1. Know your horses’ risk for colic
2. Evaluate your horse for early warning signs
3. Know your horse to recognize colic more quickly
4. Promote a healthy lifestyle to reduce colic risk

While colic in horses is often unavoidable, many colics with unknown causes may be related to poor digestive health, and thus could have been prevented. Scientific research and experience both correlate several common management practices to poor gut health as well as increased colic risk.

Making digestive health a priority is important for all horses, not just those who are already clearly experiencing problems. Here are some steps you can take to start promoting better gut health and reduce the risk for colic in your horses.

Mimic a Natural Lifestyle as Closely as Possible to Prevent Colic

The equine digestive tract is designed to complement how horses live in nature: grazing up to 18 hours per day while roaming slowly over miles, with a forage-only diet, expending relatively little energy. Horses are at their healthiest when we mimic this lifestyle as closely as possible in our management. Here are some things you can do to achieve a similar result:

Increase turnout.

Horses should be turned out on quality pasture (or with hay) for as many hours of the day as is possible. Around the clock is best, as long as they have access to shelter. Of course, don’t keep them out in severe weather or extreme temperatures which could be dangerous.

Reduce concentrates.

Find healthier ways to get your horse the extra calories he needs for work, such as feeding soaked beet pulp,. Also, recognize that promoting a healthy gut will enable your horse to better absorb nutrients in his feed – reducing the amount of extra calories he needs.

Feed smaller meals.

Most horses are fed grain dumps and several flakes of hay 2 times a day. Instead, break meals into more small meals throughout the day. Just like it’s better for us to eat small amounts throughout the day, it’s even more important for horses to be able to graze on their food.

Provide constant access to forage.

Horses should receive 1.5-2% of their body weight in forage daily, and also need it trickling through their systems constantly for optimal digestive health, function, and nutrition.

Slow intake.

Encouraging horses to eat more slowly allows hard feeds more time to digest properly in the foregut and intestines. Mix chopped hay in with your horse’s grain to slow feeding time, use haynets, put a few large rocks in the grain bucket so your horse has to pick around them.

Make changes slowly.

Switch between new types of feed – grains AND hay or pasture – slowly over a period of weeks. If you are moving to a new barn, take grain and hay from the old barn to help give your horse’s hindgut time to adjust. Gradually increase the ratio of new to old feed throughout this time.

Work with Your Health and Feed Partners to Focus on Wellness

Your veterinarian is highly educated and experienced in all aspects of your horse’s health. Likewise, your feed rep understands nutrition. Utilize their knowledge to develop a dietary and management program that is best for your horse’s individual needs. Work with your vet and feed supplier to:

• Develop a nutrition program
• Implement an appropriate deworming program
• Stay up to date on necessary vaccinations
• Provide proper dental care
• Monitor your horse’s digestive wellness regularly

As they say, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” Any time and money you spend to ensure your horse’s wellness may be money saved in emergency visits, travel and treatment at a clinic, or a risky and expensive surgery in the event of a colic.

Supplement to Support Digestive Health in Your Horse

We recognize that many boarding or home-care situations may have necessary limitations that do not allow for implementation of all of the natural care recommendations discussed above. In these cases, it’s important to take steps to fill in the gaps another way.

Work with your veterinarian to select a feed supplement that is scientifically researched, tested, and licensed for sale and is well recommended by those who use it. A good supplement will contain ingredients targeted to the healthy structure and function of the entire equine digestive tract (not just gastric or hindgut) to promote total gut health.

Also keep in mind that any product that has gone through the appropriate channels to get licensed for sale in each US state may not be able to provide their research directly to you due to regulatory issues. Be sure to involve your veterinarian, who will be able to access that kind of information.

So, Now What?

Talk to your veterinarian. Your barn manager. Your trainer. An equine nutritionist. Develop a specialized plan to fit your horse’s unique needs and take all the steps you can to promote digestive health and prevent most colics.

The post Promote a Healthy Lifestyle to Reduce Equine Colic Risk appeared first on Crusade Against Equine Colic.

1. Know your horses’ risk for colic
2. Evaluate your horse for early warning signs
3. Know your horse to recognize colic more quickly
4. Promote a healthy lifestyle to reduce colic risk

As we discussed in the first two articles of this series, the first steps in avoiding colic in your horse are: 1) knowing the factors that increase risk for colic and 2) recognizing the early warning signs of poor gut health that could signal increased colic risk.

The next critical step in recognizing colic early, or when poor digestive health may be increasing the risk for a colic, is knowing what is normal for your horse.

Every horse is a unique individual with a unique personality, behaviors and routine. Any changes in these could be the first indication that a problem is brewing. Therefore, if you are intimately familiar with what is normal for your horse, you may be able spot the signs of distress before they develop into a full-blown colic episode.

Here are some suggestions to get you started as you think through the many aspects of getting to know your horse as well as possible.

Know Your Horse’s Routine

Horses are creatures of habit. If we don’t interrupt them, they tend to develop very consistent eating, sleeping, moving, drinking and play patterns. And variations in these patterns could indicate that something is wrong with your horse. Here’s a starter checklist of routines you should get to know:

• when, where, and for how long your horse sleeps
• how often and when your horse drinks
• favorite place to stand in the stall or pasture
• when, where and how quickly your horse eats
• how much and where your horse manures and urinates in the stall
• activity level, both alertness/movement in the stall or how he likes to play in the pasture

For instance, your horse always moves his morning hay to the back left corner of his stall and picks at it throughout the day. He’s flat out in his stall, probably snoring, for 45 minutes at 2:00 each afternoon. At night when turned out, he takes off galloping and bucking and likes to chase his buddies around for 20 minutes before settling down along the side fence to graze.

If you then notice changes in these patterns, you need to evaluate whether a health issue is possible (keeping in mind changes in environment, new pasture mates, fluctuations in the weather, and a host of other things can also affect your horse’s routines).

Know Your Horse’s Personality

Just like people, horses can be introverted, extroverted, shy, playful, clever, sweet, curious, anxious, easy going, over achieving and any combination of these, and other, personality traits.

The best way to get to know your horse is simply through interaction and learning how he responds to you, to other horses, to situations, and to stimuli. There are some online personality quizzes, such as this one from Horse Personality, Inc., that can provide a fun and insightful look into your horse.

Keep an eye out for abrupt changes in your horse’s personality, which could be an indication of discomfort and distress.

Know Your Horse’s Behavior

In addition to consistent routines and unique personality, your horse also has individual patterns of behavior. While all kinds of things can cause changes in behavior, or ongoing bad behavior, these can potentially signal generally poor digestive health or even a brewing colic episode.

Pay attention to behavior:

• at feed time
• in the cross-ties
• during grooming
• under saddle
• in the arena
• on the trail
• when traveling
• when leading
• in the stall
• in the pasture

… and during any other kinds of interactions with your horse. Get to know what is normal – so that if something suddenly changes you know to start evaluating.

Know Whether Your Horse is Healthy

Keep in mind that, in terms of its gut and digestion, you may have never seen your horse truly healthy. Feeding and management practices that can contribute to poor gut health are themselves so “normal” that poor gut health is a widespread issue among horses, especially in performance horses.

It’s entirely possible that things you think are normal behaviors or personality traits actually reflect an underlying digestive issue. That’s why it’s important, even if you don’t think anything is wrong, to always be aware of your horse’s gut health and take steps to support it.

In Conclusion

One of the best ways you can catch and treat declining gut health or colic early is to know your horse inside and out. Pay attention to routines, personality, and behaviors – because when they change it could indicate that a problem is brewing.

The post Know What is Normal for Your Horse to Catch Colic Early appeared first on Crusade Against Equine Colic.

1. Know your horses’ risk for colic
2. Evaluate your horse for early warning signs
3. Know your horse to recognize colic more quickly
4. Promote a healthy lifestyle to reduce colic risk

In our first post we discussed four common management practices that contribute to poor gut health in horses and could lead to colic: keeping horses in stalls, limiting access to forage, feeding grain, and training and traveling. Even just one of these factors discussed in Know Your Horse’s Risk for Colic may pose a problem for equine gut health.

Diarrhea, loss of appetite, weight loss and poor body condition are classic signs of poor digestive health, and may reflect an underlying disease in the horse’s gut – ulcers, colitis, parasites and more. Pawing, sweating profusely, getting up and down, thrashing, refusing to eat and drink, and kicking at the belly are several of the signs of serious digestive distress, usually colic, that requires immediate veterinary attention.

However, our goal as equestrians should be helping our horses achieve wellness – not waiting for signs they are in distress and then offering treatment. Start looking for these early warning signs of poor gut health in horses that can signal increased colic risk.

Early Warning Signs of Poor Gut Health

Be aware of early warning signs that a horse may be suffering from poor digestive health and you have the opportunity to head off more serious conditions and reduce the risk for colic. Here are some indications that you need to promote better digestive health in your horse:

• Poor coat health. Natural shine and dapples are signals of optimal digestive health. The cannot be truly replicated with any amount of grooming or spray sheens.
• Sensitive flanks. Horses may flinch or react adversely when being brushed along their flanks or to leg pressure when ridden.
• Lamenesses. Discomfort in the colon can lead to a horse favoring one side. This, in turn, could give rise to fatigue and even injury in the legs and joints.
• Grain in the manure. Birds picking at your horse’s manure? This is a sign that grain is moving through your horse’s system undigested, which is bad for hindgut health.
• Intermittent or mild diarrhea. Loose stools always result from a problem in the equine hindgut, and even when mild or intermittent could signal inflammation, digestive imbalance or ulcers.
• Difficulty maintaining weight. While some horses are naturally hard keepers, difficulty maintaining weight can also result from poor nutrient absorption and gut health.

These are all signals that a horse may be suffering from poor gut health, which could increase its risk for colic.

Behavioral Signs of Poor Gut Health

Behavioral problems in general, or sudden changes in behavior, can arise for a wide variety of reasons. We tend to assume bad behavior is always a personality or training issue, but it can also be a horse’s way of expressing discomfort – including in its gut.Generally grouchy, unwilling, or even mean behaviors can be a horse’s response to pain or feeling unwell.

Additionally, behavioral issues like cribbing and girthiness can be tied directly to poor digestive health. Studies show a direct correlation between cribbing and gastric ulcers; the behavior is thought to provide relief to the irritated stomach. And girthiness may be a response to pressure placed on an unhealthy colon.

Keep in mind that poor digestive health may be the cause of behavior problems or sudden changes in behavior.

Performance Problems as Early Warning Signs

While there is no substitute for patient and proper training and riding, some struggles under saddle may actually be related to health issues. Flat out resistance to seeming laziness may have ties to poor digestive health. Here are some considerations for how gut health and nutrition may impact a horse’s performance.

• Starch in concentrates may cause sugar highs and lows. Sugar imbalances may cause horses to be high-strung and unpredictable or lazy and lethargic – all in the same day.
• Digestive discomfort displayed in resistant behaviors. Even mild irritation in the hindgut can induce resistance behaviors in horses.
• Poor nutrient absorption contributes to lethargy. When a horse isn’t absorbing all the nutrients available in its feed as a result of poor gut health, the resulting deficiencies can manifest under saddle in lethargy and lack of focus.
• Hindgut dysfunction may cause lack of energy. Imbalances in the hindgut, especially common in horses fed grain-based feeds, impact the horse’s ability to produce volatile fatty acids necessary for energy.
• Discomfort makes it difficult for horse to perform to full potential. Low-grade inflammation, acidosis, or ulcers in the hindgut cause discomfort which may impact stride length, suppleness, collection, and jumping ability.

While performance problems have many potential causes, it’s important to keep in mind that poor digestive health could be a contributing factor.

In Conclusion

If you recognize some of these health, behavior, or performance problems in your horse, they could be an early warning sign that a digestive problem is brewing. Work with your veterinarian to identify any conditions that require treatment and take steps to promote better digestive health in your horse.

And remember that a horse with a healthy, fully functioning digestive system is significantly less likely to suffer from induced colic.

The post Evaluate Your Horse for Early Warning Signs of Poor Gut Health appeared first on Crusade Against Equine Colic.

1. Know your horses’ risk for colic
2. Evaluate your horse for early warning signs
3. Know your horse to recognize colic more quickly
4. Promote a healthy lifestyle to reduce colic risk

Despite the fact that colic is the number one medical cause of death in horses, it can be easy to assume, “it could never happen to my horse.” Colic is something that happens to other people’s horses, right?

In reality, your horse may be at a greater risk for colic than you realize.

The first step in preventing colic – as much as it can depend on us – is knowing the factors that increase a horse’s risk for colic.

Here are some of the common care and management practices you may be using that studies have shown increase colic risk, in no particular order.

Colic Risk Factor #1: Keeping Horses in Stalls

There’s no shortage of published studies indicating that keeping horses in stalls and restricting turnout time in the pasture is a major risk factor for colic. Restricted movement and a tendency to drink less while stalled have negative effects on a horse’s gut motility, the surging action that moves food through the digestive tract. This can increase a horse’s risk for impactions.

Multiple studies have shown that increased turnout time with access to plenty of fresh, clean water decreases the risk for colic. Also, a sudden change from pasture to stall, such as putting a horse on stall rest to recover from injury, significantly increases colic risk.

If your horse is kept in a stall for even part of the day, its risk for colic increases.

Colic Risk Factor #2: Limiting Access to Forage

Limited access to forage such as quality hay or pasture grass often goes hand-in-hand with keeping horses stalled for all or part of the day. Common time and resource constraints mean that many horses get fed twice a day and end up spending hours between meals with nothing to munch.

For the equine digestive system designed for a steady, constant influx of fibrous grasses this poses multiple problems, such as:

• constantly produced stomach acids aren’t buffered by the saliva from chewing and a constant influx of grass or hay
• horses have a tendency get hungry and bolt feed, sending undigested hard feeds into the hindgut.

Limiting forage can lead to gastric ulcers, colonic ulcers, hindgut inflammation and general poor digestive health that also increases risk for colic.

Colic Risk Factor #3: Feeding Grain

It’s not just overfeeding a horse grain that can lead to colic, it’s feeding grain-based feed, period. We give horses grains to meet their additional caloric and nutritional needs when they are in work; but the equine digestive tract is really designed for a forage-only diet.

One grain meal of more than five pounds is typically more than the equine digestive tract can digest fully and appropriately in the stomach and small intestine. As a result, it gets through to the hindgut, which is not equipped to digest the large volume of simple carbohydrates and starch prevalent in grain-type feeds. This can upset the delicate microbial population of the hindgut and lead to digestive imbalance, acidosis, ulcers, and eventually even colic.

Additionally, studies have shown that grain decreases water content and increases gas production in the colon, so any amount of grain in the diet can be a recipe for colic. And colic risk actually increases with the amount of grain fed per meal.

Feeding grain-based feed can increase a horse’s risk for colic.

Colic Risk Factor #4: Training and Traveling

The additional stress placed on a horse’s mind or body when ridden regularly, in active training, or when traveling is also known to increase the risk for colic. Researchers have not yet found a conclusive reason for why higher activity levels and traveling put horses at risk, but studies do show a clear link.

One reason may be that these activities impact a horse’s normal eating and drinking patterns. Drinking or eating less during travel are definitely problems for equine digestive health.

Also, vigorous exercise before and after eating can decrease gut motility, as blood flow redirects elsewhere to the muscles that are working hardest.

Higher activity levels as well as traveling are both known risk factors for colic in horses.

Other Serious Colic Risk Factors

The four risk factors described above are common elements of most feed and management routines that are bad for digestive health and increase a horse’s risk for colic. One alone will do the trick, two or more in conjunction raises the risk even more.

While our goal is to draw attention to elements of basic care that you may not realize increase colic risk, it’s also important to be aware of other widespread problems that lead to colic. They include, but are not limited to:

• parasites
• poor dentition
• overfeeding
• changing feed types
• ingesting sand
• limited access to fresh, clean water

These are among the most frequent, known causes of colic and can be extremely serious. Some can bring on severe colic very quickly, while others build up over time but are equally dangerous – even deadly.

Finally, keep in mind that a small percentage of colics are related to cancers, enteroliths, gastric ruptures, enteritis and other such unavoidable conditions.

Many, but not all, colics may be prevented with careful management.

As a horse owner, manager, or care giver, it is critical to know what puts horses at risk for colic so you can take steps to eliminate or mitigate these factors – as much as avoiding colic depends on you.

The post Know Your Horse’s Risk for Colic appeared first on Crusade Against Equine Colic.

You come out to the barn to find your normally playful, inquisitive horse standing with his head in the corner, ignoring you. Or, perhaps your horse is pawing and turning around to look at his belly or, worse, thrashing and rolling around in his box. You’re 99 percent sure it’s colic (that is, pain in the horse’s abdomen), so you call the vet.

But now what?

First, Make Your Horse Comfortable

Unfortunately, there’s not a lot you can do physically to help your horse’s pain before the vet arrives. But here’s what you should (and shouldn’t) do.

Do this:

• Do a safety check in your horse’s stall. There shouldn’t be anything sharp or dangerous in your horse’s stall, but re-evaluate it now. Could your horse catch a hayrack or feed bucket with a flailing hoof or tossing head? If so, remove it (or your horse) to someplace safer.
• Remove all feed whether or not you know what caused the colic or if there may be a blockage. It has been commonly advised that water should be removed as well. This is only advisable in the rare case of a horse with a distended stomach, and horses in this condition are unlikely to drink. On the other hand, dehydration is a more common contributor to colics, so removal of water is more likely to be detrimental. Therefore, while waiting for the veterinarian, the best course is to provide water, but don’t force it.
• Administer Banamine (Flunixin meglumine) — if advised by your veterinarian. After talking through the symptoms with you, your vet may recommend an appropriate dose of Banamine (flunixin meglumine), an NSAID that might make him more comfortable. If your vet doesn’t explicitly tell you to give your horse an NSAID though, don’t.
• Take your horse’s vitals. Take your horse’s temperature and heart rate. Normal temp for a horse is 99 to 101° F (37.2 to 38.3° C), and resting heart rate should be between 36-44 beats per minute.

Don’t do this:

• Do not give mineral oil (or any other liquid). While you might have seen your vet administer mineral oil via nasogastric tube, don’t attempt to DIY this, as it’s easy to damage the horse’s nasal passages, throat or trachea. It’s also far too easy to kill a horse if the tube ends up in your horse’s windpipe, not his esophagus.
• Do not give any kind of home remedy, such as castor oil or over-the-counter remedies with bella donna extract, which can have disastrous consequences in more serious cases of colic.
• In general, avoid giving your horse anything without your vet’s explicit permission, as a dose of the wrong pain med, or too much pain med, will mask the symptoms your vet needs to evaluate. Also, horses can easily aspirate liquids into the lung that are administered forcibly. It’s not worth the risk.
• And don’t even think about inserting anything into the horse’s rectum. It’s impossible to manually clear a blockage with your hand, a tube, or anything else, and a rectal tear can be fatal. Likewise, avoid giving your horse an enema. Simply wait for the vet.

Then, Walk Your Horse — Maybe

We’ve all seen the horse films where the horse owner walks his or her horse to exhaustion, effectively “walking off” the colic until the horse miraculously gets better. Walking can help in some cases — but not all. Vets estimate that about 50 percent of mild colics clear up as a result of walking, as it can stimulate gut motility. However, in the other 50 percent of cases, walking does nothing, and may even make your horse more uncomfortable. When considering whether to walk or not, take the following into consideration:

• Only walk your horse if your vet approves it upon hearing the symptoms over the phone.
• Don’t walk your horse to exhaustion; about 20-30 minutes of brisk walking should be sufficient to restart gut motility. Exercising too vigorously or to exhaustion can actually slow gut motility and lead to dehydration and exhaustion.
• If your horse is comfortable, not thrashing around or trying to roll or otherwise endangering himself, he may be fine standing or lying quietly in his stall until the vet arrives.

Prepare for What’s Next

While you’re waiting, start packing up your horse’s things and locating (or preparing) a trailer, in case your vet wants your horse to go to the hospital. If not, you should be prepared to stand constant vigil until your horse is out of danger. If you’re on your own, start calling friends who would be willing to help you, and make sure you’ve got the right clothes to keep watch comfortably. It should go without saying that you shouldn’t fall asleep or sit down in a stall next to a horse that’s still thrashing around.

Many people assume that once a horse has passed manure, it’s safe to resume feed and water as usual — but that’s not really the case. Instead, your vet can help you try to diagnose the type of colic your horse experienced, and then help put a post-colic feeding plan into play. The feeding plan will differ based the type of colic your horse experienced and the area of the horse’s gut it affected.

Since there are many types and causes of colic, the reintroduction of feed into your horse’s diet should be considered carefully. Regardless of the type of colic suffered, your vet will doubtless recommend only high-quality feed, access to plenty of fresh, clean water and a watchful eye as he recovers.

Practice Good Feeding and Care Habits to Help Avoid Colic

Colic is every horse owners’ worst nightmare because there’s simply no way to guarantee against it. There are many different types of colic: gas colic, stress colic, impaction/compaction colic, sand colic, enteroliths, pedunculated lipomas, displacements and torsions – to name a few. Unfortunately, many colics are idiopathic, meaning the specific cause is undiagnosed. While your vet might have a good idea, surgery is generally the only way to diagnose a colic cause and presentation with certainty.

However, recent research suggests that many colics  result from less than ideal digestive health related to the ways we feed and care for our horses, such as feeding concentrates and restricting turnout for more than a few hours a day, or a sudden change in diet. Horses can benefit from a more carefully regimented husbandry plan so you don’t have to practice what to do while waiting for the vet to arrive.

Download our FREE colic e-books to learn more about the factors that lead to colic and understanding the risks and how to avoid them.

The post Horse Colic: What To Do While You Wait for the Vet appeared first on Crusade Against Equine Colic.

The Crusade Against Equine Colic in Review

I was just 9 years old the first time I encountered colic. The previous summer, my mother had purchased an off-track-thoroughbred we named Gandalf, the first horse she’d owned since her college days and the first to become part of our family. Despite having suffered neglect and illness before coming to us, he was a kind, gentle creature content to accept the lavish affections of a young girl, packing her around carefully on his springy trot.

Then on a December afternoon just a few months after coming home to us, Gandalf was suddenly very, very sick. I remember helping walk him in the arena for a while as mineral oil dripped from his nose. I was sent home for the evening, and mom remained with our horse and the vet until the wee hours of the morning (her birthday). It wasn’t until waking in the morning that I learned Gandalf had been seriously sick, from a twist in his gut the vet thought, and mom had to make the inevitable and difficult decision to put him down.

It was the first experience I, as a budding young horse woman, had with a horse colicking. It certainly wasn’t the last, and it also set the stage for the feeling of dread any time the barn phone number shows up unexpectedly on my caller ID.

My experience is hardly an isolated one, as colic has arguably touched all equestrians in some fashion. So years later, when the phrase “a crusade against equine colic” was flippantly thrown out in a business meeting – a cause was born.

The Birth of the Crusade Against Equine Colic

In early 2011, a small group that included owners, a rider, a trainer, and a veterinarian – all horse health advocates – were meeting in the Freedom Health, LLC conference room in northeast Ohio. The driving passion of the company, as well as for each of us who were present, was (and still is) to deliver superior, innovative education and products that address significant health-related issues for horses and the people who care for them.

We were lamenting, as usual, the unfortunate, yet often necessary, turn that modern horse keeping has taken and the challenges it presents for a horse’s health. Practices that are commonly accepted and widely used, such as keeping horses in stalls and feeding grain, do more damage than many realize – especially to digestive health, our particular area of interest and expertise. Yet so many horse owners and managers employ these practices with little understanding of the impact they have on equine wellness. And one of the common problems associated with how we keep horses today is colic.

Yet there is so little information, and a good amount of misinformation, available on the relationships between management practices, gut health, and colic. Despite years of effort, major publications continued to ignore this issue and the evidence suggesting that care practices may contribute significantly to colic risk. And there’s more behind it than changing feed types too quickly, a horse getting into the grain bin, or not providing adequate access to water.

Colic is a significant, often man-made problem, and very little is out there to help you get more informed and educated on this condition. So we created the Crusade Against Equine Colic to get the message out: there’s more that contributes to colic than you think, and there’s more you can do about it than you realize.

The Goal of the Crusade Against Equine Colic

The Crusade Against Equine Colic is a movement empowering all horse people to learn how to reduce the risk for colic – and to share that knowledge with fellow equestrians. Simply, our goal is to save as many horses as possible from deadly and debilitating bouts of equine colic through educating you – the horse men and women who care for them.

The core tenants of the Crusade are to:

• KNOW the factors that increase colic risk in your horse.
• EVALUATE your horse for early warning signs of poor digestive health.
• PROMOTE a healthy lifestyle to reduce equine colic risk.

Knowledge is power, and when those who care for horses are educated – and then share their learning with others – more horses benefit.

Download our free Guide to Equine Colic Awareness for a detailed explanation of these tenants.

June is Equine Colic Awareness Month

We launched Equine Colic Awareness in June of 2012. The primary mission of Colic Awareness Month is to raise visibility for our cause with a regular, dedicated period to foster conversation among equine advocates.

Throughout its first four years, Colic Awareness Month has reached thousands of horse people who have shared their colic stories, empathized over losses and scares, accessed and shared educational materials, and participated in surveys and contests. Together, we have worked to further understanding of colic, digestive health, and better horse health management.

Get Started on the Crusade

We have a plethora of resources in our blog and on our website to teach you about horse’s digestive health, factors and processes that lead to colic, and steps you can take to promote a healthier lifestyle for your horses.

We recommend starting with our e-books for easy-to-read, complete guides to the Crusade’s message. These PDFs are free to download and easy to save and take wherever you go.

• Join the Crusade – sign up for email newsletter
• Follow the Crusade on Facebook or Twitter
• Read colic stories on our blog
• Submit your colic story to be posted on the blog

The message that the majority of colics in horses are preventable is a critical one. Join us on this journey as we work to improve wellness in horses and make colic scares a thing of the past.

By Jackie Baker
Crusade Against Equine Colic Manager
Blogger
Horse Owner
Horse Health Advocate

The post The Crusade Against Equine Colic in Review appeared first on Crusade Against Equine Colic.

Submitted by Jody Paddy
Read the full story on her blog at https://kazzscolicstory.wordpress.com/

My name is Jody and my Irish Sport Horse mare Kazz had and survived colic surgery. I’ll start by giving you some background so you know who I am, and more importantly who Kazz is …

My very lovely mother bred a few horses in her time – she had this idea to breed one I would love – so she tried a few times. Manny her stallion I would have liked, but she didn’t geld him and I wasn’t so keen on a stallion. Starshine I loved but she wasn’t the one. And then there was Kazz. She was always mine from a baby.

Kazz’s Colic Story Begins

April 25, 2014

I had just had the most amazing lesson. I was pretty pleased as I had jumped some decent training jumps and was feeling ready to pop her into training at the next horse trial. One step closer to our novice goal.

April 26, 2014

Took Kazz for a light ride after her big day the day before to stretch her out.

April 28, 2014

Go to work like normal and was chatting to my boss when I got the call: “I don’t want to worry you, but there’s something not quite right with Kazz.” The call you don’t want to get, I tell you.

Apparently she was lying down (nothing unusual in this) but when Jackie put the hay out she didn’t get up, which is not like Kazz as she’s VERY food focused. So Jackie (bless her) wanders off to get some carrots. Kazz gets up, moseys over, then lies down. That’s when I get the call, so I tell her to walk Kazz and I’m on my way.

When I arrive I see Kazz walking and run over. She doesn’t seem bad; every now and then she stops and stretches but then continues walking. At this point I feel relieved. A week earlier Jackie’s horse Blue had been at Drury – Vet Associates, the best colic place in Auckland (put on fluids and came out fine). As a result, we were all a little reactive which probably saved Kazz’s life.

The local vet arrived. I was a little hesitant as she seem obsessed with it being the poplar trees causing her colic, and that she was getting blocked from the leaves. She did all the usual tubing and painkillers and then said to let her stand around and walk her if she looked like she was restless.

By 1:oo pm she was the same. I started to panic slightly as I expected some improvement and after what had happen to Jackie’s horse I was on edge. I was like, bugger it, she’s insured. My excess is only $500, and I’ve probably spent that already. So I rang the vets back and said I wanted a referral to Drury. After several persistent calls to the vet,  she said she didn’t need to see her to refer, so just go and she will refer over the phone.

I remember thinking, I’m overreacting after Blue, hubby will be cross as we will get a big bill that we didn’t need to get. But I was like, I can’t leave it. I just knew it wasn’t right.

At Drury Vet Associates

At the Vet Associates they thought she appeared all right, but had a spiking fever so were concerned. She had a scope and ultra scan but couldn’t see anything initially. Bloods were taken. Kazz had a temperature spiking, had not pooped again, and the second scan showed an inflammed small bowel.

They popped her on a drip so they could give her ABs intravenously (I already know these will be pricey but thats ok). They touched on surgery and I said if she needed it would I be okay with that. I still wasn’t too worried, but I was glad I had taken her and listened to my gut. She’s my baby. I went home knowing she was in the best hands.

The next morning I get up early. Vet Associates had not yet sent a text, so I wait. I get the text just after 8: “She’s doing OK. Spiking fevers and occasionally looking at her stomach. We will keep her on antibiotics and fluids and run blood work this morning, Her small intestine is still a bit sluggish and irritated, will run that fecal egg count too.”

More blood tests were sent off and a tummy tap was done. While waiting for the results, they again said surgery may be required. She was not showing classic colic symptoms.

Kazz Rushed to Colic Surgery

My parents came down and were with me when they got the results back, and everything happened so fast after that. The next thing I knew she was being prepped for surgery.

About an hour later (longest hour ever) they came out and motioned us to go with them. I walked over and glanced into the surgery – only to see my girl upside down on the table with a giant blue tarpaulin covering a large portion and people in gown. Not what I wanted or needed to see.

So Kazz has colitis. I was given two options. Her colon was all shriveled up, but not dead. They could carry on with her while under and remove a piece of her infected colon with a 20% chance of her pulling through (IF she woke up), OR they can clean her insides up, flush it all out sew her up. Then they would attack with meds now they knew what was going on – a 30% chance of survival. Well, odds were for the second, so that’s where I went. The vets were pretty much like “don’t hope too much, it’s not looking good, we will try our best.”

Kazz was then ready to see me. She was so wiggley; it was heartbreaking to see her wobble back to her stall … though she passed the big step – SHE WOKE UP!

Kazz in Recovery

Her scar was massive, from just behind her girth to belly button, big chunky metal staples that looked yucky and drippy. People kept coming and giving her injections and syringes. They were taking Obs and recording all the time. Poor Kazz couldn’t eat much – just a little bit of hay and only a handful every hour or so. She looked devastated. But then when she got it she was kind of rolling her nose at it and I knew it hurt.

I spent the next few days sitting in her stall with her. I was too scared to leave in case something happened. The vets continually said she was still very, very sick, but she’s trying very, very hard.

So she was slowly starting to be a bit more Kazz-like. She wasn’t allowed much food but a couple of handfuls of hay. I gave her a massive groom and tried to get off all the horrid surgery goop. She was still doing the I’m-in-pain stretches and her belly was very swollen.

The next day they took her off her drip so I could take her out for 5 minutes graze – boy was she wobbly on her way out – but I think she enjoyed the sunshine.

Over the next week she continued to improve. She had been taken off her drip, was getting unlimited hay, less meds, more grass time and no set backs.

On May 17, 2014, Kazz left the clinic and came home to my mum and dad’s.

[Over a year later, Kazz is in full recovery after being brought along very carefully by Jody. They have even returned to competition, starting with some in-hand and dressage shows and are currently working back up to jumping. Be sure to visit Jodys’ Kazz Colic Story blog for the full details of this ordeal and Kazz’s progress and recovery since.]

A Bit About Colitis

I don’t really know what it is – all I know is it makes them sick! It’s apparently an inflammation of the colon. They said Kazz’s colon looked red, swollen, and like rubber bands had been tied around it really tight all over it and strangulated. My poor baby. They said she must have been in a lot of pain. It moves really fast and that she hadn’t had it long (remember I had been out cross country jumping her 3 days earlier)!

I’ve since heard a lot of horses don’t survive colitis so I’m so lucky – I’m even luckier we caught it so quick!

Kazz was off her food – had high spiking temp, highish respitory and heart rate. She didn’t have diarrhea which confused them a bit.

They still to this day don’t know what caused it – they reckon its all very, very unlucky.

From all the tests they narrowed it down to being either Salmonella or Clostridial organisms causing it (often associated with Bacterial Colitis like she had), but just don’t know what exactly brought it on. It could be anything – something in the ground, a bird poop, leaning on the wrong fence, eating the wrong blade of grass – just unlucky. They told me to stop looking and start enjoying my horses.

The Crusade Against Equine Colic thanks Jody for sharing her story. Share your personal colic story today or download our FREE Guide to Equine Colic Awareness.

The post Kazz’s Colic Story: Full Recovery After 30% Survival Prognosis appeared first on Crusade Against Equine Colic.

Submitted by Shannon

In the early hours of Thursday morning, November 13th I lost my lovely horse, Jay, to colic.

He had colic surgery eight weeks previously and had 17 feet of intestines removed. Everything was the same in his routine back in September, he was living out at night and came in for a few hours in the daytime. He survived the surgery, came home, and I had six lovely weeks looking after him. He was the perfect patient.

Unfortunately, since returning home, he had a few bouts of colic and the vets advised turning him out earlier than the usual six weeks box rest. After four weeks we turned him out in a small paddock twice a day. It was lovely to see him being like a normal horse, so calm just grazing.

All was going well and we went two weeks without colic.

Then, Wednesday night, November 12 and into the early hours of Thursday morning it just didn’t pass. The vet came out twice and even the heavy pain relief wasn’t helping. It was so stressful to see him in pain when I couldn’t do anything for him.

I’m just glad I was there for him throughout the colic. I miss him so much. He was the most gentle horse I had ever owned.

The Crusade Against Equine Colic celebrates the life of Jay and thanks Samantha for sharing her story. Share your personal colic story today or download our FREE Guide to Equine Colic Awareness.

The post In Memory of Jay: The Most Gentle Horse appeared first on Crusade Against Equine Colic.

When My Hard-Keeping Horse Wouldn’t Gain Weight

I purchased my young horse off the track, and from the very beginning I had trouble putting and keeping weight on him. Over time I discovered that he was going to struggle with maintaining weight regardless of how much grain and hay I fed him.

My trainer suggested that I try putting him on a daily supplement designed to support digestive health. Initially, I was reluctant. As a college student, money is tight and I didn’t see the purpose in spending money on a digestive health supplement for a horse who was just starting to compete at the beginner novice level.

However, after much protest, I gave in and started a digestive health supplement in order to offer my young horse’s gut the additional support it clearly needs.

Unexpected Benefits of a Healthier Equine Gut

The results from adding the supplement were incredible. Yes, he gained weight. But there were also so many additional benefits that I hadn’t anticipated.

As he began to feel better his attitude improved, both in the barn and under saddle.

The quality of work that I was getting from him was noticeably better and his coat shined in good health.

By the fall my ex-racehorse was holding his own and producing top finishes in USEA-recognized competitions against fancy young warmbloods.

Why My Horse’s Digestive Health Matters

A simple way to view the concept of gut health is in relation to human athletes.

For example, let’s say you are preparing for a big race or an important game. If you are not properly digesting your food you won’t have the energy to perform at your best. If your digestive tract is a bit “funky” you will probably feel a bit grouchy and be unwilling to train as hard.

It is the same for a horse. If your horse is not feeling his best, how can you expect him to perform at his best? You simply cannot.

Thus, as a concerned owner and rider I choose to take my horse’s digestive health seriously. I “listen” to my horse and what he is telling me. If his mood or performance changes I take a step back and use it as an opportunity to re-evaluate how I am managing him. Does he need some time in lighter work? Am I asking too much of him too soon?

I am also extremely aware of the care he receives. Is he getting as much turnout as possible? The best quality hay?

By taking digestive health seriously I am helping to ensure that he and I will have many more successful years together – healthy, happy, and colic-free. My partner and friend deserves no less.

Meet Rebecca Barber

A self-proclaimed “barn rat,” Rebecca is a a developing young event rider. Recognized by her peers for her outstanding attention to detail, her work ethic and her perfectionist personality, Rebecca has always led by example. Having competed other horses through training level eventing, she is now focused on bringing her new young horse, an off the track thoroughbred she found at Penn National last winter, up the levels. Rebecca, a senior at the College of William and Mary, is currently taking a semester off from school to be a working student for Holly and Marilyn Payne, where she has been given the opportunity to focus on her goals in the saddle.

The post The Difference Digestive Health Makes for My Horse appeared first on Crusade Against Equine Colic.

Part 4 of 4 in the 2014 Equine Colic Awareness Month Series

While colic in horses is often unavoidable, many colics with unknown causes may be related to poor digestive health, and thus could have been prevented. Scientific research and experience both correlate several common management practices to poor gut health as well as increased colic risk.

As care givers and decision makers for our horses, the most important thing we can do to prevent colic is to educate ourselves:

• know what increases the risk for colic;
• recognize the early warning signs of poor gut health;
• learn what is normal for each individual horse (and notice changes); and
• take steps to promote improved digestive health.

Making digestive health a priority is important for all horses, not just those who are already clearly experiencing problems. Here are some steps you can take to start promoting better gut health and reduce the risk for colic in your horses.

Mimic a Natural Lifestyle as Closely as Possible to Prevent Colic

The equine digestive tract is designed to complement how horses live in nature: grazing up to 18 hours per day while roaming slowly over miles, with a forage-only diet, expending relatively little energy. Horses are at their healthiest when we mimic this lifestyle as closely as possible in our management. Here are some things you can do to achieve a similar result:

• Increase turnout. Horses should be turned out on quality pasture (or with hay) for as many hours of the day as is possible. Around the clock is best, as long as they have access to shelter. Of course, don’t keep them out in severe weather or extreme temperatures which could be dangerous.
• Reduce concentrates. Find healthier ways to get your horse the extra calories he needs for work, such as feeding soaked beet pulp,. Also, recognize that promoting a healthy gut will enable your horse to better absorb nutrients in his feed – reducing the amount of extra calories he needs.
• Feed smaller meals. Most horses are fed grain dumps and several flakes of hay 2 times a day. Instead, break meals into more small meals throughout the day. Just like it’s better for us to eat small amounts throughout the day, it’s even more important for horses to be able to graze on their food.
• Provide constant access to forage. Horses should receive 1.5-2% of their body weight in forage daily, and also need it trickling through their systems constantly for optimal digestive health, function, and nutrition.
• Slow intake. Encouraging horses to eat more slowly allows hard feeds more time to digest properly in the foregut and intestines. Mix chopped hay in with your horse’s grain to slow feeding time, use haynets, put a few large rocks in the grain bucket so your horse has to pick around them.
• Make changes slowly. Switch between new types of feed – grains AND hay or pasture – slowly over a period of weeks. If you are moving to a new barn, take grain and hay from the old barn to help give your horse’s hindgut time to adjust. Gradually increase the ratio of new to old feed throughout this time.

Work with Your Health and Feed Partners to Focus on Wellness

Your veterinarian is highly educated and experienced in all aspects of your horse’s health. Likewise, your feed rep understands nutrition. Utilize their knowledge to develop a dietary and management program that is best for your horse’s individual needs. Work with your vet and feed supplier to:

• Develop a nutrition program
• Implement an appropriate deworming program
• Stay up to date on necessary vaccinations
• Provide proper dental care
• Monitor your horse’s digestive wellness regularly

As they say, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” Any time and money you spend to ensure your horse’s wellness may be money saved in emergency visits, travel and treatment at a clinic, or a risky and expensive surgery in the event of a colic.

Supplement to Support Digestive Health in Your Horse

We recognize that many boarding or home-care situations may have necessary limitations that do not allow for implementation of all of the natural care recommendations discussed above. In these cases, it’s important to take steps to fill in the gaps another way.

Work with your veterinarian to select a feed supplement that is scientifically researched, tested, and licensed for sale and is well recommended by those who use it. A good supplement will contain ingredients targeted to the healthy structure and function of the entire equine digestive tract (not just gastric or hindgut) to promote total gut health.

Also keep in mind that any product that has gone through the appropriate channels to get licensed for sale in each US state may not be able to provide their research directly to you due to regulatory issues. Be sure to involve your veterinarian, who will be able to access that kind of information.

So, Now What?

Talk to your veterinarian. Your barn manager. Your trainer. An equine nutritionist. Develop a specialized plan to fit your horse’s unique needs and take all the steps you can to promote digestive health and prevent most colics.

Join the Crusade to pledge your support for this important cause, and to let us know that you take preventing colic seriously. 2014 is your time to LEARN. LIVE. RIDE ON.

The post Promote a Healthy Lifestyle to Reduce Equine Colic Risk appeared first on Crusade Against Equine Colic.