I haven’t read all the replies, so, sorry if it’s been mentioned before. But is the horse warm enough? My mare has had colic because she was cold (the barn help practician didn’t put a blanket on when we asked). They start shivering, are uncomfortable, get really stiff, don’t drink, their intestines get stiff, and voila, colic.
Thanks Pembroke. All suggestions are welcome. He seems warm when you put your hand under his blanket. He is in one of the warmest stalls in the barn. Granted in this weather, that may not be saying much. The barn is staying above freezing, but just. Spring is coming soon right?
Both my horse and one of BO’s horses had a really bad problem with colic a few years ago. We compared notes every day about how the two horses were doing, in particular when there were drops in the barometric pressure. For sure, my guy is an ulcer candidate. He’s a retired AQHA show horse and to this day, he worries about EVERYthing, any change in routine rocks his world.
We did treat both of them with Ulcerguard but I didn’t see much improvement in my guy. Possibly it’s hind-gut. Anyway, they both would get restless, agitated, upset, or some kind of “not calm and quiet” when the pressure dropped.
To make a long story short, we (vet, BO and I) believe that - since there’s a certain amount of gas in the digestive tract at all times - when the pressure drops, the gas expands and ulcers crack open (yes, that’s over-simplifying). Whenever the pressure is below 30 or is dropping at all, I give him 4 gas-ex in his meal.
He gets a soupy “mash” of alfalfa cubes and beet pulp with his feed and supps stirred in so that I KNOW he’s getting lots of fluids. Takes him forever to finish (it’s probably about 4 gallons of soup) but he’s very happy to slop it around on his hay, eat the hay, sip his soup…
My personal (uneducated) theory is that the tummy aches cause disruption in eating & drinking and lead to impaction.
My guy cracks me up because with that huge quantity of soup, he will pick out every. single. gel-cap. of gas-ex, so I have to use the tablets, which he eats no problem.
Interesting the poster above gives a tablet per 100 pounds. I might increase my guy’s dosage because he’s been agitated more often than usual and the pressure has been bouncing up and down like crazy.
My older guy has had episodes of colic with weather changes/dropping barometric pressure. Last week he got colicky during a blizzard. I am now beginning to wonder if horses get headaches! I know I do when there is a strong/sudden change in air pressure.
We keep Horse Quencher on hand and serve a warm “tea” to any of the horses that have a history of colicky symptoms, to be sure hydration is adequate especially as storms approach.
[QUOTE=Guilherme;8031241]
If weather changes alone caused gas colic would not the wild horses of 100,000 years ago gone extinct? My vet, whose opinion I respect, has noted that there is a spike in colic calls during significant weather changes, but not every significant change. So there’s likely something more than just changes of pressure going on.[/QUOTE]
I wonder about this too. I currently have two of what I call “conspiracy theories”.
1- “Cold snap horse management” often reads like a list of colic risk factors. Feeds change, turnout changes, etc. Go figure.
2- (and I do realize I’m nuts) I wonder if the extra activity that horses put into life when cold fronts come through has less to do with the temperature dropping or hunger and is more their way of maintaining good gut health.
Individual horses vary for certain and it’s hard to say if one has great management or simply a collection durable horses, so this is all just food for thought.
I agree to some degree. No other horse in a barn of 20 has issues, so why would atmospheric pressure only affect him, but why do only some people get migraines from weather changes. Again, I have no idea just observations. one thing I am fairly certain about is that Sport would never have survived in the wild.
I have a horse that has a very compromised system due to starvation. He has had colic surgery and has coliced 2 -3 times since because of horrible weather. It was suggested that you give them more probiotic/prebiotics and electrolytes, warm water, walking them and I was also told that acupuncture and chiropractic is helpful. I’m scared to death every time the weather changes. The barometric pressure has a lot to do with the colic as well. Not sure if we’re allowed to mention a product but "Blue Light pellets by TechMix adds electrolites and a few vitamins that helps with cramping the pellets cause the horse to want to drink more. Also I’ve used the homeopathic "BellaDonna 30C to help with cramping. For those of you that have ulcers there is a far more economical way to help. I use Bentonite clay that I put liquid in and let it sit for at least 8 hours. I give this to my horse every day to help with ulcers. I’m glad I don’t have children because worrying about 4 horses makes me a total wreck.
“They call them dumb animals and so they are,
for they cannot tell us how they feel, but they do not suffer less because they have no words”
Anna Sewell
