Recurrent colic

T

Tina J

"Mature" rider
Aug 18, 1999
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Huntingdon/Cambridge, England.
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I wonder if anyone has any ideas as to the cause of recurrent bouts of colic experienced by a friend's mare. He lives in a remote area of Scotland, and doesn't have internet access, so I said that I would post and ask you all.

The mare is a German Warmblood, now 11, that he has owned since she was 6 months. She has not been ridden for several years since my friend had to have some fairly major surgery, and is now kept as a pet, with a companion mare. They are turned out in the day - good pasture, rotated with cattle, no hedges. Stabled at night. Good quality hay. Small evening feed spiller's horse and pony cubes, bran, molassed chaff, limestone flour and/or mineral and vit. supplement. Small breakfast feed of the same in winter only.

The problem is that the mare suffers occasional colic, usually short lasting with only moderate discomfort, but sometimes it is more severe and longer-lasting. Always starts sometime between the late afternoon (just before horses are brought in for the night) and midnight. Most often starts between 9 and 11pm. Most occurences are spring and autumn, especially in cold wet weather. Episodes seem to be getting more frequent. From the description of her symptoms, it is always a gas colic, and when the mare does pass wind it has a cabbagy or brewery smell.

I've got a few ideas myself, but don't want to influence any suggestions by posting them. I'd like to hear if anyone else has any other ideas first, that I can pass on.

The mare is a much loved pet, whose owner has had her since she was a foal, and the local vets seem to be running out of ideas.

So, help and suggestions please. Anyone?
 
Two thoughts:

bacterial imbalance - try a probiotic feed additive. I use fasttrack for my mare as she used to be prone to funny little 'colic do's' and this virtually eliminated the problem. One minor do in 5 years now.
Other thing that I found helped with her was to use Readigrass instead of molassed chop.

Gastric ulcers - it would be unusual in her circumstances as it is more usually associated with racehorses and high powered competition horses with limited turn out and a stressful existence. Only way of knowing for sure would be to do an endoscopy.

I am very lucky in my vet as one of the partners practices homoeopathic vet medicine as well. She gave me some Colocynth (30c strength I think) to give if she threatens with an attack and that has stopped two attacks in their tracks.

Third thought just crossed my mind and it would be a real long shot - EPSM (equine poysaccharide storage myopathy), it is a metabolic disorder commoner in WB and draft crosses, basically their muscles cannot utilise carbohydrate properly and they require a diet that is higher in protein and fat. Little recognised in the UK but if I remember rightly one of the possible symptoms is a tendency to colic easily. The only reason I know anything about it is because my friend's Fell Pony has it. He doesn't have the colic symptoms with it and the other symptoms wouls probably only be obvious in a working horse. Ask what she is like to have her hind feet picked up or attended to by the farrier as one of the common symptoms is an unwillingness and stiffness in the hind legs. The good thing about it is that it can be treated by dietary manipulation that is not expensive. Her little chap gets alfalfa cubes, readigrass and vegetable oil (largeish amounts), vitamin E and Selenium. Things that are a big no-no include molasses and cereals so any other alfalfa products that are coated in sugars are out as well.
 
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There could be any number of reasons for this and many 'gas colics' are never really resolved, however here's a few suggestions.

The horse may have a parasite problem - Make sure that your worming program covers ALL the worm types - have a worm count done if you have doubts.

Since this is occuring at approx the same time each night it could be the morning feeds clogging up intestines for the forage later on. Do you wet the cubes\pellets at all? and excuse my ignorance but what is limestone flour? I'd try moving away from the cubes to a feed with more roughage (gradually of course) .-

Another alternative is that the grass being grazed is far too rich and your horse is suffering from what the cattle farmers call 'bloat' . Generally speaking pasture for cattle is too rich for horses, although you don't say whether the pasture is 'theirs' or your horse's (and they're sharing). High clover content for instance is nice for cattle but a horse is better off with a lower % and more 'weeds' like dandelion, chickory etc

A less likely but possible cause is a drug related colic - if your horse is on bute, Banamine or Amitraz (ticks) these can all affect the digestive system and have links to colic.

Finally, if your horse has had frequent colics are you giving any medications such as xylazine, detomidine, or butophanol - these are designed as colic medications BUT they do actually stop the intestines from moving for short periods so should not be used on a regular basis.
 
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This was an interesting post as you may recall my mare Zig Zag had a year of bouts of colic, mostly in the evening but sometimes in the morning!
The only definate pattern with Zig Zag was whenever she was wormed she had colic within days.

But we never actually found out the cause of the bouts of colic they stopped as quickly as they started!

My observations are some causes of colic can be:
Drugs (ie wormers)
Stress
Too rich a grass
Too much grass (when turned out some do seem to eat 24 hours worth in 2 hours and so give themselves colic)

As you mention the Spring and Autumn and the cold/wet weather do you suppose she is tucking up to keep warm and then that having soemthing to do with it?

Why is she being fed hard feed if she's not working? I realise that the limestone is added to counteract the Bran, but why feed bran it isn't all that good for horses, she would be much better off on alfa-a with shredded sugar beet and general vitamin supplement (the nutritionists' diet for my horse and it has done wonders)
 
Thanks for all your ideas so far. To clear up some queries, the mare (and my friend) are in Scotland, and I'm in E. Anglia so I don't actually get to see them very often!

But, from memory, the mare does not wood chew or wind suck. The pasture is good quality, and is usually rotated with cattle grazing and hay cutting so that they don't go on to incredibly lush stuff. They are wormed regularly, but I have also given my friend the number of the worm counts lab. in case he wants to check his regime is working.

Limestone flour is a calcium supplement, which is fed, I assume because bran is deficient in calcium but high in phosphorus, so you need a calcium supplement to get the mineral levels back into a better ratio. I don't know why bran is fed, although it is a traditional feed in the UK, and a lot of horse people feed it because if you want to feed a bran mash as a laxitive or to a horse that needs to warm up, then you are not introducing a new foodstuff. The horse is not receiving any other medical treatment, other than occasional treatment for colic (sometimes the symptoms are mild enough that she doesn't get any drugs anyway - it just passes with time). She has about as stress-free an existence as it is possible to give any horse, so I doubt if stress is a factor. I do wonder if tucking up in cold weather, and then subsequent muscle cramp are factors though.

Lgd I had already thought that a probiotic might help. I use equilibra as a supplement but from where can fasttrack be obtained? Its not a supplement I know.

Thanks for replies so far. Any other thoughts welcome, and I'll print out and pass on all messages.
 
Thanks Galdrial. I have already suggested to her owner that he try to find a way of gently exercising her. The biochemistry of fat is interesting, and in fact fat and muscle laid down by mammals who exercise, keeps them warm more efficiently than fat laid down by those who don't exercise (applies to humans too!). So I suggested exercise for that reason. But you are right. The distraction and added interest might also help her mentally. Though from memory she is a pretty laid back mare who doesn't care about much as long as she has a routine - which she does.
 
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