Equine Colic And Your Horse

If you have or have had a horse, you will probably have heard of equine colic. However, when you endeavor to find out what equine colic is, you run up against a brick wall. This is because the term is an old one, dating from the days when surgery and the understanding of how bodies work was in its childhood. The term 'equine' obviously refers to 'horses' - from the Latin, but 'colic'?

Well, 'colic' refers to any (spasmodic) pain originating in the stomach, intestines or bowels, but what colic does not refer to is a specific illness. Therefore, if you say: 'My horse is suffering from colic', you are saying that your horse has abdominal pains, but you do not know what is causing them or you are not saying, if you do know.

In other words colic refers to symptoms not an actual disease. You will normally have to call in a vet if you want to discover the cause of the pain. Occasionally, these abdominal pains pass on their own like flatulence, but other times it can be indicative of a difficulty, especially if the colic lasts over an hour or so.

If the pain persists for more than a few hours, you have to take the decision whether to call in the vet or not. This is never cheap as all animal-lovers know and if surgery is necessary then costs will go through the roof.

The decision is a difficult one and depends largely on the value of the animal to you. Numerous horses die of undefined 'colic' because the owner will not or cannot pay hundreds of dollars for a vets assistance.

Experience will help the horse owner to judge whether the cause of the colic will pass or whether surgery is crucial and a good vet will give you an honest opinion for the cost of a call-out charge, which will normally be about $100..

It is difficult for the young or greenhorn owner of a horse to know if their animal has a problem, but when an animal, including a human, is off its food, you can be pretty certain that something is not right.

It might simply have consumed something mildly poisonous or it may have wind, but it may have consumed something like a nail by accident too. If a horse keeps looking at its flanks or even nipping at them, there might be a problem as well.

Your horse might have a blockage or constipation if you see him having difficulty doing his business. This may pass or it may take a laxative to ease him or it could be something worse.

We have all seen horses rolling in ecstasy in a field, but if your horse is rolling in a different fashion - you think it is not the same, that may also be an indication that he has difficulties. So would excessive sweating after little or no exercise.

An expert horse person will have seen all this before and have an idea what to do, but it is very worrying for the greenhorn.

Owen Jones, the writer of this article, writes on several topics, but is now concerned with distemper in horses. If you want to know more, please visit our website at Distemper Vaccines