Sand Colic Is Preventable

Sand colic is one of the most preventable diseases known. The buildup of sand is simply the amount of sand being eaten minus the amount of sand passing through. If the same amount is going out the back as is coming in the front, there can be no buildup.  Prevention is best aimed at limiting the sand intake and increasing sand output.

Prevention of sand intake sounds simple, but often can be frustrating. Horses eat sand whenever there is sand below where they eat. If they are fed in feeders that are not big enough for them to spread out the feed, they will pull the feed out and put it where it can be spread out, usually on the ground.  Some horses simply must vacuum up every last morsel of hay and in doing so, they also vacuum up quite a quantity of sand. Horses in pasture that pull up the grass, roots and all, get a mouthful of dirt with the roots. 

Ingestion of sand and subsequent accumulation can cause a variety of clinical symptoms in your horse. Signs of large amounts of sand in a horse's intestine can include:

-  poor weight gain or weight loss in spite of an otherwise adequate diet

-  intermittent diarrhea 

-  frequent episodes of colic

-  impaction colic

-  severe colic requiring surgery

SAND TEST

The sand test is an easy method of assessing if your horse is passing sand. Put six fecal balls or their equivalent into a clear plastic bag or glass jar. Fill half full with water and mix well. Let settle for fifteen

minutes and then check if there is any sand lining the bottom of the bag/jar.

If there is a lot of sand at the bottom, it means that your horse is moving sand through (or you used manure that had touched dirt). This is good in that at least it is coming out.  What you need to do:  Increase your efforts to prevent ingestion of sand. 

If there is no sand at the bottom, it means either your horse is not eating any sand or that your horse is not passing the sand it has eaten. In either case, repeat the test several times. If it is negative every time, and you are managing your horse's intake carefully, then your horse is probably clear.  Some severely affected horses may move sand intermittently, so it is important to repeat the test over time.

WHAT CAN YOU DO?
The first step in prevention is to FEED OFF THE GROUND in tubs, bins or wall feeders, or on top of mats. While many horses still pull at least half of their feed out of any feeder and finish it on the ground, these horses are still spending 50% less time eating on the ground. In addition, placing rubber mats under and around feeders will help prevent horses from eating directly on the ground.  The ideal feeder is some sort of enclosure at ground level large enough (at least 3 ft.) to spread feed out and with high enough sides (measure from the ground to the base of the neck with head down) to prevent feed from coming out.




Good Pasture

 Second is PASTURE MANAGEMENT.  Dense, grassy pastures are best, however they are often hard to find and harder to maintain.  An overgrazed pasture encourages the horse to look for every last bit of grass available.  If this is all you have, limiting turnout to a few hours at a time, rather than all day can help decrease ingestion of sand and encourage better growth of grass.  Another option is turning your poor pasture into a complete dry lot.  In a dry lot, there are no tempting blades of grass that encourage the horse to sift through the sand looking for food.  Your horse can get his exercise, but not ingest dangerous amount of sand.  However, it is very important to feed off the ground in dry lot situations.

 

Poor, Overgrazed Pasture

 

Dry Lot

FEEDSTUFFS

Feeding 2% of body weight of hay (i.e. 20 lbs in a 1000lb horse) can also help move sand.  The fiber found in hay is good for the health of the colon and its bulk can help move sand through.  Psyllium (Sand Clear, Equi-Aid, Metamucil, etc.) is believed to help move small amounts of sand out of the horse's gut, but preliminary research calls into question its effectiveness in moving larger accumulations of sand from equine intestines.  Psyllium may be a useful part of managing a horse who grazes in a sandy pasture, but it's not a magic preventive or cure. Many people believe that they are controlling sand by feeding bran mashes. Although bran is a good laxative, it is ineffective at removing sand.  In conclusion, the best way to avoid sand-related colic is to discourage the horse from ingesting sand in the first place.

Cribbing: Not just a harmless bad habit

Case Report and Discussion

Jodie Stowell, DVM

Case Report

A 5 year old warmblood mare presented for colic of approximately 2 hours duration,  which worsened in the last hour prior to presentation.  History included recent long distance transportation, cribbing and a recent full dose of Banamine.  The horse was showing signs of discomfort: elevated heart rate and laying down and rolling repeatedly.  No reflux (fluid off the stomach) was obtained after a nasogastric tube was passed.  Rectal examination revealed  gas distended small intestine (abnormal).  Sedation did not help for more than 15 minutes at a time.  The combination of unrelenting pain, elevated heart rate, and rectal examination led to a decision of surgical intervention. 

At surgery a large portion of the small intestine was gas distended, and an approximately two foot portion was trapped in a space called the epiploic foramen.  The intestine was carefully removed and the previously entrapped portion left intact (not removed).  The horse recovered from anesthesia without major complication. 

Discussion

The likely cause of the gas filled small intestine was windsucking, or cribbing.  This is a stable vice in which a horse may or may not place its upper incisors on a surface, arch its neck, and make a grunting sound.  Air may or may not be swallowed.  Any air that enters the stomach must pass through the intestines and out the anus, because unlike dogs, cats, or cattle, horses are unable to vomit or burp.  One of the most common times during the day for a horse to crib is around feeding time.  Periods of boredom or stress may also make cribbing more likely to occur. 

So what is the association between cribbers and colic?  One study examined medical records of horses that had colic surgery for epiploic foramen entrapment (the type of problem described above) and other problems with the small intestine.  Horses with a history of cribbing were 35 times more likely to have epiploic foramen entrapment as were horses without a history.  Does this mean that cribbing causes colic?  Perhaps.   No direct cause-effect relationship has been proven, but the two are associated in some way.  It is possible that management situations that increase the likelihood of cribbing also happen to increase the likelihood of colic, just in different ways.  The other idea is that cribbing and windsucking causes the horse to swallow air.  This air passes to the stomach and then the small intestine.  The intestine becomes larger than normal because it is filled with air and tends to move around and get stuck in places like the epiploic foramen.  If the intestine doesn't move out on its own, the blood supply gets cut off.  This is painful, and colic results.  Most often this type of entrapment requires surgery to correct. 

Preventing colic is a goal for horse owners around the globe.  So, if you happen to own or take care of a cribber, what can be done?  The best course of action is to prevent the cribbing from happening.  Some horses only crib when stalled; others do it on a constant basis.  Removing buckets after grain is finished and increasing time at turnout can often help.  In addition, a cribbing collar is the best bet for preventing air from being swallowed (also known as aerophagia).  As in all things horsey, there are many choices out there.  Some collars with metal or narrow straps may cause divots in the neck from the pressure.  A wider strap distributes the pressure more evenly, preventing divots while still preventing the cribbing or windsucking behavior.  The wider strap collar with a felt lining is recommended (and carried in stock) by Reid and Associates.

Gearing Up for the 2011 Breeding & Foaling Season!

There are several management tools used to bring about the onset of the breeding season or to alter the estrous cycle itself. The most reliable method used to induce the ovulatory season is the use of artificial lights to alter the mare’s perception of day length. The easiest light management program is to use lights at the end of the day to extend the perceived day length (or photoperiod) to 16 hours. This practice entails turning on an artificial light source 30 minutes before sundown. The light source should be turned on to supply enough additional light to produce a total 16 hours of daylight (natural and artificial), roughly until 11 pm. There is a lag period of 60 to 90 days between the onset of daylight extension and first ovulation. Therefore, if February-March ovulations are desired, mares should be started on the lighting program before December 15. If you are aiming for a January baby, most breeding sheds open between February 1st and February 15th, so you would need to start lighting programs no later than December 1st. 

Perception of day length must be constant from day to day; the use of automatic timers is of benefit. Also, using too much light can cause adverse effects. Mares that are exposed to continuous light may not cycle properly. Light intensity should be a minimum of two foot-candles, which is comparable to one 200-watt bulb for a 12 x 12-foot stall. Floodlights can be used on outside pens. A general rule is that lighting is sufficient if a newspaper can be easily read in any corner of the stall or pen. One side note is that mares in light inducement programs will also shed hair, so those housed outside will need protection from bad weather.

While the use of artificial lights has the greatest benefit on dry or open mares, recent studies have shown that early foaling mares will also respond to added light. Gestation lengths have been decreased by as much as 10 days when using lights for open mares, with no effect on foal weight and size. More importantly, artificial lighting enhances proper cycling in these mares after foaling.

Artificially advancing the ovulatory season in open and bred mares will help maintain a yearly foaling interval, produce older foals at the breed association’s January 1 universal birth date, and make better use of available semen across the entire breeding season.

"Ultimately Acoolest", colt by "Acoolest" out of "JNC Yella Tradition"
Owned by Kim Clark and photographed by Mark Clark