Question:
We have had a windsucker for about a year now who seems to be prone to
colic and often has a very noisy gut. He is also inclined to grind
his teeth when ridden, it usually happens after he has worked for a
while, say 15-20 minutes, in the school. I have read that teeth
grinding has been associated with colic, however maybe it has nothing
to do with it in his case? Anyhow, I suspect that he isnt 100 percent
comfortable in the tummy a lot of the time.
He is kept out at pasture all the time but gets a lot of hay as well,
about 4 decent sized flakes per day, 2 of lucerne and 2 oaten hay.
Lately we have been giving him more of the lucerne and less of the
oaten because he strews it around everywhere, very wasteful and
obviously doesnt like it so well. He far prefers the lucerne but
surely one mustnt give him too much, that could be a big problem in
itself.
Because he is a feisty little horse we havent given him oats or
concentrated food yet. He looks in reasonably good condition.
I have read and been told (by vets) in the past that the gut problems
are caused because of the horse swallowing air during windsucking.
However having read "Radiographic and Endoscopic Study of Horses
Performing an Oral Based Stereotypy," by Paul McGreevy, et al, where
experiments were done using endoscopy showing that the horse does not
actually swallow air, I have found an opposite point of view, namely
that the windsucker does this behaviour because of the gut problem
rather than the other way around. Also they felt that it was very
likely detrimental to the horse to prevent the behaviour by using a
collar, so we arent using one.
Anyhow, has anyone out there who has had experience with this problem
got any dietary (or other) advice which might help Sam and his rumbly
tummy?
Answer:
Is this horse young? Green or learning anything new? When did he start
with the grinding business?
My initial guess comes from the timing of the grinding, and the fact that
your horse has another nervous habit. 15-20 mins into a session, after
warming up, one usually begins the kind of work that is demanding of the
horse. New or difficult activities will make the nervous horse tense;
grinding his teeth is one way of expressing this. If this is the case, your
horse may well grow out of this habit with time and miles.
Never heard of the colic connection.
I have known a lot of horses who have worn collars with no apparent ill
effects. What detrimental effect did they point out?
I have a mare (now retired) who cribbed. She wouldn't crib continuosly at
times in her stalll she would eat ,crib,eat,crib. when outside she would
crib on the round metal fence. She did were a cribbing strap at times.
When she was out in the field she would find something to crib on. Now she
is retired and lives in Virginia (I'm from Ct.) and they say she cribs on
everything. She is a tb and I feel she really wasn't that streesed from the
work we did. Only had 1 colic epidsode (a cycle colic) never one from
sucking wind. I don't know if this helps any but this is the experience I
have had so far.
I'd also check for saddle fit. In my experience, teeth grinding is
connected
to pain. Only time I've ever seen it here was when a yearling colicked and
she kept grinding her teeth during the pain.
Have you had him scoped for ulcers? The teeth grinding, frequent colics,
strange behavior in strewing food then eating it, and feisty behavior under
saddle along with your suspicion that he is not comfortable in the tummy
much of the time all match the symptoms my horse had. When we finally
figured out it was ulcers and treated them the teeth grinding and other
discomfort type behaviors stopped and he has not collicked since.
Just some info regarding cribbing and collars - from my limited
experience My TB mare also cribs. Has for most of her life.
She's 21 now. She wears a Miracle Collar. It's old and fitted it
self to her head quite well. She wears it almost 24/7. It's only off
when I'm handling her or riding. It has fleece over BOTH the straps
that go over the top of her head (one in front of and one behind her
ears). It can cause "chaffing" under the throat in the summer months
when it's hot and the horses are sweating. To prevent this, I cut the
toe out of a white, cotton sock and slipped that over the bottom part
of the collar. It worked perfectly! The sock can be cleaned and who
doesn't have a bunch of old worn out socks that can be sacrificed for
the cause. Plus, if the sock got caught on anything, it would easily
tear and is safe to leave on the collar. Comet hasn't had any
chaffing or loss of hair since I started doing this. Plus, the sock
is thin enough to not interfere with the action of the collar.
Comet will crib immediately upon being near anything she can grab!
But as soon as the collar starts to go on - I mean not even buckled
yet! She will stop cribbing and just go about her buisness. For some
horses, the collar is a wonderful thing. I wouldn't right it off and
have seen no ill effects from Comet using it. I've been with her for
five years now and she wore the collar for many years before I came
into her life and has never had a problem or injury or anything from
it.
But I'd also definitley look into the ulcer angle too. You never
know. Maybe your critter needs something like "Neighlox" (I think
that's how it's spelled, it's an actual medicine - like Malox for
people) or some probiotics added to his feed. Check with your vet.
