Ridecamp: [RC] colic/electolytes??? long

Ok, I really need some help on this one. I went
to a horse show yesterday, early in the morning.
My horse seemed to be drinking and eating fine
all week, everything was normal. We fed him an
hour before we left, and it was about an hour
drive. I warmed up for the same amount of time I
usually do, again everything seemed normal. I was
in 3 jumping classes and 2 halter/showmanship
classes. He seemed fine. Then there was about a
30 minute break for lunch and for the judges to
have a rest. I sponged him off, and let him eat
some grass at the trailer. After about 15 mintues
he started pacing around. I thought he was jsut
tired of standing there, so I walked him around,
then gave him a little snack of soaked pellets,
which i usually do at shows, but he wouldn't eat
it. He wouldn't eat any carrots, or watermelon
which he loves, and wouldn't drink water. He'd
been drinking as much as usual so far that day.
We tried listening to his gut sounds and there
wasn't any. We called our vet, who lives near
where the show was (he was nice enough to come
help us even though he wasn't on call!) and he
said my horse was colicing and was working on an
impaction. He tubed him and gave him an epsom
salt/water mix, he would pour it in, then wait,
and pour it back out, and green slimy-ish stuff
would come out, the vet said it was kind of like
if a horse could throw up. He gave him oil, and
we walked him for about 20 minutes, then brought
him home. We didn't feed him any grain or hay
last night, and only a small amount of hay this
morning. He was dehydrated yesterday, and still
is today. He is feeling much better attitude wise
though, and is perky and trying to grab grass
when I walk him. I really like our vet, but
figured it was worth asking everyone here since
you all know so much about this. He said we
should get him electolytes. I think I read here
that electrolytes are for preventing dehydration,
and it's bad to give them to a horse that's
already dehydrated. Is this right? I tried
finding it in the archives but couldn't. If it's
bad to give him electrolytes how can I get him to
drink? He's never had this problem before! I'm
sorry this is so long, I just want to make sure I
wont make things worse by giving him the
electrolytes. I've never used them before. Thank
you!
-Kelly

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