I'm not a vet. When it comes to horses, though, I firmly believe in preventative maintenance. Horses colic for a number of reasons, but what I have found over time is that stress is a major contributing factor. Ever notice how Thoroughbreds seem to colic every time you turn around? They are naturally high strung, and a lot of people buy these horses because they like their speed. That's great, but what always seems to happen is that the rider spends a lot of time running marathons, racing around barrels, and making other demands on the horse that suit the human desire. The problem with that is - the horse does not learn to think for himself. He is more like a highly stimulated robot, doing what is expected and not really looking at the world around him. When the riding is over and the horse is back in his stall, every day life goes on around that barn. Most people have no idea that the horse is afraid of simple things, for example, a simple muck fork, or a worker entering his stall. The horses anxiety can be as simple as heavy breathing, or quickly racing out of the workers way, or as elevated as pinning his ears back or striking out. These horses can often have a reputation as mean and nasty, or unpredictable, due to their quick and scary reactions, but a lot of the time it is a learned response, one that keeps the muck fork at a distance, as well as the worker. It has become a habit, environmental conditioning due to high anxiety and stress. The horse never learned to accept the muck fork or even a worker being in his stall. And then there's the horse next to him that kicks the walls .... the list can go on and on, but the bottom line is that the horse was never taught to accept scary things and work it through his mind in a thinking way. For example - A Thoroughbred came to my barn for boarding. For the first two months he colicked at least 4 times. People had been riding this horse for years and he was 'great in the arena and on trail' but he had always had a problem with colic. I began to work with him, desensitizing him to small things in a way that got him thinking about it and building his confidence, easing him into the realization that he could actually accept something that once frightened him. I used buckets, muck forks, I kicked walls while he was in his stall, I jumped up and down, squealed and swung blankets around .... so many things, but I did it in a way that rewarded him when he began to think and process what was going on. You have to understand, if a horse is afraid of the muck fork, in his mind IT IS NOT THERE. He will not acknowledge it, and yet he will kick out at it. When the horse acknowledges that it is there, he has begun to think. How do you know that the horse has acknowledged the muck fork? All I can tell you is that he has a completely different look in his eye, and even when he smells it or touches it with his hoof, there is a difference. He is thinking, processing, accepting, dealing. This Thoroughbred is still at our barn, and 3 years later has not colicked once. He has learned how to think and process. And when new and different things happen in the barn the horse has the tools he needs, the higher confidence to deal with it and remain relatively calm. By fixing the small things, this horse also gained confidence in other areas that were much bigger. For instance, at one time he lived in fear of the higher herd pecking order, running around, reacting thoughtlessly, and filled with fear, but now he simply accepts his place and understands the rules because he has finally processed the herd expectations and he comprehends them. There are so many advantages to building thought in a horses mind. Recognizing that a horse needs help and then teaching him the skills he needs to cope in a human world can prevent continuous colic in horses. If you are unsure of how this process works, please seek out a horse trainer that does. Preventative maintenance that simply builds a horses confidence can save you a lot of money and heartache in the future. Naturally, there are other reasons that horses colic. I am simply addressing the most basic of reasons that are, sadly, never even considered. I used a Thoroughbred as an example, but this is a problem with all breeds.
