By Shelagh Niblock PAS, Equine Nutritionist
Worried about Colic this Winter?
Impaction colic is a potential threat for horse owners year-round, but it is especially so in the cold winter months.
During cold weather a horse’s metabolic requirement for water will drop. This combined with a potential reduction in water intake resulting from icy cold and/or frozen water troughs and buckets can lead to impaction colic.
The risk of impaction colic is exacerbated by the increase in the consumption of hay during cold weather. The heat generated by the fiber fermentation process in the hind gut is an efficient and natural way for your horse to keep warm during cold weather, and so your horse’s hay requirement will increase. Increased hay intake combined with reduced water intake can very quickly progress to an impaction colic situation requiring at the very least a vet call, and it can easily result in death for your horse.
What To do
The key to preventing impaction colic is water intake. Because the horse’s requirement for water will naturally decline in cold weather, horse owners need to use other methods to encourage water intake.
1) Provide warm water whenever possible for your horse. At the very least avoid forcing your horse to drink water out of an ice filled trough. Horses love drinking warm water and will willingly consume more if it is offered warm.
2) It is risky to assume that your horse can consume enough water by eating snow. Horses that are digging through snow for forage all winter will be consuming some snow and hence some water, and the forage they get will be inherently higher moisture than hay, but these horses are constantly at risk of impaction colic. If hay is introduced due to loss of body condition or extreme weather conditions, that risk increases.
3) If you can, attempt to keep track of how much water your horse is drinking in cold weather. The average 500 kg mature horse at rest will consume approximately 25 litres of water per day when on a mixed hay and pasture diet. That will double to 45 to 50 litres potentially if on a straight hay diet. Work has the potential to increase it even more. And finally, if you have a large warmblood horse, expect to see an intake of at least 40 to 50 litres when on a typical equine diet of some hay and pasture.
4) Practice doing the “Pinch Test” on your horse to assess for adequate hydration. The pinch test is an easy test you can do every day while in the barn. Pinch the skin near the point of the shoulder. Your horse’s skin should bounce back quickly if he/she is sufficiently hydrated. If it takes the skin two to four seconds to snap back, your horse is probably moderately dehydrated. Moderate dehydration in extreme cold can lead to impaction colic.
5) Provide wet feeds for your horse. Feeds that readily absorb water such as beet pulp, soyhulls and alfalfa cubes or pellets are an excellent way to increase your horse’s water intake. Most horses enjoy wet feeds especially if they are made with warm water. If your horse has easy access to water, add a small amount of loose salt to the mix. 1 tsp is probably plenty for a meal of soaked feeds. Make your mix really sloppy if your horse will eat it and consider adding in any other concentrates you may be feeding. Remember that as much as your schedule will allow, feed multiple small meals per day.
Any kind of colic is a scary and potentially expensive health crisis for the horse owner. Impaction colic, which so often happens in the dead of winter on the coldest night of the year is not fun and potentially life threatening for your horse. Make a practice of monitoring water intake for your horse year-round, but especially in the coldest winter months.
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