365 Days in Horse Country – Coping with Colic
Horse owners dread dealing with colic, and for good reason. In horses, colic produces a serious and
unpleasant set of symptoms that can result in death or severe illness if not
treated immediately.
Colic is basically stomach pain, which, in horses, can be extremely uncomfortable. Because of the way horses are built, they can’t vomit, and they have many feet of intestine in their abdominal cavity, digestive issues can be difficult to resolve.
The symptoms of colic include pawing, rolling, sweating, and biting at the flanks. Any horse wih these symptoms must be seen by a veterinarian immediately. Causes can range from something as simple as a gas pain to a problem as severe as a ruptured intestine.
It’s far easier to prevent colic than to fix it. Feed your horse plenty of hay for roughage, as often as you can each day. Always have a plentiful amount of fresh drinking water on hand and available to your horses at all times. Provide your horse with daily exercise to keep his digestive system functioning well, and make any changes to his diet as gradually as possible.
Michael