Colic in Horses
Colic is a term that often strikes apprehension and fear into the heart of virtually every horse owner. While it is important to understand that there is no precise disease in horses known as colic; that rather colic is a broad range of abdominal and gastrointestinal symptoms, it is imperative to recognize that these symptoms left untreated can easily and rather quickly lead to the death of any horse. To begin with, it may be interesting for most horse owners to comprehend that it is as a direct result of man’s domestication of horses that colic is such a major issue. It would be hard to imagine that an animal so sensitive to such an easily contracted illness would even survive from an evolutionary standpoint. This particular point is rather vital to stress, as it will aid in understanding that where man creates the conditions for colic, so too can he create and maintain conditions that will reduce or nearly eliminate the possibility of colic from occurring at all.
It would be difficult to say the least to attempt an explanation of the entire physiology of an equine that makes it so prone to symptoms of colic. The most common form of colic, and, unfortunately, the only type that many horse owners are aware of, is impaction colic. This is where food or other matter is literally impacted, or stuck, in the intestine. Being that horses cannot vomit, this poses a potentially fatal problem. In order to best understand this, we must imagine the animal’s intestine and digestive tract. A horse’s stomach is finite in capacity; it can only hold so much food, and enzymes and bacteria break down and process this food at a constant rate. In the wild, (or in ideal situations) horses graze for most of their waking hours, which means they take in small but constant amounts of food. At a certain point, the stomach empties, and a great deal of the “breaking down” process has occurred. From this point, the food passes into the small intestine, and then into the large intestine. However, the problem lies that in a horse there is a specific point in the intestine that takes a dramatic physiological turn- nearly 180 degrees. This is a perfect place for improperly digested food, foreign matter, or poor feed to become lodged.
Having given this description, it can be easily seen that providing a horse with only two large meals per day; a common practice by many equine owners, can be detrimental to the animal’s ability to properly digest. When the stomach is full, it empties regardless of how well broken-down the material is. This is the ideal situation for impaction colic to occur. However, this is not the only manner of contracting colic-like symptoms. Horses that ingest large amounts of sand or dirt may suffer impaction, and so too may horses that eat too quickly or are not able to chew their food well enough. Once the impaction occurs, fluids build up, the intestine swells, and veins and arteries suddenly find themselves struggling to provide the horse with the blood that it needs. This is why a horse that is suffering from impaction colic will have a decreased pulse and become weak- it is, in essence, suffering from cardiac distress.
None of this is said with the intention that horse owners immediately change their horse’s diet or eating habits- quite the contrary. One of the most important things that you can do is to provide your horse with regularly scheduled, consistent feedings. However, it is also vital to comprehend that there are more types of life-threatening colic than the impaction types listed above. Severe worm infestations, nasty cases of gas, stomach torsion, and even cases of the intestinal tract becoming “stuck” on other body parts can all also cause possibly fatal colic. For horse owners, maintaining correct diets and recognizing symptoms will be imperative to keeping their beloved equines healthy and happy. The idea is to mimic a horse’s natural environment as much as possible: provide lots of small, regular meals of high quality food. Ensure that the animal receives plenty of daily exercise, and copious amounts of water. Maintain the horse’s teeth, and keep it on a strict worming program. Know its behavior, and when you see changes, notify your veterinarian. It’s truly amazing that just by educating yourself a little and being attentive to your horse, the term colic no longer seems so threatening, as it is largely in your own control.
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