Spasmodic Colic

[Deano645]

Just after some advice with my mare, she is 17 and I have owned her for 14 of those years, she has been prone to spasmodic colic since she was about 10 years old (maybe twice a year), when she had the last bout the vet suggested that she may have stomach ulcers and if she had another bout maybe we should investigate. There are only a few occasions that I have had to call the vet out, usually I lunge her a bit and it seems to settle. Yesterday she had another mild bout so now I am considering what to do, I hate to see her suffering. She is on a worming programme and always has been since I owned her, her diet consists of Hifi Lite, Spillers Horse & Pony Cubes and Spillers Lite Balancer. A friend has suggested I try Pink Powder so I have got some today to try. She is in at night and has haylage which is of good quality, in the day she is out on approx. 2 acres of grazing which is well maintained. I am going to call our vet on Monday to see what to do but wondered if anyone has any advice on her diet which may help? I wondered if perhaps she could be sugar intolerant. I can't give her hay as she gets a dreadful cough with it even if it's steamed or soaked and of the best quality. Her weight is fine and her coat is in good condition, she does have a bad back occasionally which was checked out by both a vet and her chiropractor but again nothing major found, and I read this can be a symptom of ulcers.

 

[Justturnedfifty]

Just after some advice with my mare, she is 17 and I have owned her for 14 of those years, she has been prone to spasmodic colic since she was about 10 years old (maybe twice a year), when she had the last bout the vet suggested that she may have stomach ulcers and if she had another bout maybe we should investigate. There are only a few occasions that I have had to call the vet out, usually I lunge her a bit and it seems to settle. Yesterday she had another mild bout so now I am considering what to do, I hate to see her suffering. She is on a worming programme and always has been since I owned her, her diet consists of Hifi Lite, Spillers Horse & Pony Cubes and Spillers Lite Balancer. A friend has suggested I try Pink Powder so I have got some today to try. She is in at night and has haylage which is of good quality, in the day she is out on approx. 2 acres of grazing which is well maintained. I am going to call our vet on Monday to see what to do but wondered if anyone has any advice on her diet which may help? I wondered if perhaps she could be sugar intolerant. I can't give her hay as she gets a dreadful cough with it even if it's steamed or soaked and of the best quality. Her weight is fine and her coat is in good condition, she does have a bad back occasionally which was checked out by both a vet and her chiropractor but again nothing major found, and I read this can be a symptom of ulcers.

Hello, I have a pony that regularly had colic, generally gassy type colic and we tried all sorts of supplements which had no real impact. We completely changed his diet, and we changed his routine. I identified if he was turned out without breakfast straight on to grass he would colic, so we always ensured he had a high fibre feed in the morning followed by a minimum of 30 minutes hay / haylage. We ensured he always had ad lib hay / haylage fed in small holed hay net and took all cereal type foods off him, feeding low sugar high fibre feed. He know has Dengie Happy Tummy which contains Protexin and soaked Fast Fibre. When in hard work and in need of an energy feed, we use Saracens Re Leve. I add micronised Linseed and salt. He has access to Rock Salt Lick and a general mineral lick. For the last 2 years my pony has not coliced. Reading up on how a horses gut functions, I believe he colics because he has a poor gut function. The high fibre feed is helping to keep the gut healthy and functioning. In addition we made sure he did not have access to 'good' grass - he cannot cope with high sugars. He survives and functions much better on a well grazed paddock, even if we had to tie a haylage net up in the summer. We asked a vet about what action we could take, nothing pointed to ulcers, he was well, happy, riding beautifully, not sore or unhappy. Apparently scoping won't show up the hind gut, which wouldn't really help us. The vet suggested changing his diet and increasing his fibre intake. BTW he is a native breed of pony who had a very poor start to life. Wormed regularly, and kept in ridden work. Hope this helps you, good luck. Xx