Question
My 13-year-old Hanoverian mare has had many gas colic episodes in the last year. We believed her colic was related to water intake, as she doesn't like to drink cold water. However, we have been soaking her hay, wetting her grain, and giving her water with a few handfuls of grain to encourage her to drink. Her manure is moist, so I don't think hydration is an issue. She looks great with a shiny coat, strong hooves, bright eyes, and a bit of pudge. She gets 2.5 cups of senior feed, 5 cups of timothy hay pellets, and these supplements: flaxseed, probiotics, MSM, and electrolytes. She cribs, which I think has intensified over the last year. I suspect ulcers or hindgut issues, but I'm not sure whether to scope her or just treat for ulcers. Her dentist is concerned about one of her teeth and strongly suggested a cribbing muzzle. I'm slowly working on that, and I'm not too excited about going that route, though stopping the cribbing would certainly be better for her teeth and maybe her colic issues.
Answer
Based on the description, your mare hasn’t experienced any drastic changes in her diet or management recently, leading me to believe it is a different issue causing the colic. I have a few suggestions to potentially decrease gas, balance the gastric and hindgut pH, and supply necessary nutrients to meet requirements.
Start by addressing the possibility of gastric ulcers and hindgut problems. I know many horse owners choose to treat with prescription-strength omeprazole instead of having endoscopy of the stomach performed due to cost and convenience. If you treat her with omeprazole and see an improvement, it may be safe to say that gastric ulcers were a contributing factor to her problems. Omeprazole doesn’t, however, address hindgut health, which is equally as important, especially in recurrent colic cases.
The hindgut plays an important role in digestive health by housing a large microbial population responsible for fiber fermentation and energy production. Maintaining a balanced hindgut pH (6.5-7) ensures proper function and digestion. Shifts in pH can be a result of quality and quantity of feedstuffs that enter the hindgut. Signs of hindgut problems include both recurrent colic of unknown origin and stereotypical behaviors.
Given your mare’s history, it would be beneficial to support the hindgut with targeted supplementation. EquiShure contains an encapsulated buffer designed to reach the hindgut and improve the pH. Unlike probiotics, Equishure actively changes the environment to ensure optimal conditions for microbes. Adding EquiShure to the diet twice a day will provide consistent buffering. EquiShure can be used in combination with omeprazole and other digestive products since it works by a different mechanism.
If you find that gastric ulcers are an issue, RiteTrac might be a more appropriate choice for your mare, as it is a daily total-tract digestive supplement. RiteTrac contains EquiShure for hindgut support in addition to several antacids and coating agents shown to improve gastric pH. Starting RiteTrac before discontinuing omeprazole treatment is ideal to reduce risk of acid rebound and help maintain a healthy environment. For horses with more severe digestive problems, long-term maintenance use of RiteTrac is recommended.
The next step in reducing digestive problems is to identify any potential risk factors. Depending on how often she is given hay and how quickly she consumes it, your mare may experience long stretches with an empty stomach. Horses should be consuming feed (hay or concentrate) for a minimum of 8-10 hours/day, with a maximum of 4-5 hours without food. When a stomach is empty for long periods, normal gastric acid can begin to irritate the stomach lining, eventually causing ulcers. Providing small frequent meals is best for digestive health.
Ensuring forage requirements are met without increasing intake too much can be done by slowing consumption time and potentially reducing hay quality. Using slow-feeders or closely knit haynets will slow consumption therefore reducing the time without forage. It is a healthier option for easy keepers to have access to near-constant source of low-calorie hay than smaller meals of high-calorie hay.
I suggest decreasing or eliminating alfalfa and replacing it with grass hay since alfalfa is the higher calorie hay option. High-quality alfalfa can cause excess gas in some horses. Given her history, it may be worth cutting back the alfalfa in the diet. My other suggestion is to replace the timothy pellets with more hay. Long-stem forage will take longer to consume and contribute to reducing the time she goes without something to eat.
Instead of mixing her supplements with the small amount of senior feed and timothy pellets, consider feeding a ration balancer pellet. The amount of senior feed your mare receives does not provide adequate vitamin and mineral nutrition. For that to happen, you would need to feed at least the minimum recommended by the manufacturer. Balancer pellets provide a concentrated source of protein, vitamins, and minerals, designed to be fed at only 1-2 lb (0.45-0.9 kg) per day. If you choose to use a balancer pellet, you can stop feeding the senior feed or you can continue to feed it as a base for the supplements.
Flax contains alpha‐linolenic acid (ALA), which requires conversion to DHA and EPA to be most beneficial to horses. Research has found that horses have a limited capacity to complete this conversion efficiently. A direct source of DHA and EPA omega-3s is preferable and achievable through the use of a fish oil supplement, such as EO-3. The anti-inflammatory properties of certain omega-3s are well established and may help with the mare’s gastrointestinal problems.
