Dr. Dan… I have an 18 year old arab mare that I've had 9 years. Since last fall she's had what seem to be mild gas colic episodes. I can say that 3 of those were during severe weather changes. I can see it coming a day or so ahead. She gets quiet, picks at her food & hardly drinks water. One dose of banamine has done the trick so far each time. Our barn owner really believes that its a stone. I am unfamiliar to stones. The horse has had zero health issues until now. She eats 1/2 flake oat morning & nite & 1/2 flake of grass hay for lunch. She is stalled but is turned out daily & gets regular exercise. She was on a sand clear type supplement for 10 months & now I have her on a digestive type supplement for horses that tend to colic. Hopefully I've included all info you need & maybe you can steer me in the right direction. Thanks for your time!!
The biggest cause of colic, which seem to be so in your case is explained in the article on page 20 of the magazine (the article is called "Mineral Wise and Salt Poor") and also is the article called "Perfect Pastures"). The episodes occurring when there is a weather change is a tell tale sign in my opinion of too much potassium during these times. the answer is simple .. throw away the salt and mineral blocks if using and have our RED CAL available free choice at ALL TIMES. The article explains how changes in weather affect such. of course they can also have periods of high potassium from hay etc. (especially fertilized hay and pasture since all that is in fertilizer is nitrogen, potassium and phosphorous). I also suggest our entire feeding program at www.whattofeedyourhorse.com Follow the program to the "T" and add our GUT Check for added digestive support. Just in case stones are also involved you may want to give a little more of the Weight Check oil than the maintenance amount on the label to keep the gut well lubricated yet healthy too. Expect a new horse soon. At least if anything will help nutritionally the above will and I would be very surprised if it didn't. Thanks for asking!
Thanks for your input. I placed an order today & I’m very excited about the articles I’ve read ! You have a lot of products that make sense & I plan to order in the near future. From the below description of my horse I remember that the 4th mild colic happened after spring shots at our barn. Unfortunately vaccinations are mandatory at our barn since it’s a boarding facility. I have been able to get my vet to skip rabies to every other year on my horse. My vet is the only local vet that does not do strangles which I’m glad for. One thing I forgot to mention that all this week I’ve been hearing strange “grunting” type noises coming from my horses nostrils. It’s not all of the time but its almost if someone socks you & you go “umph”. I can only hear it because I’m right by her face. I gave her 2 slices of carrots & after she ate them I heard that noise again today. It sounds like a discomfort. Can you tell me about stones in horses? If a horses has a huge stone that is moving through how long do you think it would take to be fatal? I am really hoping that your products will fix my mares issue but I am still uneducated regarding stones. Thanks again & I cant wait for your products to get here next week!!! Amie
Grunting sound would be more apt to be from a stomach rather than intestinal issue??? Ulcer perhaps..or joint age related. I would suggest for added support our Gut Check supplement (will help entire gut regardless of cause) and also our Joint Check which will help get rid of "junk" from previous vaccinations and help with discomfort in general. Thanks for asking!
Hi Dr. Dan. Sorry to bother you again but I went to the feed store to get the oats & they have 3 choices; Recleaned Flat rolled Crimped Which ones? Thanks again, Amie
Any are fine. At www.askdrdan.com you could also search for the word "oats" and it will give the previous answers to similar questions too. Regardless once the oat hull is broken by crimping rolling flattening or whatever they start breaking down and they are only 6 percent more efficient anyway digestibility wise. So generally I suggest "whole" (in your case the re cleaned) since one generally doesn't know how fresh the others are. Thanks again for asking!
