Twenty years ago, I experienced my first encounter with colic. At that time, I was innocently oblivious to the serious nature of the condition. I can still remember the party-like atmosphere that surrounded my friends and siblings as we sat on a hay wagon happily watching the adults take turns walking our colicky mare. Fortunately for us, the colic episode responded to minimal medical intervention and our mare recovered in a matter of hours.

Now, as a veterinarian, I have seen more cases of colic than I care to see. Gone is the bliss of ignorance that I had experienced as a youth. The mere mention of the condition causes a pang of anxiety deep in the pit of my gut. Perhaps this feeling is a form of sympathy pain, but more than likely it is an unease that is brought on by the fear of what may be. Differential diagnoses of firm impactions, painful distensions, boulder-like enteroliths, or strangulating torsions trouble my mind. Although most colic episodes are successfully treated medically, there will always be those cases that require surgical or humane intervention. The odds are not consoling if you happen to be the owner of the horse whose colic extends beyond the simple presentation. Equestrians should have a healthy respect for this particular disease condition for it can bring a horse to its knees rather quickly, literally. Respecting a disease, however, does not imply that you must succumb to it. Fight the enemy! If you understand the disease process, learn to recognize the early signs and do all you can to protect your horse from a colic episode, you may spare him the agony of extensive medical or surgical treatments.

Causes
Colic is a generic term for abdominal pain. The disease conditions that can cause colic are not always attributed to primary gastrointestinal diseases. For example, a pregnant mare may demonstrate signs of colic when she is in labor, even in the absence of complications. Horses suffering with kidney or bladder stones will experience discomfort that will cause them to act colicky as well.

With that said, the most likely cause of a colic condition is gastrointestinal tract disease. Primary gastrointestinal disease can present in a number of ways, ranging from gastric ulcers, obstructed bowels (such as those seen with impaction, sand colic, or the ingestion of a foreign body), gaseous bowels, twists or torsion of the intestines, neoplasia (tumors/cancer), ingestion of toxic substances, or contraction of an infectious disease that affects the intestinal tissues. Horses are incapable of vomiting, so whatever enters through the mouth must pass through the various twists, turns and narrowed tubes that constitute their immense length of gut.

Signs
Clinical signs that an individual horse may demonstrate will be dependent on the inciting cause of the colic and the severity of the colic episode itself. The obvious classic signs of abdominal discomfort include loss of appetite, sweating; pawing at the ground; kicking, biting or looking at the abdomen; and rolling or attempting to roll. As the pain increases in severity, some horses may engage in the act of grinding their teeth.

More subtle clinical signs do exist and may be helpful in determining disease progression or arriving at an accurate prognosis. For example, a change in the color of the mucous membranes from a shade of healthy pink to a white, grey or purple tone may indicate that the horse is in shock or suffering from a toxic episode. A loss of gut sounds ausculted in the abdomen and an absence of fecal production may indicate a torsion or impaction, whereas an increase in gut sounds with or without the presence of diarrhea may indicate an episode of colitis or enteritis.

Prevention
The ultimate goal when dealing with colic is to do all that is in your power to prevent it from occurring. Taking all the necessary precautions does not guarantee that you will never see another one of your horse’s suffer from abdominal pain, but it will reduce the chances of it happening considerably.

Nutrition
Rapid diet changes can dramatically increase the chance of a colic episode. Every foodstuff, be it a forage, grain or pelleted formulation, varies in nutritional content and digestibility. These differences may be enough of a change to disrupt the population of bacteria that live in your horse’s hind gut. Without these beneficial bacteria, the process of digestion, and thereby absorption, of nutrients is hindered. Intestinal motility may be adversely affected as well. In order to prevent colic brought about by diet changes, make any adjustments to your horse’s diet gradually over a period of 7-10 days. This recommendation applies for changes in involving any type of feed or amount. For example, if you have decided to transition your elderly horse off a maintenance-formulated sweet feed and onto a senior-formulated complete feed, you should gradually increase the amount of senior diet fed each day while gradually decreasing the amount of maintenance offered until you are no longer feeding any of the previous diet.

Obviously, diet changes are not the only aspect of nutrition that may induce a colic episode. The quality of a feed or forage and its content can also play a big role. Feeds that appear or smell moldy should never be offered. Molds may be toxic and can quickly wreak havoc on a gastrointestinal tract. Feeds that are not specifically formulated for horses should not be fed either. Such diets will not meet your horse’s nutritional needs and may contain foodstuffs that your horse may adversely react to.

Finally, you need to be sure that your horse can take full advantage of what is being fed. If your horse cannot properly masticate (chew) its food, it may not be able to access all the nutrients its forages and grains have to offer. Have your veterinarian examine and float your horse’s teeth regularly. If your horse is a geriatric with worn or missing teeth and he can no longer masticate his food thoroughly, consider feeding a complete feed in pelleted form instead of roughage and grains. By maintaining good oral health and offering senior horses pelleted diets, you will help prevent obstructions secondary to poorly masticated foods and you will provide your horse with a much more digestible foodstuff.

Alternately, if your horse is healthy, but quickly engorges himself on his food, you may wish to deter his rapid ingestion of grain. You can do this by placing his grain in a special feeder specifically designed for horses that bolt their food. Another method would be simply to place several smooth, large stones (larger than can be ingested) in the grain bin. The process of having to eat around these obstacles may be enough to slow down your eager eater.

Feeding
Just as what you feed your horse influences digestion, so does how you feed your horse. To stop soils and sands from accumulating in the gut and causing colic, prevent your horse from ingesting such material when it eats. Place grain in feed bins or buckets. Put hay in racks off ground. If you must feed your horse on the ground, purchase a rubber stall mat to serve as an equine "placemat" of sorts. If you notice that your hay or grain is excessively dusty, do not feed it to your horse. Chronic exposure to dusty feeds cannot only cause digestive upset, but they could subject your horse to severe respiratory diseases. When considering a feeding schedule, keep in mind that horses are grazing, foraging animals. The equine digestive system functions most efficiently when multiple small meals are ingested throughout the day. Pasture turn-out with supplemental feeding (as necessary) is an effective method to feed a horse according to its natural digestive process. To prevent colic episodes from the lush green pastures that the early Spring season typically delivers, limit your horse’s turn-out until his digestive tract grows accustomed to the rich grasses. If you do not have access to pasture, offer your horse’s daily rations in a minimum of two equal feedings. If possible, divide his rations into three feedings, this way his gut will not sit idle for 10 hours waiting for the next offering of food.

Proper Management
A large aspect of preventing colic is to ensure that your horse is physically healthy. Have your veterinarian examine your horse’s teeth at least once a year and have them floated as recommended. This will prevent impactions and colic episodes secondary to decreased mastication, digestion, and absorption of nutrients. Employ a rotational deworming schedule in your equine management protocol. Parasites that infest your horse may deprive him of nutritional components before they can be absorbed. In addition, they can damage the gastrointestinal lining, causing inflammation that hinders absorption. Severe infestations may cause impactions secondary to the sheer number of parasites present. If you are unsure of what deworming methods are suggested for your horse’s lifestyle and locale, consult your veterinarian to establish an effective parasite prevention program.

Stresses such as changes in environment or weather can predispose your horse to colic. Do your best to reduce the stresses your horse may be exposed to. Be certain to provide plenty of fresh, clean water on a regular basis, but pay particular attention to water troughs in the summer. The hotter temperatures will increase your horse’s water intake, so you will need to fill drinking receptacles more often. The balmy temperatures will also create an ideal environment for algae and bacteria to grow. The presence of such organisms may prevent some horses from drinking the water, regardless of its thirst, and may lead to an impaction. Other individuals may consume the water, but suffer for it later with a bout of gastrointestinal upset. To prevent colic episodes brought on by water issues, plan on cleaning and disinfecting water containers more frequently during the summer months.

It is just as important to monitor your horse’s water consumption in the winter. Some horses may refuse to drink the icy water in their water troughs and may suffer from impactions as a result. Take a step beyond breaking the ice in the water trough and offer warm water. Another alternative would be to install a heating element to prevent freezing from even occurring, but be certain to carefully inspect such equipment for potential electrocution hazards.

You cannot prevent all stresses your horse may be exposed to, but you can do your best to desensitize him to changes he may experience. If you plan to seriously campaign your horse at the shows this coming year, get him used to the increased activity and changes that will be expected of him. Take him for short rides in the trailer, visit neighboring equine facilities, and attend a few fun shows to acclimate him to what he may encounter as a show horse. If you plan to travel with your horse, install a water tank in your trailer’s tack room. This way, your horse will not be forced to drink water that may have a different mineral content, and thereby an altered taste than what he is used to drinking.

Not all cases of abdominal upset can be prevented, but armed with this information, you should feel better equipped to do all you can to protect your horse from a colic episode.