Discussion Post - February
Due March 10th at 11:59 PM 🐴📝
Topic: Colic!! What Every Horse Owner Should Know 🚨
Colic is one of the most common health problems in horses and can range from mild stomach pain to a serious emergency. Knowing the warning signs, risk factors, and what to do can make a huge difference for your horse.
This month, you’ll learn about colic by listening to a Platinum Performance Podcast episode. Platinum Performance puts out a lot of great, easy-to-understand information about horse health and it’s free!!
🎧 Required listening:Platinum Performance Podcast – Colic Episode👉 https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/platinum-performance-podcast/id1535855327?i=1000736093131
Your post should be at least 250 words and include:
1) What you learned from the podcast
What colic is and why it’s serious
Common causes or risk factors
Early signs of colic every horse owner should recognize
Something that stood out to you
2) How you would use this with your horse
What colic risks your horse might have based on their feeding or management
What steps you can take to help prevent colic
What you would do first if you thought your horse was colicking
These posts help you learn how to care for your horse safely and confidently. Be honest, thoughtful, and use this as a chance to learn something that could truly matter someday. 🐴💙
Colic is the leading killer of equines. That can be a terrifying sentence when you realize that colic is one of the most common ailments in horses. Additionally, there are many unknown factors about some of the causes of colic. This was honestly the thing that surprised me the most that I did not know prior to listening to the podcast episode. The best thing horse owners can do to prepare for the possible event of colic is to get educated. The main symptoms of colic include: constant rolling or lying down, biting at the stomach, stretching out, decreased appetite, and restlessness. If you notice your horse displaying any of these symptoms, take immediate action. There are several different kinds of colic, but gas colic is the most common. Keeping your horse from lying down and moving around by walking for around 15+ minutes can help relieve gastrointestinal pressure and promote passing gas. If gas colic is caught early enough, these few steps can relieve the colic. Additionally, attempting to get fluids into the horse is extremely beneficial to help aid the gut when it is struggling. Pain medications like Banamine can help cure the abdominal pain your horse may be experiencing as well. There are two other forms of colic: impaction and twisted intestine. Those are far more serious and require vet intervention immediately. With a twisted gut, life-saving surgery is necessary. Now, maybe you're wondering how you can prevent this pain in your horse. Even if you take perfect care of your horse, there is still a chance of colic that even vets cannot fully explain, but we can only do our very best. Prevention efforts might be: constant access to clean water, a steady feeding routine (avoiding abrupt changes), and encouraging movement to keep the gut flowing. This is why I prefer to keep my horses out in the pasture 24/7 with occasional exceptions, but when they are stalled, they have water and 24/7 hay access. All in all, this is a crucial topic for horse owners to know about, and I encourage everyone who is around horses to do further research and keep up with the latest studies on colic!