Losing a Horse

Friends of mine just lost a horse,…an 9 year old, beautiful sorrel mare who has ran barrels in several big name rodeos. The horse had a blockage and could not pass manure for three days. Our Vet responded several times, tubing the horse with mineral oil and water,…at both ends, to no avail.

There was nothing our friends could have done. They are devastated as was I when I had to put down my 7 year old Paint Horse, Chance, due to a twisted gut one year, nine months, and 16 days ago. You have a special bond with a horse you have raised and trained as a weanling. Chance was a character, often pulling off my hat and running away with it. I could place him 50 feet away and butt towards the trailer, throw his reins over the saddle horn and say “Git in the Trailer” and he would turn and run into the trailer, sometime sliding to a stop and sitting down like a dang elephant – what a character. Hardest thing I’ve had to do was put him down. This is Chance below.

The deal here is not to beat yourself up on what you could have done,….these things happen. You just have to take as best care as you can to ensure your horse is getting good, clean feed, and, free choice clean water.

My wife, who has ridden dressage in Germany under a Master and been a Wrangler at a Dude Ranch in California, has an unnatural sense on horses, she can pick up lameness when I don’t see anything,…she can tell a horse isn’t right, when it looks okay to me. She has correctly diagnosed problems that some Vet’s miss. However, most of us don’t have that sixth sense. We have to reply on experience much more than gut instinct.

The more you observe your horses, the more you know. You can develop the observation skill to tell when a horse just ain’t right, and bears watching. A horse standing listless is cause for concern. Standing spread out like when they urinate; without peeing is a good sign something is wrong, usually in the gut. Standing with their ears back, like they are trying to listen to or get a handle on a problem behind them is another sign.

Biting at their sides evident by mouth shaped wet spots and ruffled hair on their barrel can indicate gut distress. Walking in tight circles then trying to lay down and lay down hard is a big clue and you have to do what you can to keep the horse from throwing itself down as this is a good way for the horse to twist a gut. When a gut twists, it is all but impossible to save a horse without immediate surgery and even then there’s a relatively small chance the horse will survive.

You need to have a reference book on hand. You can click here, or click on the link to the left, then type “Equine Nutrition” in the search box to bring up a list of the best Equine Nutrition and Health Care books available.

Good luck with your horses,…just give them a fair life.

Common Horse Problems – Colic.

Colic can be broadly described as intestinal problem causing a large amount of pain to a horse. There are many different types of Colic but I’m only going to discuss the types that I have experienced in horses.

Sand Colic is a common type of colic resulting from sand accumulating in the horse’s intestines, which I’m going to refer to the stomach and intestines as the gut to keep it simple, which suits me as I am often referred to as a simpleton. The horse owner can and should take steps to prevent the horse from digesting or accumulating sand, such as not feeding on the ground but in tubs, bins or feeders. Even then horses natural graze so they will spend a great deal of time with nose on the ground searching for and picking up left over pieces of feed and therefore in-take sand into their gut. A common test to determine amount of sand in the horses manure (manure in the jar test-click here to go to this post) can be done to see how much sand is in the horses gut and therefore potential for sand colic. Some horses may have as much as 80 pounds or so in their gut!

Sand Colic can cause blockages and a gut rupture or tear, or more commonly, causes such pain as to make the horse throw himself down over and over again and end up twisting a gut. The twisted gut blocks blood supply and the portion of the gut begins, rapidly, to die. This is fatal, unless surgically treated immediately, although it can take a horse several days to die. This is a heartbreaker. I’ve had to put down a young very promising horse. I have also seen twisted guts where the horse goes through short periods of relief which gives the horse owner a false sense of the horse getting better.

Prevention is key and that includes feeding smaller amounts of hay several times a day, rather than one or two large feedings, and, plenty of fresh, clean water for the horse to drink. Some horse people believe in regular treatment through feeding bran mashes or a commercial product such as Sand Clear or Miracle Sand Out pellets. I’m one of those. If a horse of mine exhibits signs of sand in the gut such as very loose manure or diarrhea, I’ll place him on a seven day regime of the above mentioned products, which usually clears up the lose manure or diarrhea in a week. I also routinely give bran mashes, every 7 days or so, which are dry bran mixed with a little corn oil, molasses and Psyllium (Fiber) to a watery mix.

Gas Colic is another common type of colic, resulting in gas buildup in the gut faster than it can be relieved, most likely caused by feeding large amounts of rich feed. First cut alfalfa, not slowly integrated into the feeding program and Sweet Feeds in my experience are two more likely causes. Another cause is rapid changes to the diet. Prevention again includes feeding more often in smaller amounts, slow changes to different feeds such as different cuts of alfalfa.

Symptoms of both Sand and Gas Colic may include the horse standing stretched out; pawing the ground; ears back and eyes looking listless; biting at his side or looking at his sides; trying to lay down or laying down, getting back up again, and laying down again – or actually throwing himself down to the ground.

Treatment of Colic. You need to call a Vet immediately. Be prepared to articulate the symptoms that the horse is showing. If the Vet comes out to look at your horse he/she will examine the horse, will probably administer Fluxomine / Banamine by IV, which is injected directly into a vein for immediate effect, then probably put a tube through the nose into the stomach and pump a water / mineral oil mixture into the gut in an attempt to get any blockages moving and reduce toxins in the gut.

Prior to the Vet coming out you should probably lead the horse around at a walking pace for two reasons, 1 – to utilize the natural movement of the walk to add digestion and 2 - to keep the horse from throwing himself down and greatly increasing the chances of a twisted gut. Some Vets will palpate the horses rear end, that means stick a gloved hand into the butt to see what may be going on in that last part of the intestines. Most Vets will not give the horse a water/mineral oil or straight mineral oil enema, however I think this option should be considered and almost always done – what’s another $10 of mineral oil after the Vet made a Farm Call at 2:00am?

A lot of horse owners keep Fluoxomine/Banamine on hand and will treat the horse themselves if a Vet is not readily available or in hopes of resolving the colic before a Vet is necessary. I’ve treated a lot of horses with symptoms of Colic myself although I would never hesitate to call my Vet and arrange a Farm Call. Sometimes it’s throwing the dice either way, but the sooner the horses receives treatment the better the chances for a recovery.