Colic Weather

[LisaInN.Idaho]

I know a lot of you are having nice, warm weather but we're getting record breaking rains here. Our equine vet posted this yesterday and I thought it might help other folks when they get the same weather.

A request was made that I address the phenomenon known as “Colic Weather”. The term is used by both vets and horseman to describe cold, wet weather or weather that swings 40 degrees or more in a single day. While healthy horses should be well equipped to handle most of the weather that north Idaho can toss at a horse; cold, wet rains seems to be the worst for them. Especially when it falls at the end of a very long winter. This time of year is the most trying for all livestock. It’s been a long time since they were warm, dry, and receiving plenty of vitamin d. When the cold and wet rains start, the horses are reluctant to drink. They often stand in the same place for long periods just trying to keep their backs to the wind and rain. All of which leads to slowing of gut motility, slight dehydration, and then colic. While it is impossible to completely remove your risk of colic, there are things that can be done to decrease the odds your horse will succumb to this deadly condition.

First of all ensure that your horses are drinking. The old saying you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make them drink is even more true with they are drenched and cold. Even if they have warm water, they may not feel like drinking. Adding salt to their feed is the best way to ensure that they are forced to drink. Either add it to the grain as a top dressing or mix water and salt in a squirt bottle and spray the hay with salt water.

Another very important thing for horses is the opportunity to dry out and lay down. I know that this is much easier said that done, but the horses that I see suffering from colic during colic weather are invariably the ones that have been standing out in the drenching rain for day after day. While many horses won’t choose to use a run in shed, closing them in the shed for a period of time to ensure they can dry out and lay down may help you to warm them and make them less likely to become so chilled that they don’t drink and their guts slow down.

Blanketing your horse can help them to stay warmer and drier, but be careful with the constant wetness that your horse isn’t getting chilled under that blanket or that the blanket is loosing it’s waterproofing. The other difficulty with blanketing is that if we are having large temperature swings from morning to night you may need to layer your blankets to properly meet the temperature needs of your horse.

Because horses are hind gut fermentors, the furnace that heats their bodies is fueled by the fiber in their diet. Feeding your horse grain during cold wet weather does provide extra calories, but doesn’t fuel that fermentation furnace like hay does. Free choice long stem hay is a great way to keep your horse warm and active in inclement weather.

[chewie]

thanks for posting this, good info

[Irish Pixie]

Excellent information, thank you.

[Rogo]

We don't have much rain here in the desert, but our temperatures swing greatly from up in the hundreds during the day to 50's - 60's at night. I have had horses, mules, donkeys and other stock, but no colic in over 30 years.

[LisaInN.Idaho]

Originally Posted by Rogo

We don't have much rain here in the desert, but our temperatures swing greatly from up in the hundreds during the day to 50's - 60's at night. I have had horses, mules, donkeys and other stock, but no colic in over 30 years.

I think the drenching rains were the point of it being colic weather.

[mayfair]

Thanks for the info. We certainly have drenching rains here.