JaneSteventon]

I used something from Global Herbs last year called 'clear out' i think. It has pysillium in which is what is traditionally used.

 

[GTs]

You do not even need a vet glove - just use a zip lock back and hang it at a 45 degree angle. That trick does come with it's limitation - it only shows if they are passing sand, not whether they are full of it - so it really has it's limitations.

I would buy just plain pysillium (powder form workd best) - would not trust the other stuff. Just feed 1 scoop with feed for the first week of every month and you will be fine.

TBH our horses out here all eat off a very light dusty sand all day long, and in my time at the equine hospital I only saw 1 sand colic going to surgery. So I would not say you are unlikely to have a problem.

 

[vicm2509]

[ QUOTE ]


TBH our horses out here all eat off a very light dusty sand all day long, and in my time at the equine hospital I only saw 1 sand colic going to surgery. So I would not say you are unlikely to have a problem.

[/ QUOTE ]

My old horse was stabled by the beach, our soil was quite sandy and in the winter horses were turned out in a sand paddock and would drink from the puddles. I was 14 at the time and it didnt occur to me this would be a problem and no one else on the yard seemed concerned. My horse had colic 3 times in a year and the vet did not relate it to the sand, the 4th bout resulted in him being PTS. It was sand colic.

Another horse on the yard was suspected to be having a phantom pregnancy and after months of her belly growing she was taken in for surgery to have the equivelant of one whole bucket of sand removed from her.

Looking back I wish I had know that sand could be horrible. I think its quite important to moniter the sand intake and do anythink you can to prevent it.

 

[GTs]

I would not say 1 bucket was considered a huge amount - we had considerably more then a few buckets.

 

[Tia]

[ QUOTE ]
in my time at the equine hospital

[/ QUOTE ]

Just out of interest; how long did you spend helping out at the equine hospital? It only seemed like a couple of months to me, and wasn't it just in your spare time?

 

[GTs]

6 months and the hospital does 1-3 colic surgeries a day. So in my time (24 full days) I probably saw close to 50 colic surgeries, so from my experience about 2% of the surgeries we did were due to sand colic - considering 90% of the horses in Orange County/LA County/Riverside County eat off the dirt it is an incredibly low number.

 

[Tia]

Ye we have dust here too, however it is not sand. I wouldn't really be too happy to keep my horse on sand.

 

[Lou2006]

Thanks for all your replies, will get something to feed him. I think the EA product is psyllium based as well.

Thanks.

Lou.x

 

[Dougie]

tbh we had a horse not so long ago come in for colic surgery...the cause...sand! sorry GTs but over here sand colic appears to be more of a problem

and tbh, whether it causes surgical colics or not...it wont do a horse any good eating it so avoidence should be taken

 

[GTs]

Even thinking back, lots of the ab x-rays we took (we take them for colic stones, but they show sand too) rarely showed any sand, only the odd sprinkle!!!

I admit I have my horses psyllium - there was an article saying bran daily would have the same effect, but I did not believe it. Do becareful as there were some 'natural' ones that spelt psyllium different and I would not waste my money on them!

 

[annie02]

I think sand colic is more common than most people think. A lot of times it can cause a little tummy ache that passes as the horse passes the sand naturaly. If your horse is eating off sand I dont think it will hurt, error on the side of caution. Colic isnt something to take lightly, I really believe in preventing the problem.

Gts where did you read bran daily would help?

 

[GTs]

If you do a search you will see the suggestion of bran for sand colic:

http://horsecare.stablemade.com/articles2/bran_mash.htm

http://www.equine-originals.com/sandcolic.htm

But then with others they say it is a myth:

http://www.equiaid.com/sandcolic_artcle.htm