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Colic Signs.

4K views 27 replies 13 participants last post by  MeganAndPastick 
#1 ·
What are some signs of colic?

M,
 
#2 ·
Not eating, biting at sides/ribcage area, lying down, not wanting to get up, lethargy, pawing in the stall. there is something else I heard they do when they stick their lip up in the air...its a sign of pain I believe...someone else here may know the technical term.
 
#3 ·
all the above, plus rolling and thrashing (very bad, get them up !) kicking up at belly with hind legs.. don't know if it still applys, but when I was growing up, you walked a horse with collic hoping to release the blockage, some people will put them on a trailer to get them to "go"
 
#4 ·
I've never heard of the lip going in the air as a sign of something being wrong. Huh, learn something new everyday. I always thought when they do that, they are smelling someting that doesn't quite "klick" with their senses. Nelson does it when a mare pee's near him, or lol - I remember once I scratched my belly button and with the same finger I pulled a piece of hay out of his nose....and then he started to do that lip in the air thing...hahaha.

Anyways.....

Signs -

look for your horse swishing their tail, that's a sign that they are "irritated" about something. Of course, if there are flies, that isn't the "sure" way to go.

Along with the tail swishing, look for them looking at their belly, biting at their belly, kicking at their belly

Another sign, a really tight nose. Their nostrils will be taught, heavy breathing goes along with it - it's called "elevated"

Wanting to lay down

Listen to their belly if you see signs - listen for gurgling. If you cannot hear any, that is a sign. I highly recommend anyone who owns a horse, have a stethascope at hand, in their first aid kit - very handy to have!

Not drinking, not pooping, not passing gas.

~~~

When Nelson coliced - I noticed the small signs first, right away. When I saw them, I knew someting was up.

He was swishing his tail, in the middle of January. No bugs to cause that. And he was looking at his belly. I knew something was up.

It esculted to elevation, and to laying down.

My vet came out asap.
 
#6 ·
I've never heard of the lip going in the air as a sign of something being wrong. Huh, learn something new everyday. I always thought when they do that, they are smelling someting that doesn't quite "klick" with their senses. Nelson does it when a mare pee's near him, or lol - I remember once I scratched my belly button and with the same finger I pulled a piece of hay out of his nose....and then he started to do that lip in the air thing...hahaha.
I hadn't either - Until Bundy did it. Back when he was colicking mildly afer a feed the main sign was him flipping his lip up. It was bizarre!
 
#11 ·
My horse was doing that when his saddle was fitting correctly! He must have felt pinching. He would look back at my foot, even tried to nip once. Got a saddle fitter asap to evaluate and since the new saddle and "no bow" folded in a few sensitive spots between saddle and pad, havent had one issue!
 
#14 ·
If your horse is not doing anything other than turning around and touching your shoe while you ride it is unlikely you have a colic issue.

Heck, the horse might just be bored as you stand there.

It might also be that the horse was trained using one of the natural horsemanship techniques where they tend to make them flex around to their side to get their attention back.
 
#20 ·
I am new to this so I hope I am doing this correctly. We have 2 minis. Unfortunately one died today and I am looking for answers to keep this from happening to my other mini. She was about 11 years old. I let her into a pasture twice a day for a couple hours at a time to graze. Then she gets hay. I took her out this morning and noticed she didn't immediately start to eat which she usually does. I checked on her a little later and she was laying down which she sometimes does but only later in the day. so I went out to her and got her up but she still didn't start to eat. It was going to be hot so I decided to get her into shade and just give her hay. She still didn't eat. I came out a little later and she was down again and seemed to be breathing harder. I got her up. she then started to paw the ground and stagger around which scared me so I called the vet. He thought it was colic and said to first try Bentamine (spelling?) so i sent my son to town and get it and called my husband to come home. My daughter and I went out to keep her out of the sun and keep cool rags on her because she seemed to be sweating. Things quickly got worse. She fell over and then was rolling on her back. She seemed in pain. She also seemed to stiffen her legs will she laid there. Before my son could even get home, she died with my daughter and I by her side. The vet said since it was so quick, he figured it was a twisted intestine. I am crushed. She was a pet. Any thoughts on this? Sorry it is so long but wanted you to know all the details. This all happened within a 3 hour span. She seemed fine the night before.
 
#27 ·
All of the signs that were mentioned are a good indication of colic. Not sure if refusing feed/water was mentioned. Also, any really out of the ordinary behavior is a red flag something is up. When Soda coliced one of the first things to key me in was that he didn't nicker at me in his usual greeting. There were several other signs that confirmed it was definitely colic (feed refusal, biting/kicking at belly, lethargic, slightly elevated pulse, etc) but that difference in his attitude was the first indication.

Bottom line is to know your horse, some horses are really stoic and you won't see a lot of typical signs. Others are big babies and you'll know right away. If you know what's typical for your animals you'll be quicker to react when something is "off". That's one of the biggest worries for me about having a horse sitter, so I generally explain the personalities to the sitter before leaving. Of course, I only have two so it's not that hard.
 
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