Bad weather colic

2554 Views 10 Replies 8 Participants Last post by OdinsOwn, Feb 10, 2010

OdinsOwn

Discussion Starter · #1 · Feb 9, 2010

So my sister's pony is fairly prone to colic and usually has a few mild episodes throughout the spring and summer seasons, always preceding a horrible storm. However, friday evening in the face of a relatively bad snowstorm (for us NJ people at least!) he did it yet again. This is the first time he has shown any symptoms of colic during the winter months, but it still fell in line within 12 hours before a bad storm rolling in. I guess it has to do with the change in barometric pressure and extreme switches in temperature/etc that set him off. In the face of another snow storm rolling in, I am hoping that he isn't triggered by the weather again.
Nothing like the threat of having to deal with serious colic issues and the chance of surgery needed when theres however many feet of snow on the ground and you can't get the trailer out of the drive!
Just wondering if anyone else has a horse that seems to be set off by severe weather? Nothing like some bad timing (not that there's ever a good time for colic)

Oh... luckily Danny made a full recovery after the vet coming out to tube him with mineral oil. It was a long night of walking in the snow for us, and thats the first time its ever been serious enough to need a vet's assistance.

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Solon

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Joined May 11, 2008

2,716 Posts

#3 · Feb 9, 2010

When the weather changes from fall to winter and from winter to spring a lot of horses in this area have colic issues. They stop drinking water and that's usually the biggest thing. I'm pretty sure colic just doesn't occur in short time, meaning it takes a bit of time for the digestive system to slow down enough to start causing problems. At least that's been my experience here and with my own horse.

The best thing you can do is soak the hay and make sure the horse is drinking plenty of water. There are other reasons for colic, but at least around here, the weather is the biggest.