colic

[June Scheunemann & Mike Bernsdorf <equineent@lakefield.net>]

We have been rather lucky on colic and horses.  We feed a warm
beet pulp mash in winter in the mornings and then once to twice
a morning in the summer.  Our horses are on pasture 24 hours a
day and we do put hay out in a very small amount so that when we
do get to a ride they are use to the hay.  However, with the
help of our vet we do keep banamine on hand for that "just in
case" and have used it more on the neighbors horses than ours.
She has a quarter horse that has had colic surgery and every now
and then experiences a bout of colic.  We have on occasion put
the horse in the trailer and just driven around the block and
several times that has worked ......we only do this after she
has called the vet and they can't come out for over 30 - 40 min.
Around here most vets want you to haul the horse to their clinic
for treatment so the trailer ride is hard to get around.  (Our
vet will still come to the farm as she doesn' t have a large
clinic. )  Even the vets with the bigger clinics say that the
trailer ride can be the best cure for colic.