Lay down a colicking horse?

[Tiramit]

Just heard something that contradicted my equine education…

A horse at my barn was obviously colicking, and the teenage daughter of the barn manager (said manager not present) consulted with everyone on the premises and decided to call the vet (thankfully not my vet). The vet wasn’t too interested in driving out there (typical Austin), so he told her to give banamine and watch it, oh, and go ahead and let him lie down if he wants too!!!

Is this something new, because I was always told to keep them up (gastric torsion threat)???

[redhorse05]

Laying down was explained to me this way: if they are wanting to lay quietly, go ahead and let them. If it does come to surgury and they have been forced to walk for many hours, they are often too exhausted to make it through surgury. That made sense to me. And laying quietly does nothing to harm them for normal periods of time.

We had one terrible colic last summer at work. This was a mare that had never had a sick or lame day in her life and one morning I found her down in the pasture and I knew it was a bad one. The vet came, she was relieved for awhile. Then she’d roll on her back, like a sleeping dog. So we’d walk some more, then she’d lay quiet but as soon as I’d walk away, she’d flip on her back again. I cracked a bone in my foot rolling her back over, but didn’t know that till later. We ended up putting her down. The vet was out five times total and on the last, we all knew. I had never seen a horse wanting to lay on her back like that. That was the worst part for me.

~Odin

[Tiramit]

Just heard something that contradicted my equine education…

A horse at my barn was obviously colicking, and the teenage daughter of the barn manager (said manager not present) consulted with everyone on the premises and decided to call the vet (thankfully not my vet). The vet wasn’t too interested in driving out there (typical Austin), so he told her to give banamine and watch it, oh, and go ahead and let him lie down if he wants too!!!

Is this something new, because I was always told to keep them up (gastric torsion threat)???

[Dry_Clean_Only]

When we had a yearling colic a long time ago I thought I remember the vet saying it was ok for her to lay down, and that sometimes babies will lay belly up if they have ulcers? I dunno, very vauge recolection

[Hilary]

I have been told that the old thinking of Keep The Colicky Horse Walking has changed. If he is quiet, and not wanting to roll, it is ok to allow him to lie down and rest.

Think of it this way - if you feel miserable, do you want to be forced to march around the house? You just want to crawl into bed and be as still as possible.

If the horse is down for a very long time (more than several hours) he may start to have lung/breathing problems, and peristalsis problems, but if he is that sick, the vet would have been consulted again.

It’s the rolling and thrashing that twists the gut, not just lying down.

I hope the horse is better.

[Cactuskate]

Years ago we had one with a very severe colic. We were walking for about 30 hours. The vet said if he wanted to lie down it was alright. He was bound to be very tired. Just DO NOT LET HIM ROLL. So when he wanted to go down we let him, then sat on his neck so he couldn’t roll. Poor little guy, he was so tired. We of course had blankets on him and covered him while he was resting. Then he would want to get up again and away we would go.

Wanted to have those little poops bronzed when they finally passed. What an ordeal.

“The older I get, the better I used to be, but who the heck cares!”

[Tiramit]

What you both said makes sense - especially where a tired horse is concerned. My thoughts weren’t necessarily about walking him, rather, I just didn’t like the idea of letting him lay down. It does seem humane to let them sleep it off - if they’re watched. In this situation, the horse had just started showing signs of colic (he was rolling a little and definitely doing the frantic reach back and bite the stomach routine). I think that’s why the vet’s suggestion shocked me so much.

He’s fine, but he didn’t have the same bedside attendance yours seemed to have had… Thanks for the info!

[Natalie]

I’ve wondered about that too. A pregnant mare at a local barn colicked a few moths ago. I thought it was strange that they kept her lying down…they actually wouldn’t let her stand! Unfortuneatly, despite a trip to New Bolten where all efforts were made to save her and the foal (including a cesarian) they both died. I did wonder if keeping her down contributed to this, but maybe not.

“Throw your heart over the fence and your horse will follow.”

[Amy]

Not sure why they would not let her get up… but laying down is perfectly ok. If it is a long colic especially the horse will tire and want to lay down. Happens all the time at our clinic. We prefer them to lay sternal (sitting on the sternum) because that is a more normal resting position. If they lay flat out that is more a sign of discomfort… as is rocking from flat out to sternal. We monitor very carefully and administer drugs as necessary to keep them as comfortable as possible.

[wanderlust]

I recall reading in Equus a year or so ago that a twisted intestine is not caused by rolling… rather it is caused by spasms/distension that come with colic.

Has anyone else heard this?

[Fleur_De_Fur]

It is ok to let your horse that is colicing to lie down and rest, as long as he is quiet and not rolling or thrashing about. A colicing or a horse in pain will expend alot of energy so alowing him to rest will help him to regain or maintain energy levels. As soon as he begins to roll again you shoud get him up and walk him around some more.

F