Colic in a Horse With a Regular Worming Schedule

This particular article is written with the assumption that a worming schedule is adhered to on a regular basis. With that in mind, the most common cause of colic for a horse wormed on a regular schedule is; dirt and sand picked up while eating, which, in turn, blocks the flow of the intestinal system. When horses eat, they are like a vacuum, sucking up every last bit of hay as well as the dirt it sits in.

The best way to protect a horse is to use a feeder bucket that hangs on the fence, wall or bar. Or a barrel cut in half and set on the ground.

The other main cause of colic can be their feed. Whether it be a change in feed, or over feeding, it doesn’t really matter; either one can set a horse up for colic.

To protect your horse from “feed” colic, don’t make abrupt feed changes. Their system becomes accustomed to digesting a particular type of hay or alfalfa, don’t switch to pellets then back to hay suddenly. Make it a gradual change; over a period of one week should be fine. Not all horses colic from a feed change but some horses are more sensitive than others, so don’t chance it.

Over feeding, well, this can be cured by……not over feeding. Horses will eat as long as there is food there. The evolution of horses is a grazing, range animal. Since horses are, now, for the most part, prisoners of mankind, they no longer have to walk miles and miles for grazing. They just stand in one spot and the food is brought to them. So feed them accordingly.

There are multiple methods out there to help you determine the appropriate amount you should be feeding a horse. I’ve found two methods that can be relied on as correct:

A Feeding Guide (Download if you like):

Weight of Horse	Amount to Feed 2x’s a Day
2,000 Lbs.	2.5 – 3 Flakes
1,500 – 1,999 Lbs.	2 – 2.5 Flakes
1,000 – 1,499 Lbs.	1.5 – 2 Flakes
500 – 999 Lbs.	1 – 1.5 Flakes
500 Lbs (Ponies & mini’s)	.5 – 1 Flake
Pregnant Mares	Feed by weight listed above + a good supplement.

The Mystery of Caring for Your Horse – Solved! is a helpful handbook if you are not sure how or what to feed your horse. There’s a break down of feed content, a worming schedule, what type of wormer to use, and a lot more helpful information.

The 2% Method of Determining Feed Amount

This is a very simple method for determining the amount of feed for your horse. Multiply the horses weight by 2%.

Example #1 – If your horse weighs 800 Lbs. you would multiply 800 times 2%. That would be 800 x .02 (because the 2% is changed to decimal) = 16 Lbs.

Example #2 – Your horse weighs 1,200 Lbs. Multiply that by 2%. 1200 x .02 = 24Lbs.

But how do you know how much your horse weighs? Very good question! You can purchase a weight/height tape. They are not very expensive, and they are a nifty little tool! And highly accurate!

If you need a horse weight/height tape clicking the image below will take you to the secure Amazon product. This is the measuring tape I picked up from Amazon as well.

To find the height of your horse you set the end of the tape on the ground next to the horse. I put my foot on it to keep it in place. The unroll the tape measure until it is at his withers. Read what the height side of the tape says. It’s in hands on the tape measures I have. If you don’t have a horse tape measure than you can use a regular tape measure and convert it from inches to hands. There is 4 inches in a hand.

To determine the horses weight you wrap the tape around his chest just behind his “elbows” and over his withers. Pull the tape snug, but not tight. Record the number where the tape end comes to on the horse tape measure and that’s his weight!

Horse colic is dangerous, it can mean life, or death, of your horse, if you don’t know what to do. Here I will show, tell and video, exactly what you need to do to save your horses life!

Colic is like the stomach flu in humans. It’s terribly painful. The problem with horses is that they do not have the ability to vomit. When humans, or just about any mammal, has an upset stomach, like a stomach flu, we vomit. This expels the contaminate, poison or object obstructing and upsetting our stomach. A horse cannotvomit. The pain becomes so severe that they will lie down, even when it’s raining outside.

Horses don’t normally lay down in the rain, not even horses that enjoy rain, they just don’t. When a horse colics they will lie down anywhere, in the rain, in a tight stall, on rocks, anywhere. When a horse lays down, with their stomach upset, and writhing, their intestines become twisted or telescope upon themselves, causing a horrible death.

Below is a chart of the signs a horse is starting to colic and the signs of full blown colic:

Food Refusal/Not Hungry	The horse is beginning to feel the onset of colic.	Colic is just setting in. Put the horses halter on and walk him/her.
Food Refusal & Twisiting His/Her Head Back to Look at Stomach and/or Nip at Stomach	The horse is looking to see what is hurting him/her. Nipping at the unseen pain	Put the horses halter on and start walking. He/she is going to lie down if you don’t. Consider medicating with Pepto Bismol.
Lying Down	All horses lie down but when they lay down ALL THE WAY this means trouble.	The horse is colicking. Medicate with Pepto Bismol or better yet, Banamine.
Lying Down Rolling/Making Odd Noises/Thrashing About	The horse is in the full throes of colic	This is an emergency situation. Get the horse up and call the equine veternarian. Death is close at hand!

When the horse has laid down or is about to lay down, you must get him/her up because the intestines are upset and they will telescope upon each other or twist into a knot.

If you just notice the horse is down, but don’t know how long or if it had its head down (a telltale sign of colic they will put their head onto the ground) look closely at the side of their head. If the horse had its head on the ground it will have signs of dust or hay on the side of its head near the jaw or on the temple.

Give the horse either Pepto Bismol, this can be purchased at the local drug store or supermarket or, better yet, Banamine, prescribed by a veterinarian.

Years ago I had a horse colic and she refused to get up. I knew she was in pain, but I also knew I had to get her up or she would die. When your horse colic’s it can be very emotional, but you need to focus and take steps to stop it.

I tapped her thigh and rump area (you don’t need to beat the day lights out of the horse that refuses to get up!!). As I tapped her hind end, my kids jumped up and down shouting trying to activate her natural instinct of “fight or flight”. And a friend pulled on the lead line gently but firmly, it worked!! She got up and we were able to walk her and save her life! We walked her until dawn.

You need to walk, walk, walk and walk some more. You’re looking for the horses intestines to start moving. A sight the bowels are moving will be gas or a bowel movement. A bowel movement is really what you want.

When the horse moves its bowels you’ll want to test it. You do this by collecting a few of the “biscuits” and put them in a bucket or glove, add water and swirl it around until dissolved. Once dissolved, pour off the excess water and see what you have left in the bucket or glove. Gravel or rocks means the horse has “sand” colic. Undigested hay and a lot of it, means “hay” or “feed” colic.

You need to call an equine veterinarian out immediately if the horse is writhing. He/she needs to be put out of its misery.

If you catch the horse in colic early your chances of saving its life are really good. If you don’t notice until the horse is down and writhing on the ground your chances are poor.

If you did catch it early and act on it right away, the horse will be up and eating in no time at all!! Its up to your watchful eye and perseverance to save your horses life. More often than not, colic is caused by human error (see paragraph above “human error”).