Common Horse Problems – Sand in Gut

When horses eat off the bare ground they easily consume particles of sand or dirt. A way to mitigate consuming sand would be to keep feed of the ground by using a hanging feeder, large feed bucket and/or a mat on the ground. Most tack or feed stores will have or can order stall mats for this use. A trip to your local auto parts store to buy a truck bed mat is another solution. Even then, horses have that danged particular habit of tossing their feed out of most containers in order to get to the soft hay residue at the bottom. If you horse regularly eats off the ground, has loose manure or seemingly has gut aches more often that others there is a simple test you can do to see how much sand there is in the horse’s gut. You’re going to need a clear jar and lid, such as a Mason jar for canning.


Collect 6 to 8 balls or ball sized elements of manure that have not touched the ground and place them in the jar. Fill the jar almost full of water. Place the lid on the jar then shake up for 20-30 seconds then let stand. Within 20-30 minutes or so, the sand will separate from the manure and be evident in the bottom of the jar.




The jar in the picture LEFT shows A LOT of sand contained in those balls of manure. The Vet told us there may be as much as 80 lbs of sand in this horse’s gut. The jar in the above picture RIGHT shows a fairly small degree of sand in the manure. You should always consult a Veterinarian, if not in person then at least over the phone. We have a great vet. She drives near 100 mile round trips to get to us – couldn’t get by without her, but that’s another story.

We were already feeding this horse in a large feed bin, so what we did to treat this horse eating sand was to give him a dose of pro-biotics to ensure he has good enzymes in his gut, then put a scoop of Sand Clear Pellets in his morning grain for seven days, then continue to monitor his manure. This seemed to clear up his loose manure. If this is a chronic case, you may have to repeat this treatment more often or even one week per month.

Common Horse Problems – Loose Manure

Horse owners should be checking the condition of your horse’s manure to give insight into what problems the horses may be having.

Manure should be dropped in small balls, a little bit bigger than a golf ball. I don’t like the analogy since I can’t stand golf.....just don't see the point in it. Anyway, the balls should be loosely formed, can and should break apart under a little pressure and should be somewhat moist. The average horse, depending upon activity and feed, should drop about 7 to 14 piles a day, although it is not unusually for a horse to drop even more.


The photo on TOP shows manure that is too loose possibly indicating problems for the horse. The photo on the BOTTOM depicts normal manure as firm, moist balls.











Possible problems the horse may be experiencing, evident by the loose manure, could be: poor digestive enzymes in his gut; lack of worming – that is de-worming the horse; poor quality feed; horse experiencing stress; or eating sand - too much sand in his gut. Or it could be a combination of problems.


If you regularly find loose manure in a corral or paddock occupied by more than one horse, you can check under the horses’ tails looking for loose manure residue to find the guilty horse.

One of the first things I do when I have a horse with loose manure is to check to see how much sand is in his manure. I’ll cover that fun test in another post.