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is especially common if the horse is watered just in the evening. When
nights are long and cold, the horse doesn't drink as much as he would during
the day--but if the water freezes at night, he goes thirsty until his owner
comes home from work and refills the bucket.
What happens in this
type of colic is that the horse eventually becomes dehydrated; the material
within the digestive tract dries out, and the horse is constipated. He
doesn't have enough fluid in the gut to keep the feed moving through
properly.
Impaction may occur
before the owner realizes what's happening. The horse will continue to eat
at first, then become less interested in food and not clean up his hay. The
gut starts to feel "full," so he's not hungry. He may look drawn up in the
flanks and may start to show signs of mild colic.
The problem may go
unnoticed for several days because first signs of trouble are usually mild.
He is in moderate pain and constipated, dull and sluggish. Moderate pain may
continue for three to four days or even a week or more. The horse is not
violent, and bouts of pain come at intervals. The horse may stretch, lie
down or paw. Manure, passed infrequently and in small amounts, is hard and
covered with thick, sticky mucus.
He may drink a
little water, but not enough. Rectal examination by the vet will reveal firm
enlargements in the intestine and a rectum full of hard, dry fecal balls.
Impaction is more
serious in horses than in most other animals because of the tremendous
capacity of the large intestine. Dry fecal material can gradually accumulate
there until it causes enough distention to create pain and colic.
Most cases will
respond to treatment--mineral oil, water by stomach tube or IV fluids--
especially if given as soon as detected. The best treatment is two to four
quarts of mineral oil by stomach tube, along with a gallon of warm water to
soften the mass of feed in the gut. The water permeates and softens the dry
mass better than mineral oil.
The oil helps to
lubricate the gut content so it can pass through more easily. If the problem
is not relieved within 12 hours, more mineral oil and water should be given.
Lack of water
usually causes impaction of the large intestine, which is not as serious as
impaction of the cecum or valve between small intestine and cecum. There is
more time to correct large intestine impaction than that of the cecum, and
treatment is usually effective. Remember that a horse may die of impaction
if the over-distended gut ruptures.
As with any
illness, prevention is better than treatment. Make sure your horse has good
quality feeds (not coarse) and plenty of water. Make sure he is drinking
enough in cold weather. Horses don't like to drink cold water when they're
cold and are more apt to drink in daytime than at night. Keep in mind that
research has proven horses will drink more water if the temperature is 45
degrees to 65 degrees Fahrenheit. Giving a horse warm water or keeping his
water warm with a tank heater, or using an insulated bucket to keep the
water from freezing can help to solve the problem of frozen water. Automatic
waterers will clearly help keep the water temperature more temperate, as
water coming out of the ground is cooler in the summer and warmer in the
winter.
If you break ice in
a stream, ditch or pond, make sure the horses are actually using the water
hole. If they are afraid to step on ice, you may have to sprinkle dirt or
gravel on it to give them traction. If they do have to walk on ice, make
sure it's frozen solid enough to hold a 1,000-pound animal.
Heather Smith Thomas
is a full-time rancher and journalist living in Salmon, Id.
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