Just went through an impaction colic with my 19-year-old TN Walker gelding. I’ve had him and his barn mate rotating on pasture for 3 hours a day for the past two months, rest of the day in a dry lot with a round bale that has a slow feeding net on it. I closed them off from the pasture two weeks ago and I was feeding fescue square bales in the same net. Just got a new fescue round bale a week ago and put the slow feeding net on it. Yesterday morning my gelding was showing signs of colic so I had the vet out and she felt an impaction so she tubed him. Luckily he was feeling better this morning. My fear is I have no idea what has caused this. The vet attributed it to the new round bale, but it is the same type of hay that they were eating with the square bales. Anyone had any unexplained colic like this? I just don’t know what brought it on and therefore am afraid of what I don’t know to avoid or do different. The round bale is not moldy. Any advice would be appreciated!
One of the things we do is feed extra salt to encourage them to drink more. We also feed very sloppy soaked beet pulp… I had one older horse colic last winter. The vet who very successfully cared for him suggested taking him off Equioxx for his hind gut health. He’s not had another problem. Of course, in an older horse, my fear is a strangulating lipoma; we have the vet out as quickly as possible.
Agreed. Dehydration can be a huge factor. As well as the digestability of the hay. Also parasite load. Colic is a conundrum for sure.
Also lack of movement in the horse. Standing around just eating in a dry lot off a bale or being stabled can be issues
Just because two bales have the same grass variety, does not automatically mean they contain the same nutrients in the same amounts unless they came from the same field. You called it a ‘new bale’ yet did not state if it came from the same seller or same field as your previous bales. There can be huge differences in bales from different fields. This is why old-time folks said to mix old hay with new for a couple days to acclimate horse system to the new hay without getting reactions. People haul ‘home hay’ to shows to prevent horse reactions to new hay sold at shows.
A lot of folks buy new hay, feed it without any horse reactions. Other horses react to hay changes quickly, like your horse did. So a slower introduction to ‘new hay’ would be easier on him when you need another bale. Perhaps the new bale is very dry, horse is not drinking enough to stay properly hydrated.
The only way to know what you have in a bale is with hay testing. This is not really economical for doing 1-2-3 big bales at a time.
Can you talk to your hay seller, to make sure your bales come from the same field or farmer if you buy from a middleman/hay broker?
I would also start giving horses extra salt with their grain to get them drinking more. A couple Tablespoons daily is not too much. A white salt block does not usually provide as much salt as a horse truly needs. They just get tired of licking and walk off.
I hate colic. You can’t always predict it and there’s limited ways to prevent it.
My equine dentist suggested the following:
Make sure to get their teeth done at least once a year if not twice a year.
Don’t give 24/7 access to unlimited hay. Use hay nets and ration them so there is some limited fasting time between meals. Keeping in mind that too long between meals leads to ulcers.
Add salt to their feed and/or add water to their feed.
Keep them moving. Movement aids digestion.
What @4horses said 
the only time my gelding had an impaction colic it was when we went on holiday and we left horses with the round bale (with the net) 24/7 in order to ease farm sitter’s job
Yes.
I think many impaction colics the owner never really knows why Dobbin picked today for this to happen. Why today did you not drink as much, etc.
Lots of horses eat all day on round bales and never have any trouble. Lots of horses live on a dry lot and never have any trouble.
Jingles for your boy.
We had an impaction colic when the grass was really dry one year. There is a lot of water in new pasture grass and when you pulled your horses off suddenly and went to all hay it may have caused them to consume more dry forage and they were drinking less. Plus confinement in a dry lot , standing at a bale means less movement.
Why did you pull them off grass?
Impaction colic - ugh! We’ve had 2 episodes mostly because the horse got himself dehydrated 
Unfortunately, he’s on coastal hay which is a higher colic risk but we hang a bucket, so we can monitor his water consumption, add a flake of alfalfa with his stall hay (morning & night) and added a salt block to his feed bucket. We also add electrolytes whenever we think he might be in a situation where he might think of colicking.
The only time I’ve had an impaction colic (so far, knock on wood) was when I switched to coastal hay for a short time. Two of my horses were fine with it, one was not. I switched back to tim/orch and have never had an issue again.
A few horses at the barn where I now board have had impaction colic due to the sandy soil and feeding coastal hay (self-care, so mine doesn’t get coastal). Most boarders add the monthly Sand Clear to help with this. I don’t do Sand Clear, but as I said, I feed a coarser type of hay and all hard feed is in a soupy mash, AND I feed a cup per feeding of Omega Horseshine, which is mostly ground flax and is said to act much like psyllium in how it can carry sand/dirt/fine particles out of the gut. I also feed a big glug of canola oil in each feeding (not sure if that helps things move through, but seems like it can’t hurt). Oh, and I supplement with table salt in each feeding to encourage drinking. My horse is a pretty good drinker anyway.
Lots of water, stemmy forage, teeth in good shape, and frankly, I think feeding from ground level (not on sand, obviously) is better because that’s the position they’re designed to eat in.
@HEARTSTONE. Please tell us more about your guy. Since you have no idea what caused this episode I think we should tick off some boxes. First, at 19 he may likely start having “getting older” issues. Like us, right? And that includes impactions. So important they are moving as much as possible - just like us. Is he moving enough? How much is he moving? Can you get him moving more?
I’ve managed two horses now that tend to get impacted. They both typically had drier manure - very dry. So I’m always eyeballing what they drop. Always. What does his manure look like?
Yes, to salt. I dose 1TBL am and pm in their ration balancer. Seems most vets are on board with this and including nutritionists.
And can you feed his feed sloppy wet? I do that for my dry ones.
Also do you notice in his gut area that he’s tight? Behind the saddle and down - that area - is where you can feel and sometimes see it. I check every meal and see how the hind gut is looking. I’ll gently massage (TTouch circles - 1 1/4 circles - very gentle- just moving the skin really) and move that and often with slight ear pinning from them because it IS a wee bit impacted and hurts.
I’d fifthly add - do you feed an omega 3 source? I grind flax seeds - you must grind or you might have new pets - rats. I feel a 1/2 cup am and pm and that helps the whole system have more lube. Good lube.
Those are my thoughts. Keep us posted and best jingles and vibes for your pony!!
Thank you all for your advice and insight! My gelding is doing much better. The history on him is he is from a barn where he was literally fed whatever feed or hay was cheap and available. So he hasn’t been slowly introduced to any new hay or feed in his past care. Since I have had him, he has had FWS, and I have tried pretty much every supplement out there from the very expensive to the basic probiotics from the feed store. Nothing has helped it completely, although the probiotics seem to make it a tiny bit better.
I have had him on soaked beet pulp to put some weight on him as he was on the thin side when I got him. He gets that plus Triple Crown Senior twice a day. It has been a real struggle to find any consistent hay in our area, and all last year I fed both my guys round bales of coastal Bermuda. I know—not ideal—but it was the absolute cleanest hay I had found. Since this episode with my gelding, I really examined the round bale to see if there was anything suspect, and I did find a good bit of foxtail. So, I have taken this bale away and just have them both on grass and fescue/orchard hay in their stalls.
Now the conundrum of locating good quality round bales this season. I cannot leave them on the pasture because we all know how horses will destroy the grass. I absolutely have to take them off and let them eat the round bale in the dry lot. I have been doing this for two+ years with no issues.
I am adding salt to both their feeds now and will try the flax seeds as well. I’m hoping this was a fluke thing and will keep an eye out for any changes in manure, water intake, etc. I really appreciate all of you taking the time to help!
You mention FWS, the one thing that seemed to clear my pony’s up was adding two meals of soaked hay pellets. He still gets everything else the same but the short stemmed fiber seems to sooth and bind things. Extra water might not hurt your horse as he gets things moving again!
I pull them off grass so our pastures can rest. I really don’t have a choice in order to keep the pastures from getting eaten down to dirt. I have done this for the past two years with no issues.
@HEARTSTONE, did your vet pull any bloodwork? I just went through this myself. Blood chemistry showed dehydration and my horse needed IV fluids to recover. My horse is 15.
I haven’t had a colicky horse in years but in the past I have never seen this done. However I think it is a GREAT idea and I don’t know why it isn’t done more. Maybe because giving fluids is a pretty common treatment?
Yes, she did blood work. Nothing alarming though.
