Horses are incredibly powerful animals, but like all domesticated creatures, they are susceptible to various health issues. These conditions are often easy to detect early, and can even be prevented in some circumstances too. In this blog we are going to look at some of the most common health issues in horses, along with some practical tips on how to prevent them.
Colic
The dreaded word that all horse owners fear the most… colic. This is a term to describe abdominal pain in horses, and if left untreated it can cause serious health issues and even lead to death in extreme cases. Colic can range from mild discomfort to severe, and causes of colic can include gas build-up, impaction, dietary changes, dehydration and stress.
The main ways to prevent your horse from getting colic are:
- Consistent feeding routine: make sure that your horse is fed around the same time each day, and avoid any sudden changes in diet. If you do need to swap your horse’s feed over, introduce the new feed gradually so the stomach has time to adapt.
- Adequate hydration: always provide clean, fresh water at all times. Dehydration is a huge risk factor for colic.
- High-fibre diet: feed your horse lots of roughage such as hay, as this promotes healthy digestion.
- Regular exercise: keeping your horse in regular work helps keep everything in the gut working as it should.
- Monitor your horse: look out for the signs of colic such as restlessness, pawing the ground, sweating and lying down frequently.
Laminitis
Laminitis is an incredibly painful condition that affects the horse’s hooves. It occurs when the laminae (the tissue connecting the hoof wall to the pedal bone) becomes inflamed and sometimes even detaches. There are a few factors that can trigger laminitis: obesity, trauma, other metabolic conditions and overfeeding.
The main ways to prevent your horse from getting laminitis are:
- Balanced diet: avoid feeding horses prone to laminitis lush grass or too much cereal in their diet. Managing your horse’s weight is also key.
- Monitor their grazing: during spring when the grass contains lots of sugar, limit your horse’s grazing. You can either strip-graze their field or pop a grazing muzzle on them.
- Regular hoof care: make sure your horse receives regular hoof trimming by a qualified farrier, as the balance of the weight on the horse’s hoof can help alleviate symptoms of laminitis.
- Exercise and weight management: keep your horse at a healthy weight by maintaining regular exercise and a controlled diet.
Respiratory Issues
Respiratory issues in horses can range from mild conditions such as a small cough, to something more extreme such as heaves (Recurrent Airway Obstruction). The main causes of these tend to be poor air circulation, dust, mould and other allergens found in the horse’s environment or even their roughage.
Some top ways to prevent respiratory issues in horses are:
- Clean stabling: keep your horse’s stable clean and dry, regularly removing wet bedding and manure to prevent the build-up of ammonia.
- Dust-free feed: if your hay is particularly dusty, soak it before feeding to reduce the dust and mould spores within it.
- Adequate ventilation: ensure that all stables are well ventilated and allow for the free flow of air through them.
- Avoid overcrowding: if stables are too full, this can increase the risk of respiratory infections spreading between horses. It is always a good idea to have an isolation stable too in case a horse needs separating from the rest of the yard.
Equine Gastric Ulcer Syndrome (EGUS)
Gastric ulcers are incredibly common in horses, particularly sports horses who undergo stress regularly. This condition is where the stomach acid erodes the lining of the stomach, leading to pain and discomfort. Here are the main ways to prevent gastric ulcers in horses:
- Regular feeding: horses should be fed little and often as they have very small stomachs, and this helps to reduce the time the stomach is empty and therefore exposed to acid.
- Access to forage: they should have ad-lib forage as this helps to promote continuous chewing and saliva production which helps neutralise the stomach acid.
- Reduce stress: try and keep stress to a minimum by keeping your horse's routine consistent and provide plenty of turnout.
- Avoid high-cereal diets: reduce the amount of cereals your horse receives in its feed, as they can often trigger acid production.
Preventing common health issues in horses does require a proactive approach, but by understanding these issues you can ensure your horse enjoys a long, happy life. Supplementing your horse with natural herbal supplements from the Wormers-Direct range can help keep your horse in top condition too.