Had to put Horse down.

[tg]

Had to put my mare to sleep today, Colic the Vet came out and checked her out and said her Stomach was twisted and her chances was not good.
He thought she colic last night and rubbed on the ground so much she rubbed the hide off of her back, thinks stomach twisted during that time. Has any body ever herd of this happening before and is there something I could have done. I am knew with Horses so any info will be appreciated. I still have 2 Horses one of then is bred and I would hate to loose another one. thanks

 

[msscamp]

I'm so sorry about the loss of your mare. The most important thing with a colic is to call the vet, NOW! The second most important thing is to keep the horse up and walking until the vet arrives and can treat. It's the rolling that causes the twisted gut. If you go to, I believe its called thehorse.com, and do a search for colic you will find some really good articles about it. If you are new to horses, I would also suggest you look into Equus magazine. They have some outstanding articles dealing with a variety of issues.

I have read a number of articles that suggest soaked beet pulp will help a horse that tends to colic avoid it. Don't know if it's true or not. The best way to recognize the signs is to know your horses normal behaviour very well. The signs that can be displayed in a bout of colic include restlessness, laying down and getting up frequently, progressing to a desire to roll frequently, back feet stretched out trying to alleviate the pain, etc., but I'm by no means an expert on this, as I have only seen one case of colic.

 

[tg]

I'm so sorry about the loss of your mare. The most important thing with a colic is to call the vet, NOW! The second most important thing is to keep the horse up and walking until the vet arrives and can treat. It's the rolling that causes the twisted gut. If you go to, I believe its called thehorse.com, and do a search for colic you will find some really good articles about it. If you are new to horses, I would also suggest you look into Equus magazine. They have some outstanding articles dealing with a variety of issues.

I have read a number of articles that suggest soaked beet pulp will help a horse that tends to colic avoid it. Don't know if it's true or not. The best way to recognize the signs is to know your horses normal behaviour very well. The signs that can be displayed in a bout of colic include restlessness, laying down and getting up frequently, progressing to a desire to roll frequently, back feet stretched out trying to alleviate the pain, etc., but I'm by no means an expert on this, as I have only seen one case of colic.

Thank you so much for the infomation I will look it up. I was around her yesterday and she seemed fine, I did not notice any thing different in her behavior, awoke this morning and found her that way she stood up all day and I locked her in a stall, the Vet made it out about 3:00pm and I guess it was to late for her. maybe I missed some sign yesterday it sure happens fast.

 

[msscamp]

Hope I helped. Colic is a nasty thing, and it could very well be that she didn't really start collicking until after the last feeding, so no signs were visible when you checked her last. Horses tend to sooth me, so I like to wander around and check on them right before it gets dark, especially after a hard day. There are so many things that can trigger it, too. Sudden abrupt change of feed, foundering, stress, the list goes on and on and on. I have always been absolutely amazed that something as big as a horse can be so darned delicate! Good luck with your remaining mares. How long have you had your horses?

 

[Beefy]

horses show different signs of colic. my black mare is a roller. not all of them roll. some just stand around and paw at the ground. some lay down and get up frequently and are obviously restless. others will turn their head to their stomach almost like they are pointing at the problem or trying to see whats going on. more importantly, though, since you have other horses did the horses just have a sudden feed change? what are they eating? the twisted stomach is the result of gas, when the horse rolls the gas rises and thus the twisting. when i worked for the equestrian team i saw several cases of colic. one thoroughbred donation we got colicked and she was a sand colic case. they removed 40lbs (yes, forty pounds) of sand from her during a colic surgery. another had an impaction from bermuda grass. and we had several mild cases. most of them i've seen have been caught turning their head or pawing. a few rolls is to be expected now and again but when they start rolling violently youve got trouble. my black mare that rolled-we kept her up until the vet got here and he tubed her with oil. two years ago though we lost a gelding to a displacement (large intestine twisted). the vet got here about 5 minutes after he died, said by the time we found him it would have been too late to do surgery anyway. some people give banamine for colic but it doesnt help the actual colic, just lessens the pain for the horse. also can disguise some symptoms so its a better idea to have the vet examine the horse before you give banamine. (but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.)

 

[msscamp]

horses show different signs of colic. my black mare is a roller. not all of them roll. some just stand around and paw at the ground. some lay down and get up frequently and are obviously restless. others will turn their head to their stomach almost like they are pointing at the problem or trying to see whats going on. more importantly, though, since you have other horses did the horses just have a sudden feed change? what are they eating? the twisted stomach is the result of gas, when the horse rolls the gas rises and thus the twisting. when i worked for the equestrian team i saw several cases of colic. one thoroughbred donation we got colicked and she was a sand colic case. they removed 40lbs (yes, forty pounds) of sand from her during a colic surgery. another had an impaction from bermuda grass. and we had several mild cases. most of them i've seen have been caught turning their head or pawing. a few rolls is to be expected now and again but when they start rolling violently youve got trouble. my black mare that rolled-we kept her up until the vet got here and he tubed her with oil. two years ago though we lost a gelding to a displacement (large intestine twisted). the vet got here about 5 minutes after he died, said by the time we found him it would have been too late to do surgery anyway. some people give banamine for colic but it doesnt help the actual colic, just lessens the pain for the horse. also can disguise some symptoms so its a better idea to have the vet examine the horse before you give banamine. (but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.)

Thank you. I know enough about colic to be dangerous, but not really enough to be helpful.

 

[Alan]

If you have other horses you may want to call your vet back and see if he/she will sell you a tube of Banamine, make sure it has a long experation date. This will help ease the pain of a colicing horse.

Several things can cause a horse to colic, one of the best way to prevent colic is to make sure your horses always have water, years ago we boarded on of our horse full care and the water system went out and was't caught for a couple days, lots of horses with colic because of the stool harding and unable to pass. The niegbor lost a mare to colic during a hard freeze last year. We feed in the turnouts so we give our horses a sand colic treatment evey couple of months. When I was younger I free leased a Arab mare, while the owner of the mare was delivering her to our facility the mare hit her head (pole) in the trailer taking off some scalp, we got her in the stall where she immeditaly started to colic, Banimine injection, waited a couple of days and shipped her home. Watch for pawing at the ground, kicking at thier stomach, rolling a lot, and swishing thier tail for no obvious reason. If you catch it early, treat with banamine paste and lots and lots of walking.

Hope this helps,
Alan

 

[tg]

horses show different signs of colic. my black mare is a roller. not all of them roll. some just stand around and paw at the ground. some lay down and get up frequently and are obviously restless. others will turn their head to their stomach almost like they are pointing at the problem or trying to see whats going on. more importantly, though, since you have other horses did the horses just have a sudden feed change? what are they eating? the twisted stomach is the result of gas, when the horse rolls the gas rises and thus the twisting. when i worked for the equestrian team i saw several cases of colic. one thoroughbred donation we got colicked and she was a sand colic case. they removed 40lbs (yes, forty pounds) of sand from her during a colic surgery. another had an impaction from bermuda grass. and we had several mild cases. most of them i've seen have been caught turning their head or pawing. a few rolls is to be expected now and again but when they start rolling violently youve got trouble. my black mare that rolled-we kept her up until the vet got here and he tubed her with oil. two years ago though we lost a gelding to a displacement (large intestine twisted). the vet got here about 5 minutes after he died, said by the time we found him it would have been too late to do surgery anyway. some people give banamine for colic but it doesnt help the actual colic, just lessens the pain for the horse. also can disguise some symptoms so its a better idea to have the vet examine the horse before you give banamine. (but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.)

We had no change in feed, give them sweet feed once a day, in the summer, I never saw her roll done it at night but there was plenty of pawing and turning towards her stomach as you mentioned. I am concerned about the sand you talked about I had sand brought in and put around the barn where they eat about a 1 1/2 months ago.

 

[tg]

Hope I helped. Colic is a nasty thing, and it could very well be that she didn't really start collicking until after the last feeding, so no signs were visible when you checked her last. Horses tend to sooth me, so I like to wander around and check on them right before it gets dark, especially after a hard day. There are so many things that can trigger it, too. Sudden abrupt change of feed, foundering, stress, the list goes on and on and on. I have always been absolutely amazed that something as big as a horse can be so darned delicate! Good luck with your remaining mares. How long have you had your horses?

I have had them about 2 years now, and never faced anything like this before. Herd mention of it before but never witness first hand the affects of colic on a horse.

 

[tg]

If you have other horses you may want to call your vet back and see if he/she will sell you a tube of Banamine, make sure it has a long experation date. This will help ease the pain of a colicing horse.

Several things can cause a horse to colic, one of the best way to prevent colic is to make sure your horses always have water, years ago we boarded on of our horse full care and the water system went out and was't caught for a couple days, lots of horses with colic because of the stool harding and unable to pass. The niegbor lost a mare to colic during a hard freeze last year. We feed in the turnouts so we give our horses a sand colic treatment evey couple of months. When I was younger I free leased a Arab mare, while the owner of the mare was delivering her to our facility the mare hit her head (pole) in the trailer taking off some scalp, we got her in the stall where she immeditaly started to colic, Banimine injection, waited a couple of days and shipped her home. Watch for pawing at the ground, kicking at thier stomach, rolling a lot, and swishing thier tail for no obvious reason. If you catch it early, treat with banamine paste and lots and lots of walking.

Hope this helps,
Alan

Thanks a bunch, helps a great deal yes I do have 2 more Horses and I will talk to my vet. Can you tell me about sand colic. thanks

 

[Beefy]

it takes a pretty good amount of sand to cause enough discomfort for a horse to sand colic (usually). i wouldnt worry about it much unless you feed on the ground, or they are on grass that they keep clipped down pretty close to the ground, or you are feeding crappy (dusty, sandy) hay. that mare that i was referring to was being fed crappy hay, kept in a small paddock that was totally overgrazed and on top of all that she was on the bottom of the totem pole at feeding time. there are so many things that can cause a horse to colic. is it particularly dusty in your area? what kind of hay or pasture are they on? are you monitoring their water intake?

 

[msscamp]

are you monitoring their water intake?

That's where the soaked beet pulp comes in. Because it's soaked in water, it increases their water intake and helps prevent colic.

 

[msscamp]

If you have other horses you may want to call your vet back and see if he/she will sell you a tube of Banamine, make sure it has a long experation date. This will help ease the pain of a colicing horse.

Several things can cause a horse to colic, one of the best way to prevent colic is to make sure your horses always have water, years ago we boarded on of our horse full care and the water system went out and was't caught for a couple days, lots of horses with colic because of the stool harding and unable to pass. The niegbor lost a mare to colic during a hard freeze last year. We feed in the turnouts so we give our horses a sand colic treatment evey couple of months. When I was younger I free leased a Arab mare, while the owner of the mare was delivering her to our facility the mare hit her head (pole) in the trailer taking off some scalp, we got her in the stall where she immeditaly started to colic, Banimine injection, waited a couple of days and shipped her home. Watch for pawing at the ground, kicking at thier stomach, rolling a lot, and swishing thier tail for no obvious reason. If you catch it early, treat with banamine paste and lots and lots of walking.

Hope this helps,
Alan

Maybe I'm missing something here, but it seems to me that treating the pain of colic without treating the colic itself would be a mistake. Did I misunderstand something?

 

[Beefy]

Treating the pain keeps the horse from worsening the problem by rolling to alleviate the pain. like i said though, numbing some of the pain may make some symptoms that the vet needs to be able to see/hear go away. colic is not necessarily something you can treat. its a broad term for any stomach discomfort in the horse. gas may or may not be able to be alleviated without surgery depending on where it is , impactions usaually need lubing to allow them to pass, etc. alot of times you can work the gas out if you can keep the horse from rolling and twisting their intestines which then not only stops them up but cuts off blood supply causing tissue to die..

 

[Alan]

Maybe I'm missing something here, but it seems to me that treating the pain of colic without treating the colic itself would be a mistake. Did I misunderstand something?

This question has pretty well been answered, but my belief is that if a horse thinks it's going to die, it will talk itself into dying. The pain just increase the severity of the colic. Such was the case with the Arab mare I spoke about, if you can relieve the pain you have won 3/4 of the battle. Things get twisted inside because of all the rolling the horse does when colicing, in most cases, not to say just a normal roll won't cause the stomach or intestines to twist. The purpose of walking a horse that is colicing is to keep the horse from rolling and to try to get it to relieve the gas build up (take and craap). A trailer ride will work most of the time also, if the horse isn't trying to roll all the time (horses always craap in the trailer... always).

As was stated, colic is a very broad term for digestive discomfort. Horses colic to a degree quite often without anyone seeing it, sometimes just a good amount of gas passing relieves it.

I'm not certain how much sand it takes to cause sand colic, but as I said we add "sand clear" to all of their feed every couple of months. You add it to their feed for seven days in a row. We do feed on the ground while they are in their turnouts. A good test to see if they need the "sand clear" is to take about ten or twelve road apples (poop balls) and put them in a bucket, fill the bucket half full with water and let them disolve, may take a couple of days with stirring and mashing, pour off the top part and add more water if needed. The sand will sink to the bottom, so what your doing is panning for sand.

tg,

Sorry for your loss, it must have been tough to put your horse down. While I have never lost a horse I have lost calves and had to chaulk them up to live and learn lessons. But I know it must be tough.

Hope this helps,
Alan

 

[Alan]

That's where the soaked beet pulp comes in. Because it's soaked in water, it increases their water intake and helps prevent colic.

We feed beet pulp quite often, it's a great way to add moisture to thier diet, but you need to know how to feed it (not saying you don't). Beet pulp can be very dangerous to feed because it expands so much with water. If you put about 2 inches of beet pulp in the bottom of a bucket, fill the bucket a little over half full with water and let is soak for several hours before you feed it. Many horses still won't eat it unless you sweeting it with mollasses or sweet feed. If it is not mixed well enough with water it can expand in the horse throat causing your horse to choke.

Just my opinion,
Alan

 

[msscamp]

That's where the soaked beet pulp comes in. Because it's soaked in water, it increases their water intake and helps prevent colic.

We feed beet pulp quite often, it's a great way to add moisture to thier diet, but you need to know how to feed it (not saying you don't). Beet pulp can be very dangerous to feed because it expands so much with water. If you put about 2 inches of beet pulp in the bottom of a bucket, fill the bucket a little over half full with water and let is soak for several hours before you feed it. Many horses still won't eat it unless you sweeting it with mollasses or sweet feed. If it is not mixed well enough with water it can expand in the horse throat causing your horse to choke.

Just my opinion,
Alan

You're fine. We don't feed beet pulp, but our horses are not fed grain, sweet feed, etc. Neither Dad nor I feel that horses need grain or alfalfa hay unless they are performance horses or ranch horses that are being worked damned hard. I'm not a big believer in sweet feed. I've seen it cause to many problems, such as wood chewing, colic, etc. We also never fed corn. When we had the ranch and they were ridden hard on a daily/every other day basis, they were fed oats or rolled oats, sometimes rolled wheat - but not often. Now that we don't have the ranch anymore, they get plain old good quality grass hay, occasional (very occasional when it's very cold or other stress is involved, and even then only a quarter of a flake or so) alfalfa, they have access to plenty of water, and a large corral for running, playing, etc. We never feed off the ground. Every horse has a feeder. I am aware of the dangers of feeding beet pulp pellets vs soaking them, but thank you for explaining it.

 

[msscamp]

Sorry for your loss, it must have been tough to put your horse down. While I have never lost a horse I have lost calves and had to chaulk them up to live and learn lessons. But I know it must be tough.

Hope this helps,
Alan[/quote]


You are very lucky, and I sincerely hope your luck holds for a good, long while. Calves are difficult enough, but a horse is a whole other ball game, particularly if he/she was a special kind of a horse. I have seen grown men cry over the loss of a horse.

 

[TLCfromARK]

Sometimes the colic is caused by a combination of things. Change of feed, stress, etc. as other posters mentioned. Something I haven't seen mentioned is worms, do you worm your horses? We try to worm at least 3 times a year.

Sorry about your loss, I know we'd hate to lose a horse.

;-)

 

[Beefy]

good one! i completely forgot about worms causing colic. if they have a heavy parasite load and you kill them all at once the dead worms can cause an impaction.