Equine Colic - Signs, Symptoms, Treatment
Gut Health & Colic
If there’s one word that strikes fear into the hearts and minds of horse owners, it’s “colic.” Used to describe any form of abdominal pain, colic can affect horses for many reasons and in any season, although cold weather months are a particularly challenging time with increased risk of impaction-related colic.
Three simple rules to prevent colic, especially during cold weather, are:
- Increase forage in the diet,
- Keep your horse hydrated, and
- Maximize turnout and exercise.
Rule #1 – Increase Forage in Diet
Forage is critical for hindgut fermenters. An 1,100 pound horse should consume 2.0 to 2.5 percent of its body weight per day in forage (22 to 28 lbs). Because horses only produce saliva when they chew, feeding forage free choice will increase the production of saliva, which is one of the best buffers for the horses’ digestive system and the most effective way to reduce the chance of ulcers and impaction colic.
Rule #2 – Keep your Horse Hydrated
While on the topic of impaction, 24/7 access to clean water is imperative to keep all that forage moving. Remember, horses tend to drink less in the winter and impactions usually form with dry feed. During Canada’s coldest months, water in buckets can freeze within a few hours of filling, so ensure your horse doesn’t become dehydrated due to a frozen water source.
Rule #3 – Maximize Turnout and Exercise
Keep moving! Horses are not humans; they are trickle feeders designed to graze up to 18 hours a day while travelling 16 kilometres or more a day to satisfy their need to feed. The horse kept in a stall for most of the day is more prone to colic than one that is turned out. Many stable designers are developing track systems that encourage horses to move around in order to access resources. Improved motility of the digestive tract is just one of the health benefits.
Horses in consistent exercise routines, such as school horses, have been shown to be at a lower risk of colic. A change in activity level (frequency, duration, or intensity) can increase the risk of colic. It is no coincidence that changes in diet and stabling often occur at the same time as changes in activity, all of which can affect a horse’s colic risk.
