Weather change and colic

[grayarabs]

I worry about colic in winter - horses not drinking enough - perhaps because the water is so cold?
Add to that - our hay is coastal Bermuda.
Some folks say feed more hay to horses in the winter to help them to keep warm.
More hay / less water intake - can’t be good.

G - interesting - but could not really understand.
Could you further explain - pressure and fronts?

[stb]

@grayarabs

I worry about colic in winter - horses not drinking enough - perhaps because the water is so cold?
Add to that - our hay is coastal Bermuda.
Some folks say feed more hay to horses in the winter to help them to keep warm.
More hay / less water intake - can’t be good.

G - interesting - but could not really understand.
Could you further explain - pressure and fronts?

I feed soaked beet pulp during the winter months. I also feed salt with meals year round. My local vets suggest this in an effort to keep horses’ guts well hydrated.

[Guilherme]

@grayarabs

I worry about colic in winter - horses not drinking enough - perhaps because the water is so cold?
Add to that - our hay is coastal Bermuda.
Some folks say feed more hay to horses in the winter to help them to keep warm.
More hay / less water intake - can’t be good.

G - interesting - but could not really understand.
Could you further explain - pressure and fronts?

Here is a quick and dirty explanation of what happens when a cold front passes:

http://ww2010.atmos.uiuc.edu/(Gh)/guides/mtr/af/frnts/cfrnt/def.rxml

The claim of pressure change causing colic is common but unlikely. Note that before a front passes the pressure drops gradually, winds rise, and there can be heavy rain. After passage pressure rises rapidly, temperature drops steeply, winds shift from warm to cold, and the air dries significantly.

Remember that colic in horses is defined as abdominal pain, but it is a clinical symptom and not a diagnosis. The term “colic” can include all forms of gastrointestinal conditions which cause pain as well as other causes of abdominal pain not involving the gastrointestinal tract. It is pain secondary to something else.

So when someone wants to connect “colic” with “pressure drop” I want to know what mechanism they think is in play.

AFAIK there is no proof of the claim of pressure drop causing colic. The whole process of cold frontal passage is going to have the potential to cause problems but I’d be suspect that an otherwise healthy horse is going to colic solely because a cold front passes.

G.

[tabula_rashah]

I think at least 75% of Ramey says can be filed in that round cabinet.
As far as weather and colic- I don’t know what the reasoning for the correlation is but I do know when I worked in the ICU for a vet hospital- we certainly had more colics during weather swings. Whether that was owner caused, pressure changes, etc ???

[Guilherme]

@tabula rashah

I think at least 75% of Ramey says can be filed in that round cabinet.
As far as weather and colic- I don’t know what the reasoning for the correlation is but I do know when I worked in the ICU for a vet hospital- we certainly had more colics during weather swings. Whether that was owner caused, pressure changes, etc ???

Perhaps so. But knowing the mechanism would give husbandrymen the chance to mitigate, or perhaps even eliminate, the problem. Since there is no way to prevent cold fronts then knowing just what DOES cause the issue (if there is an issue) seems to be rather important.

G.

[suzyq]

@stb

I feed soaked beet pulp during the winter months. I also feed salt with meals year round. My local vets suggest this in an effort to keep horses’ guts well hydrated.

I also feed salt year round to encourage drinking. I wonder how much colic due to weather changes is due to not drinking enough?

[tabula_rashah]

@Guilherme

Perhaps so. But knowing the mechanism would give husbandrymen the chance to mitigate, or perhaps even eliminate, the problem. Since there is no way to prevent cold fronts then knowing just what DOES cause the issue (if there is an issue) seems to be rather important.

G.

Excuse my eloquence, but, well, duh. Of course we’d like to know the cause. But until it gets figured out, it never hurts to add some extra vigilance during a big weather swing.

[Lusoluv]

Well, if you’re going to throw out 75% of what an experienced vet with 40-50 years of practical/medical horse care under his belt says, then you can throw out 99% of what most barn owners say…at least the ones I’ve boarded with over the last 30 years! I’ve only met 1 that provided decent care. The others offer poor horse management at best. And these are barns in the rural/suburban belt that keep high end horses and charge north of $700/mo for basic board! And if I wasn’t able to be present 6 days/week I wouldn’t keep my horses there. You’d be surprised what passes for good care. Most horse owners are clueless, and not all that interested in gaining knowledge, until something goes sideways.

[RMJacobs]

I believe pressure changes can help cause colic. There may be another factor or factors in combination, but I certainly believe decreases in barometric pressure can contribute. I had three horses living outside (at home) 24/7, with a shed complex to get them out of the wind, rain and snow no matter what the wind direction was. Every colic I experienced with these horses occurred when the pressure was dropping. Nothing changed in their care or feed.

Rebecca

[FatCatFarm]

@RMJacobs

I believe pressure changes can help cause colic. There may be another factor or factors in combination, but I certainly believe decreases in barometric pressure can contribute. I had three horses living outside (at home) 24/7, with a shed complex to get them out of the wind, rain and snow no matter what the wind direction was. Every colic I experienced with these horses occurred when the pressure was dropping. Nothing changed in their care or feed.

Rebecca

I think the point that some are trying to make is it is not the barometric pressure change that is causing the colic. Which I get. It’s not the cause per se, but the trigger. Everyone that I’ve had that was not relieved by banamine and getting the horse drinking (rubbing salt on the gums and or tongue actually helps trigger that response), has been a dehydration colic of not enough fluid in the GI tract to move the matter within it along - usually grass hay.

Now what it is about a change in pressure that causes the horses not to drink enough for what they’ve consumed? Or Does the pressure change, change gut fluidity in some way? I don’t know, but like others, I know it happens even if the weather change is merely a trigger and not the actual cause.

[RMJacobs]

@FatCatFarm

I think the point that some are trying to make is it is not the barometric pressure change that is causing the colic. Which I get. It’s not the cause per se, but the trigger. Everyone that I’ve had that was not relieved by banamine and getting the horse drinking (rubbing salt on the gums and or tongue actually helps trigger that response), has been a dehydration colic of not enough fluid in the GI tract to move the matter within it along - usually grass hay.

Now what it is about a change in pressure that causes the horses not to drink enough for what they’ve consumed? Or Does the pressure change, change gut fluidity in some way? I don’t know, but like others, I know it happens even if the weather change is merely a trigger and not the actual cause.

My horses always had gas colic, so where does that leave us? I wish it weren’t such a mystery, given how much expense and heartache it causes.

Rebecca

[Angela_Freda]

For my migraines it’s not a pressure drop, it’s a change, whether a drop or rise… And wham.

iow it may not be the direction of change, but the speed of the change as well as the severity of the swing.

[Guilherme]

@tabula rashah

Excuse my eloquence, but, well, duh. Of course we’d like to know the cause. But until it gets figured out, it never hurts to add some extra vigilance during a big weather swing.

Extra vigilance is good. Assigning false cause is not good. Saying “I don’t know” is perfectly OK. Knowing the difference between causation and coincidence is essential.

You’re eloquence was just fine.

G.