That devastating word shrouded in myth and misunderstanding is colic. Everyone has their own view on how to deal with colic, and almost all of us have had the misfortune of experiencing its fatal effects.
Here at Discount Equestrian, we’ve had more than our fair share of experience with colic – in fact, some of us have sadly lost horses to it.
Research continues as scientists across the world pioneer to find the solution to preventing colic, as well as minimising the impacts of its occurrence.
We are passionate about education. As equestrians, we never stop learning. So here is some information about colic that we hope will help prevent your horse ever suffering its potentially tragic repercussions…
**If you suspect a horse may have colic, please contact a vet immediately!**
Before we get into colic itself, it’s essential we understand how our horse’s digestive system works. As always, we recommend speaking to a vet if you have any specific questions, but here is a simple explanation of the journey of food through your horse’s digestive system:
1.) Mouth – using their lips and incisor teeth, your horse grasps at strands of grass/forage and gathers food into their mouth. Saliva is mixed with food to both dampen it and begin breaking it down using enzymes. Then, your horse crushes the food with their molar teeth through chewing and uses their tongue to roll the food into a little ball called a ‘bolus’ (if you’ve ever had a horse prone to quidding, you’re likely to have seen partially formed bolus on the floor after feeding time).
2.) Oesophagus – your horse pushes the formed bolus to the back of their throat and swallows; their windpipe is protected by an epiglottis that functions a little like a door to prevent food going the wrong way (since your horse cannot regurgitate food). The action of peristalsis (the muscular wave-like movement that pushes food through your horse’s digestive system) allows food to move downwards to the stomach.
3.) Stomach – a powerful one-way valve called a cardiac sphincter connects the oesophagus and stomach (it’s the reason your horse can’t throw up!). The size of your horse’s stomach is small in relation to the stomach size of other species (think rugby ball size for an average 15hh horse), which is due to the fact your horse is naturally a ‘trickle feeder’ evolved to eat little and often. Acids are added to foodstuff entering the stomach to continue the digestive process. Upon leaving your horse’s stomach, food passes through the pyloric sphincter, another one-way valve.
4.) Small Intestine – this is where the majority of nutrients are taken from food by your horse to utilise throughout their body, as the food is broken down further by enzymes. There are three sections of the small intestine, which are the duodenum, jejunum, and ileum.
5.) Large Intestine – deserving of its title, the large intestine is made up of the caecum, large colon, small colon, and rectum. The caecum contains specialist bacteria that break down the cellulose in plants; basically, this is your horse’s equivalent to your appendix, though unlike a human appendix, the caecum is a vital aspect of your horse’s digestive system. The large colon and small colon are where your horse absorbs water from their food, though this is where the poorly designed pelvic flexure is located, a key cause of many types of colic! From the small colon, any remnants of food left undigested are developed into faeces and stored in preparation for passing from your horse’s body.
There’s some confusion as to the exact definition of ‘colic’ – for instance, some believe it’s a blanket label for stomach issues, whilst others consider it the title of gastric distress targeting specific sections of the horse’s digestive system. Colic is actually a term used to describe the symptoms of stomach pain, often associated with intestinal problems. In fact, there are over fifty potential causes of colic, primarily within your horse’s highly sensitive digestive tract.
Recognising colic symptoms in your horse can be tricky because, depending on the horse, symptoms can be subtle until it’s too late – the reason it’s imperative that you know your horse. Some such symptoms are:
* Loss of appetite or change in drinking habits.
* Passing little or no faeces.
* Foul-smelling faeces.
* Biting at their sides.
* Kicking at their stomach.
* ‘Tucked up’ appearance.
* Continuous, desperate urge to roll.
* Laying down and getting up repeatedly.
* Obvious restlessness.
* Pale mucus membranes/gums.
Whilst many external factors can upset your horse’s system and lead to colic – such as stress, sudden change of feed, and wind-sucking – some of the internal issues that can result in colic include:
* Impaction – when something prevents food moving through your horse’s digestive tract; for example, an obstruction to passage into the large colon. This often involves a solid mass such as a build-up of food, faeces, or even ingesting sand.
* Ulceration – when gastric ulcers damage your horse’s delicate digestive system.
* Twisting – the twisting or displacement of intestines can be excruciatingly painful.
* Changes in gut movement – whether your horse’s gut movement ceases or increases, resulting in spasmodic colic.
* Other causes of colic include excessive gas, inflammation, and infection.
Now we’ve been terrified by its seemingly endless causes, how do we prevent colic? Following are just a few suggestions based on our collective years of equine experience:
* Always allow your horse access to fresh, clean water. Not only does this enable food to work through your horse’s system more smoothly, but it also prevents any foodstuffs from becoming dry and compact – which could cause a blockage.
* Allow your horse time to relax, ideally through turnout with other (friendly!) horses, to reduce stress.
* Avoid access to streams or water sources with a sandy waterbed – also avoid grazing your horse on pasture with sandy soil.
* Ensure your horse has near-constant access to forage (fibre is vital for peristalsis) and limit their intake of concentrate feeds such as pellets and mixes – obviously, this is entirely dependent on your horse’s individual circumstances; as always, if in doubt, ask your vet for advice.
* Worm your horse according to a strategic worming programme; again, ask your vet how best to achieve this, since worm burden is a common cause of colic.
* Have your horse’s teeth checked every six months by a vet or qualified equine dentist. It is vital that your horse’s teeth can grind their food in preparation for proper digestion – any discomfort or sharp edges can prevent this from happening.
* Make any changes to your horse’s feed gradually, ideally over a few weeks, to ensure your horse develops the correct enzymes to digest their food.
For more information, click here.
There is also an extremely helpful PDF available to download here.
We suggest contacting your vet if you have any further questions relating to the prevention, causes, and treatments of colic.
