Colic in horses

Every horse owner or rider has certainly heard of colic at some point. Moreover, when we talk about colic, the words that usually follow are "injection", "veterinarian", "manure"... Colic is one of the most feared diseases in the equestrian world. In fact, it makes everyone tremble. What is colic?

What is colic?

Colic is a term that refers to a set of symptoms that evoke intestinal pain, or even abdominal pain in the broad sense. We can therefore simply understand the term colic to mean "stomach ache". It is therefore a very broad word that can group together a large number of pathologies.

However, in horses, most symptoms of colic correspond to digestive problems that are generally linked to a slowdown or even a stoppage of transit. Colic being a health problem, even if you take the best accessories from La Sellerie Française for your horse, you will have to do the maximum to cure the problem before the horse benefits from its accessories.

In fact, a horse's digestive system is generally made up of, among other things, a very small stomach with a capacity of 15 litres, a small intestine of more than 20 metres, a cecum which is a reservoir of around 40 litres and a colon measuring 7 metres.

We can understand then that the horse's digestive system can be long enough to suffer from many breakdowns. To easily understand what it is, we can assimilate horse colic as a plumbing problem. It is therefore a question of a network of very long pipes with different diameters, which is flexible and mobile in the abdomen for the most part and which contains liquid which circulates there.

What are the dysfunctions in the event of colic in horses?

In case of colic, the most common pathologies encountered in horses can be different. For example, it can be a problem with a plug. Here, the piping system is working properly. It is even in its normal place. On the other hand, it is the content that will create the problem. The said content is not liquid enough. This means that it no longer advances. This is a problem that generally occurs at the level of the colon. This is where the content of the digestive tract is the thickest and the intestine naturally becomes bent.

From this moment, the transit stops and the droppings accumulate and form a plug. This problem can be treated quite easily. You just need laxatives like paraffin oil to be used frequently.

Colic can also be due to a problem of movement. It also starts with a content that is heavy. On the other hand, instead of only slowing down the transit as with traffic jams, the pipe is dragged by its weight. In this case, this content moves the pipe and jams it elsewhere.

As a result, the contents of the tube may not circulate properly and block transit. Fortunately, it is possible to restart transit with infusions or paraffin. However, surgery may be necessary to put everything back in order.

Colic can also occur when the small intestine is blocked by strangulation or torsion. In this case, the intestine becomes knotted around itself or around another organ, such as a tangled garden hose. The colic can then be more painful than the previous ones. Colic can also be caused by torsion of the colon. This is the most serious form of colic.