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EQUINE HEALTH
The term colic simply means abdominal pain. The pain may be caused by a digestive problem, irritation or blockage of the digestive tract, pain from some other internal organ, or uterine contractions in a foaling mare. The most common cause of abdominal discomfort, however, involves the digestive tract.
Signs of colic include obvious abdomi-
nal pain, which is often shown by the horse pawing, rolling, sweating, etc. If you check
his vital signs, the horse will have an elevated heart rate. Mild abdominal pain may be hard to detect unless you know your horse well and can tell when he isn’t quite himself. A horse with mild abdominal pain may be just a little dull, slightly restless, or off feed. He may get up and down more than usual or spend too much time lying down and he may lie with his head tucked around toward his belly or flank.
Some horses may go off by themselves if out at pasture with herd mates and may stand in
a corner away from other horses or display slightly abnormal posture. A horse will try to ease discomfort or gas pains in his abdo- men by stretching or standing with head high and front legs forward, with hind feet farther back than normal. If the horse acts strange or looks dull, check his vital signs and abdominal sounds, including checking heart rate, respiration rate and temperature. A horse with a compromised gut, who is going into shock, will be sweating, but cold with subnormal temperature.
If possible, use a stethoscope or press your ear to his side to listen for gut sounds. Constant rumbling may mean an overactive gastroin- testinal tract; absence of gut sounds (ominous silence, except for the gentle “whish” of lung sounds as the horse breathes) could mean a blockage or gut shutdown. In that situation, you should call your veterinarian. Keep the horse under observation. Even if he just has mild colic, it could worsen, depending on the cause.
Sometimes a horse with muscle pain, such as cramping in the large muscles of the hind- quarters, shows some of the same signs as a case of colic: pawing and sweating. Any horse show- ing signs of discomfort may need veterinary attention, but you can often make a difference by how you handle and treat that horse until the veterinarian arrives. First, you need to determine whether the horse is suffering from colic or muscle pain due to muscle cramps. In an emergency situation, how you treat these conditions will be different, so you need to determine what the problem is.
Muscle cramping associated with exercise
is often mistaken for colic because the horse
is uncomfortable and may paw and sweat,
but if you try to walk him (as you would for a colic case), you will make his condition worse. Thus, you need to make a quick determination regarding how to handle the situation.
If the horse is in severe pain and try- ing to drop to the ground and roll violently,
DIAGNOSING
COLIC b by y H H e e a a t t h h e e r r S S m m i i t t h h T Th h o o m m a a s s
SIGNS OF COLIC INCLUDE
Pawing Rolling Sweating
108 SPEEDHORSE April 2020