09/28/2022
COLIC SEASON STARTS...... NOW.
This is, at least in part, due to the type of weather we'll be seeing over the next week. When we have a big temperature fluctuation, like 50's overnight and in the morning, while getting up to the 80's during the day, horses don't feel thirsty. And if they don't really feel thirsty, they don't drink. And if they don't drink enough, the mobility of their gut slows down. And if their gut slows down, the food they have eaten doesn't move through efficiently. And when digesting food doesn't move, you get an impaction. And where there's impaction, there's pain -- more commonly known as colic.
WHAT YOU CAN DO:
* Always keep fresh, clean water in front of your horse.
* If he's not good about drinking, add a second bucket with something more enticing, like a few splashes of red or blue Gatorade, or a little sweet feed.
* Add powdered electrolytes to their FOOD, not their water, because some won't like it and refuse to drink altogether.
* Feed a soaked roughage like Hydration Hay or soaked alfalfa cubes. (Make sure to soak it enough that you don't invite a choke!)
BELOW: Dr. Barrow and Auburn University College of Veterinary Medicine 4th year student Taylor Tuso administering IV fluids to a colicy patient.
