My now 24 yo Rocky Mtn gelding has almost always developed fecal squirts and loose (not diarrhea/cow pies) poops in the winter. I have tried various probiotics to no avail and vet said “some horses are just like that”. We live in MA and he is outside 99% of the time with a 3 sided shed and blanketing if needed. Aside from the internal health concerns it’s totally gross as the stuff freezes in his tail and so he gets a ball of frozen nasty. I clean it with warm water and tried a tail bag this year after working in show sheen to aid in removal the next time but I don’t want to put it on his dock for long periods causing constrition issues/ hair loss.
I have totally digressed! Anyway, he gets this condition when on a (pelleted grain is same all year)total hay diet (though so years worse than others- hay sources?) Hay is a local grass mix. Problem happens with first or second cutting. Alfalfa hay totally gives him diarrhea. My question(s): aside from water; what is in grass that does not cause the squirts or what is not in hay that causes squirts? I have questioned cold weather as the cause too but that doesn’t seem likely. New vet suggested Neigh -lox which I will try next winter but I would much rather understand and try to compensate for the root problem. Enzymes? If I understand correctly the hindgut is where reabsorbtion of water occurs which is obviously not happening but why? Too much water? Inability to reabsorb? Hypermotil/ moving through gut too fast? Any ideas out there? I’ve read tons of forums about seasonal squirts but most are about trying probiotics or antibiotics. I’ve tried some probiotics and I’m hesitant about using antibiotics as that seems bandaid like and I would think aside from resistence messes up flora more right? Plus it seems like he gets lymes or anaplamosis once a year which means doxycyline dose. PS He was always seasonally like(squirts) this before Lymes/anaplomosis became a seeming yearly issue (bug spray/drops not 100% preventive). Ideas? I was going to maybe reach out to universities and would love to someone who specialzed in forage /horse gut. ThxB
While I don’t have a solution to your problem, I can offer you what I have experienced. I have a horse who experienced the same thing when we lived in PA. Around November/ December every year, he would have excessive liquid with both his manure and gas. It would be running down his back legs and tail, almost scalding him. I could wash it off every day, and it was right back again. It would last 2-3 months, and then stop on its own.
I did feed hay year round, as well as a ration balancer and hoof supplement very consistently, as in no real changes to diet. We had what I considered “turnout”- smaller area with not much forage, as opposed to “pasture”- a larger area with adequate forage. I tried probiotics as a solution but saw no difference.
We made our own hay in well maintained, well seeded and fertilized fields that were also sprayed for weeds.
Four years ago we moved to the South, to a farm with much more acreage and much more pasture. I thought it could be the death of this horse, as he had metabolic issues previously, had suffered laminitis twice with his previous owner, and was muzzled spring and fall, as well as on medication. The ration balancer I use has stayed the same (Triple Crown 30%), as well as the same hoof supplement. Our pastures are unimproved, as in native grasses that have not been fertilized or reseeded in many years. I have 3 horses on about 17 acres of pasture.
This horse has not had an issue with the excessive liquid since we have been here. Not at all. I feed hay from December until March. I feed small square bales, and use the occasional round bale if we are away and have someone else watching the horses.
Ironically, I have not has to muzzle this horse for the last 3 years and he is no longer medicated at all. I watch him like a hawk, and he has shown no signs of laminitis and has not gained any excessive weight. He used to blow multiple abscesses every spring and that has stopped as well.
My husband has a PhD. in Animal Science, and I worked in the equine feed industry for many years, so this is something we have discussed at length, as well as talked with others in the industry. The only conclusion we have come to is that the difference in the unimproved native grass with more room for this horse to move around has made a huge difference in his life. We have never been able to accurately identify what caused his “winter squirts” every year.
https://equusmagazine.com/horse-world/price-progress-32134
Read this to address improved v unimproved soil/grass.
OP, try a lower sugar hay. I had the same issue as you on anything with orchard or any “local” grass. I made a switch to Timothy a couple years ago and haven’t looked back, no diarrhea and no icky tail. Even the donkeys do well on it and can get a few pounds a day.
We have a couple with that issue…but Timothy hay is 20-25 a square bale here in Florida
OP, I’m sorry to hear this. A friend of mine has a 29 year old TB that also lives outside, with a nice run-in, and gets ridden at w-t in the arena and a trail ride pretty much every other day. Her mare also developed very loose stool in the winter/spring, when hay is the bulk of her diet. Her vet looked at the hay, and suggested higher quality hay for her (no other horses on the property had this issue). Her vet thought the mare was having difficulty digesting the particular hay (It was local hay, but not great quality). She ended up finding a local distributor of upstate NY timothy mix, and it was nice quality. The field was great, it was harvested on time, and baled right. Feeding this higher quality hay stopped the loose stool within a few days.
I’d suggest adding some alfalfa, and depending on the richness, adding it SLOWLY to prevent diarrhea.
Just passing along what worked for my friend! Good luck!
I’ve had this happen to oldies.
IME, it’s not the hay, it’s the inefficiency of the old digestive system to digest the hay.
Time to start switching some of the hay out for a great senior feed, such as Triple Crown. Keep playing with the ratio until it improves.
Showbiz: He has had the “squirts” since I’ve owned him (5 yo) though different degrees of squirts in terms of volume and/or length of time with no obvious diet change. We were in KS for about 4 years and winters were comparatively less severe to New England. We were at 3 different barns there all with plenty of turnout and 1 with scary good fertilized fields. No squirts.
