draft (horses) and colic

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Last night my husband wanted to give up the homesteading lifestyle, saying it is too hard on his heart. Our 6 year old belgian draft horse went out to pasture at 5:00pm and was running and playing like always. By 6:00pm he was down rolling on the ground and would not get up. We worked and worked and got him up and walking but he staggered like he was drunk. An after hours call from the vet and he rushed right over, gave him several shots, put mineral oil into his belly through a tube in his nose and we were able to get him up. When the vet first walked into the pasture, he saw the horse lying on the ground (he would not get up this time) and thought for sure he was going to die. His lips were blue and pulled back over his teeth. Even his gums were blue. I always thought horses would show some symptoms of colic before they got that bad. Not draft horses. In the vets works "drafts are so stoic that the pain has to be enough to kill them before they go down. A standard breed horse would have tried to kill himself to relieve the pain before he was this bad." The horse showen no symptoms and even had a bowel movememt an hour before going down. The vet said horses twist their insides up so easily it doesn't take much. This morning he seems like his old self. I am still worried and will be for a few days. Any advice or help would be appreciated. My whole family was out in the pasture trying not to cry while the vet is working - my husband especially. Those horses are his babies. Sometimes farm life is so hard. Joanie

-- Joanie (ber-gust@prodigy.net), April 19, 2001

Answers

Response to drafts and colic

I'm so sorry that you had to go throught that. Colic is one of the scariest things on earth. I'm so glad he's feeling better this morning.

Did he eat this morning? Is the oil going through him now? You should see quite a bit of oily stool by now. Did the Vet say that he impacted? Doesn't sound like a common grass colic and if he twisted an intestine he wouldn't be alive now. If he impacted try to get him to drink more water...soak his grain, add beet pulp (very well soaked- dripping even) to his diet. I like beet pulp it adds bulk and it's a great way to get more water into horses. Can you monitor his water intake, or does he drink out of a common tank? It's hard to monitor if they drink out of tank with other horses or animals. I worry about it too because I water out of a stock tank when they're outside. Did you deworm him lately? If a horse isn't dewormed on a regular basis (I rotate dewormers every 2 months) and then you deworm them the kill off of the worms can cause a blockage. Sometimes the toxins given off by the dying worms is enough to put them off.

There usually is more signs than what your big guy gave you (I love Belgians they're the sweetest horses on earth) did he clean up his grain last night? Looking at his stomache? Looking uncomfortable? Anything out of the ordinary? I worked at a boarding barn and they had an old Belgian mare that had tumors that burst through the skin down the top of her back legs...it was awful. I cleaned them twice a day and it had to have hurt but she stood there and didn't so much as twitch her tail. I went in to do night hay and she was down thrashing in her stall. I couldn't get her up--I couldn't even get close enough to her to grab her halter. I waited until she settled slightly and gave her a shot of Banamine to help with the pain. It did help fairly quickly and I was able to get her up. Three huge tumors had erupted at the same time. She was put down in the morning, a light horse would have panicked and killed itself I'm sure.

Please let us know how he is doing.

Stacy Rohan in Windsor, NY

-- Stacy Rohan (KincoraFarm@aol.com), April 19, 2001.


Response to drafts and colic

I'm sorry about your pain,I lost a horse almost twenty years ago and the pain of the entire episode is forever in my mind.Some people don't understand that animals can be like family.My prayers go out to you all.You are right when you say that farm life is hard,but oh it can be so sweet too!

-- julie (nelson3@bright.net), April 19, 2001.

Response to drafts and colic

He is out in the pasture now and seems to be doing great. He is eating everything he can get his mouth on. He was due to be wormed - we were only told to worm every 4 months. The vet thinks it was from worms. We will now worm every other month. Don't want to go through this again. He hasn't passed much stool yet today - should I worry or is it normal. He is drinking a lot. The vet also gave him a liter of saline solution into a artery in his neck. He left me 4 doses of benamine (sp) in case I needed to calm him down but I havn't had to use any of it. I never heard about the beets before. Do you just feed raw beets or do you do something esle to them? Thanks for your help and thoughts! Joanie

-- Joanie (ber-gust@prodigy.net), April 19, 2001.

Hi Joanie,

I buy my beet pulp at the feed store. It's not expensive, at least around here. It's dehyrated beet pulp, I assume the byproduct of some sort of beet processing but I'm not sure. I like the pelleted rather than shredded but either will work. When you add water it expands over 50% so make sure it's well soaked. I soak mine overnight. It does go sour so only make what you'll use up in a few days. The Vet thought it was parasites so you probably won't need the beet pulp.

Be sure to rotate your dewormers-there is still debate about if parasites can become resistent to the dewormers-but I rotate to be on the safe side. I rotate Ivermectin, Strongid paste, and Quest. Don't use Quest on thin, old, or very young horses, it's also the only dewormer that you have to be very careful on the doseage. I don't use Quest on a horse until *I've* (I don't trust anyone else saying they've dewormed) dewormed twice with another wormer. The parasite die off can cause problems if there's a large worm load.

Do you see oil in the stool he has passed? I think I'd be a little worried if I didn't see *any* oil in his stool. I believe that I would call the Vet and talk to him if you don't see oil in his stool. The Vet knows exactly how much oil went in, and in turn, how much should come out.

I'm glad your guy feels better.

Stacy Rohan in Windsor

-- Stacy Rohan (KincoraFarm@aol.com), April 19, 2001.


How is the horse today? hope he is doing well

-- kathy h (ckhart55@earthlink.net), April 20, 2001.


One suggestion ... I would have a stool sample run for worms maybe two or three weeks after he's been wormed. See if he has a resistant population. I'm originally from Montana and we don't have a major problem there because when you worm in the late fall the cold weather keeps everything killed off. Here in Kentucky I've gone to worming every 4 to 6 weeks on the youngsters and every 3 months (or oftener) on the older horses. I have two that need to be wormed with what my vet calls the "Panacur kill" once a year ... Panacur is a very safe wormer and you give it at 2 or 3 times the normal dose for 5 days in a row to kill encysted worms that the other worms don't get.

Banamine is a pain killer ... not a tranquilizer. It will help ease the pain from milder colic and help keep them from getting down and rolling ... may help keep them from twisting a gut when they roll.

-- SFM in KY (timberln@hyperaction.net), April 22, 2001.


Almost all colic can be traced back to some type of change relating to the horse. You will have to do some kind of detective work. Check ALL feed stuffs for mold or foreign matter. Moldy hay is a big one. Did you start feeding a new food or open a new food bag? Something get in the water? Just start letting him out on new pasture? Just ate then went for a romp? Drank water while hot? Been cooped up for days and just let out? Sudden weather change? If you look at everything you'll find something different. Then you know what to change or watch for.

Some things to keep around for future use for colic are wheat bran (as a laxative) Milk of Magnesia (16 ounces for colic)a turkey baster (to squirt the Milk of Magnesia down their throat, or salt water if they are dehydrated)Homepathic Mag. Phos 12x (1 dropperfull or 4 tablets every 15 mins for first hour, gets rid of muscle cramps ie stomach spasms).

I'm not a vet but have lots of years of experience with horses. This sounds like spasmodic colic which is usually weather, water or excercise related. Sometimes weather will cause them to change their drinking patterns. Sudden changes to warm sultry humid overcast weather can cause spasmodic colic.

Yes farm life can be hard. But go outside and watch your beautiful horses romp and play and listen to all the welcome nickers you get because they are so happy to see you. Then go watch the news and go back outside and look around again. Bet you'll see why farm life is what you chose and wow it is so much better than the alternative.

-- Stacia in OK (oneclassycowgirl@aol.com), April 22, 2001.


Barney (the horse) is doing great! He looks a little thinner but no worse. I will get those things for my medicine cabinet. I havn't got the vet bill yet. It was worth it to save him but I shudder to think what the amount will be. I hope that I can keep learning from you folks and maybe cut down on vet visits in the future. Thanks for everyones help. Joanie

-- Joanie (ber-gust@prodigy.net), April 23, 2001.

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