Some Owners... GRRRRR - Small rant!

Lippyx

Lippyx

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Got to yard yesterday for lesson, and one of the livery horses was laying on the floor in indoor school with severe colic! The girl who loans him was very upset, and didn't know what to do!! YM called owner, who just said walk him about and rub his belly! This horse often gets colic, but this was a bad one, and was trying to go down on the concrete with the young girl, hence why he was in the school! He was flat out, and had that look of "I've had enough now!"
YM took control, and called the vet out, who said they would be another hour!!!

I couldn't believe the owners response to it all!!! Outrageous!!

Horse was still poorly when I left the yard, so don't know what the outcome was!! {{{ vibes }}} to horse and ((( hugs ))) to friend!!
 
aww hun sounds awful poor thing, horse acting like that i would call the vet too poor thing, colic can go downhill so quickly sending lots of (((((hugs))))) and (((((vibes)))))))
 

I find the owners response unbelievable
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<<healing vibes>> for the poor horse - hope it makes a full recovery
 
QR to be honest my first response to colic would be to walk around for a short time ( up to 45 mins to an hour, with breaks) to see if the condition improved. Of course this would depend on how bad the colic was in the first place and whether or not the horse had been seen to pass any motions shortly before ( as impaction would be one of my greatest fears). It would also depend on the medical history and age of the horse too. Each and every horse is different though. Each one handles colic differently and each one has a different pain threshold. If had been the owner in this case and the horse was laying down absolutely shattered then it would be get the vet out there and then, even if only to give some pain relief ( if that is all what was needed).
I agree that the owner's response in this case was irresponsible if they had been told the whole story and informed as to how 'bad' the colic was this particular time.
Hope horsey is ok now though. Can't imagine how painful it must be for them to have in most cases trapped wind
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Staffs - thought the 'walking round with colic' thing was now known to be just an old wives type thing, and that it can actually make things a lot worse in case of a twisted gut etc?

Happy to be told otherwise though
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Normally, as rule of thumb, yes walk a horse round as this normally releases any trapped gases. But if the horse gets worse or is trying to go down no mater what he/she is standing on, then I would put in a large arena (to aviod getting cast) and call vet!!
The horse in question is a known colic sufferer, and the owner kept trying to get loanee to walk horse about even though he was trying to go down on the concrete!!
 
Well my vet seemed happy with it
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and a friend of mine with a horse who had colic had also walked her horse around and vet had spoke to her on the phone about it before they arrived to see the horse.
TBH I am more concerned with the thrashing around. But again this has turned out to be a myth also regarding a twisted gut. I believe the general consensus is that if the horse is going to get a twisted gut then it will already have one before it starts rolling around and thrashing on the ground.
As I stated before though a person's actions with a horse that has colic is dependant on a number of factors. Present condition of the horse. Previous medical history including any history of colic or conditions that could lead the said horse to be then prone to colic. The age of the horse. Experience of the person who is with the horse and how well they know him/her. Vet availability including distance away. Obviously if vet is a certain distance away then I would be more inclined to get them to come out sooner than later. If in doubt ring your vet anyway, even if just to get advice. I know that in the future that is what I will be doing if my horse that has had colic gets it again as the last time he had it, it was worse than he had ever had it and there was no spring grass as a possible cause that day either.
That said though for those who have horses out 24/7 in summer or all year round how do we not know that our horses get colic when we are not there? We are not with them in the field 24/7 and who is to say that some don't get mild bouts which they just walk around to dissipate the gas build up, or roll to help ease the pain? Just a thought?
 
The walking round is to stop them going down & rolling & causing the twisted gut. Or so I thought?

Hope OP horse feels better poor thing.

Old instructer use to have a colicy mare. SHe had a small bout every month. I brought her in from field & she started rolling (month old foal at foot). I went up to him as in office said she had colic & he was like "I'll be there in a bit just finishing this paperwork".
I went back to mare she was in a right tiz & was doing 60 breaths a minute. I went back to him & said please now, he was like in a mo.
I was like NO NOW.
Finally he came down & she had got cast. Finally got her up & took her back into the field so if she went down she wouldn't get cast at least. She turned out to have a twisted gut & had to be operated on. Luckily she made it.
 
Lippyx I totally agree with you hence why we have walked him around. There were very feasible excuses when he had previously got it due to over indulgence on spring grass in a field that had been fertilised and then being run around by another owner! He was very gassy and farted and burped on walking. Didn't need vet and horse was checked over a number of hours afterwards and he was fine.
This year though he was worse and there were no reasons for it except he had wolfed down haylage very quickly and on a short ride that day both him and my other horse had got upset by the hail storm we had. I have no idea what was the trigger but he was very, very gassy. We tried the walking around in a sand school, but there was no passing of wind. He was trying to roll and had already rolled in the stable I had been told. Out of hours vet was called out. He was given a bute injection and sedative and checked for impaction which luckily he didn't have. Even after both the jabs he still had a swishing tail so although the drugs had taken the edge off him he could still feel it. I stayed with him for quite a few hours ( even had to bunk off work which they were not happy about, not horsey people you see and I had to try and explain that no it is not like baby colic!) Horse was fine next day and has not had a bout since.
If he gets it again though I will ring vet straight away because the last time did have me scared as I had never seen him act like that before and also because he had rolled in stable I didn't know when he had last had a poo, which was my main concern if he had got an impaction.
 
My vet, who is one of the best equine vets in the country (and when I am told that absolutely believe it) said that if a horse with colic wants to roll, let it. It will neither cause nor prevent a twisted gut. he's not keen on walking either.
 
I was always told to walk it, but recently my vet ( as donklet said) he said to let it do whatever it likes to get comfotble.

I think it is such a hit and miss problem, that some times the horse knows what is best.

As long as you call the vet, just go with the flow, although my gut reaction is to get the horse walking.

Hope the horse and the loan girl is ok, it is a shame that the owner was not as concerened
 
Horses with colic roll because they are in pain. If they have colic because of a twisted gut they are rolling because of the twist, rolling will not cause a twist.

Yes a moderate amount of walking in-hand may help a gas type colic to pass, but there is no point in walking a horse until it is exhausted or if it really wants to roll. Much better to put it in a safe place and let it do what it wants, and if there is no improvement in 15-20 minutes then call your vet.
 
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