Colicky Behaviour

[harleydales]

Tonight when I fed Harley and Apollo I was waiting for Apollo to finish and noticed he kept sort of swinging his head down and round to his flanks. Instantly thought oh-oh, could be colic. Then he did a HUGE and very smelly trump!!

After that he was still looking at his flanks, but still eating as well. He was kicking at his belly a little but nothing too major. Five minutes later he seemed easier and went to eat hay. He never went down as if to roll.

His heart rate was 32/34 beats per minute, and his gut sounds were OK - not as loud as Harley's, but not silent either, just gurgles and creaks.

This happened at 6, I checked him again at 8 and then again at 9.30 and both times he was calm, relaxed and resting. And the heart rate/gut sound was fine.

Can horses get trapped wind like we do and once they've had a big 'blow' feel better?

Impaction colics can start this way can't they, with bouts of pain and the horse semming quiet. I'm hoping he was just relaxing, not colic quiet.

I've never seen a horse with anything other than really severe colic so am not sure what a mild one looks like.

[Debbie]

I've seen two horses like this, one that we walked and it passed wind and we kept walking for at least an hour. The other we turned loose in a paddock and actually let him get down to roll a bit to pass the gas.

Both horses were totally fine after passing wind, and both took a big drink of water shortly thereafter. Maybe they were dehydrated as it was in the 90*s when they happened. But yes it is possible for a horse to just get a bit of gas like a person would.

...edited to say I'm really pleased Apollo seems happy in himself again!! Its always a worry when they begin to look colicky.

[harveydales]

Yes, my mare Alex used to get what we called "wind colic" in those days. She would act just as you describe. Sometimes it would be worse and take longer to get over, but it was always due trapped gas. We never found out why it happened although sudden wet grass was one trigger.