Colic - walking and just keeping them moving, or trot/canter on a lunge?

[alloalloallo]

DD’s pony had colic last night.

No dramatic symptoms - I offered her a polo which she refused - odd. Then went and laid down - even odder. I got her straight up and she then laid down again so I took her straight out to our school and kept her waking while DH phoned the vet.

At which point the yard know all comes marching into the school flapping a lunge whip about shrieking that I need to lunge her, I’m an idiot who knows nothing about horses and this is basic knowledge.

Pony freaked at the sight of this mad woman shrieking and waving a lunge whip around and fucked off, almost taking me out with her - I think I’ve pulled a muscle in my arse cheek .

Now, everything I’ve ever read and been told, is to walk them, you just need to keep them moving and on their feet until the vet gets there. You shouldn’t be cantering/trotting them on a lunge. We’ve been lucky and only had colic once before years ago with our oldie and vet advised us then - gentle walking, keep her on her feet until she got there.

DH comes back having spoken to the vet and repeats the above advice to keep walking her and he’d be half an hour.

I personally lunge in trot as it was what I was taught but I think keeping them moving in whatever fashion is the most important bit

I was originally taught keep them up and walking, but I think the advice now is that they are ok to stand/ lie down, so long as they are not rolling. If they’re rolling then get them up, and walk to stop them going down and rolling again.

Certainly when my mare had colic overnight earlier in the year she did not seem like she wanted to be frogmarched round the arena and vet was fine with the fact I’d left her resting her box.

I was always taught gentle walking in hand for a colicking horse too but even if you had been wrong about that, approaching a sick horse and already stressed owner shouting and waving a lunge whip is unlikely to be helpful - in fact that pretty much applies to any scenario except for maybe being attacked by rabid wolves or similar . Yard busy-bodies eh, I wish there was some kind of PSA alert to get people to pause and consider their approach before sticking their oar in but a certain type of horse person generally seems to operate on act first, think second, I guess it's instinctive concern for horse welfare above all else so comes from a well meaning intent but it really isn't very kind a lot of the time and not the best way to get their (generally unsolicited!) advice attended to!

I think the keeping the horse moving serves two purposes, one is def as PP said to stop them rolling and potentially twisting a gut which is a really serious complication of colic but also in the hope that some gentle exercise can serve to shift a small blockage, in that sense trotting on a lunge may do more to help but equally our vet can take a couple of hours to get to a non emergency mild colic if they're on the other side of their patch or have another emergency to deal with and I wouldn't want to lunge a horse for all that time, certainly not cantering around being chased with the whip anyway! Sounds like you did the right thing anyway and hope your pony is OK now?

Thanks!

Everything I’ve ever read or been told has been to keep them on their feet by walking.

Pony definitely wasn’t up for cantering or trotting. She kept trying to lay down, so we just kept walking.

The woman pisses me off. Constantly interfering with everyone and always knows best.

Sorry, x-posted. She’s fine now thanks. Recovered pretty quickly once the vet did his thing.

Pony can be a little bit spooky anyway, so bursting into the school waving a lunge whip while yelling at me was always going to end in tears. DH was on the phone to the vet anyway.

Equine vet here. While the traditional thing was always walking, we are perfectly happy for colicky animals to move about or lie down as they wish. I have seen well- meaning owners walk themselves and their animals to near-collapse at times which is obviously counter-productive. Sometimes a good brisk lunge will seem to sort them out but then many/ most colics sort themselves out anyway. If the animal is inclined to roll it's probably better to keep them on their feet but always be cautious around a horse in pain; I've seen a few people injured by horses who try to snap or kick at that painful belly.
Livery yards be full of interfering bitches 🤣

Thank you!

Livery yards be full of interfering bitches 🤣

Ain’t that the truth.

She is a total pain in the arse. She once gave me a bollocking for feeding my OAP a banana - whilst giving her horse half a loaf of bread every night.

She thinks that because we’re relative newbies to the horse world we’re idiots who know nothing. I freely admit I’m no expert (that’s what vets/farriers/dentists/saddlers/chiro/etc is for), but I’m not completely clueless.

I’ve always just made sure they don’t roll , so generally with mine on the odd occasion we’ve had colic we’ve just kept them standing . Hope pony is ok now , it can be awful .

Was always told that stopping them rolling was more about stopping them getting cast than anything internal. A good walk might help dislodge some gas but won't do anything for a more serious colic.

My American friend swears by a trailer ride to make them poop!

I've always been told to keep them moving but I generally walk them round the yard until the vet arrives as they are ready to load if needed and hard to get up if in a stable which makes the vets job harder.

Feel for you with the yard know it all, I had one make out I was an amateur for getting the vet to deal with a badly bleeding overreach. Unbearable, if someone who didn’t know the yard turned up they would assume she was the yard manager/ owner. I left the yard, there were other factors but she was one….