Quick Facts About Colic

 When a horse has colic, it means that there is a painful problem somewhere in the horse’s belly.

• There are dozens of conditions that can cause a horse to show signs of pain.
• Most of the time, the cause is in the horse’s stomach or intestines.

 If You See Your Horse Doing This:

• Looking at his belly, kicking or biting at his belly.
• Pawing at the ground repeatedly.
• Lying down and getting up over and over again.
• Not wanting to eat or drink.
• Not passing manure.
• Lying down and rolling over and over.
• He Might Be Colicing

What you can do to help:           Help

           Call your veterinarian immediately.

• Take away all the grain and hay from your horse.
• Move your horse to a small paddock so you can keep an eye on him.
• Take your horse’s heart rate and temperature.
• Normal heart rate is around 40-50 beats per minute.
• Normal temperature is from 99.0-101.0 degrees.
• Look at your horse’s gums to see what color they are, should be pink!

 Preventing Colic

• Start a set daily routine for feeding, exercise and turnout, and stick to it.
• Feed a high-quality diet of mostly roughage like pasture and hay.
• Limit grain-based feeds like sweet feed.
• Have lots of fresh, clean water available all the time.
• Set up a regular deworming program with the help of your veterinarian.