05/24/2026
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Berry gave us a little colic scare yesterday. It’s one of the things I most dread in my ongoing course on horsemastership, for past experience has not always been a kind and just teacher in my life.
We were lucky this time, whether through our intervention or because it just wasn’t Berry’s time to have a hard go of it. The colic made me think of a Keystone post that might prove useful to any one of you, though I genuinely hope not. Better that we be well-armed and prepared for battle and not need it.
In its most basic sense, ‘colic’ refers to abdominal pain in horses. While we horsemen bandy the term about, it broadly suggests gastrointestinal issues such as gas, feed impactions or twisted intestines. Colic is not a disease, as much as it is a symptom of gut distress.
It is a leading cause of death in horses and when in doubt, please call your veterinarian at first signs of trouble.
What are the common signals that our horse may be starting to colic?
The signs can be both physical and behavioural, for it is this latter way that a horse can express what is bothering her. If we see such things as repeated laying down and getting up again, we’ll be alerted. Rolling, without shaking upon arising, is another concern. There is an inward focus to such a horse, with no pleasure in her movements.
A horse may be kicking at her belly, pawing repeatedly, turning to gaze at her abdomen, licking her side and moving as though to urinate or pass manure. Standing stretched out and freezing in place can be another subtle sign. Her tail may be swishing more than is usual, though this can be hard to ascertain during fly season.
She may be starting to sweat on her neck and along her flanks and breathing hard, as though she has been exerting. The heart rate may be elevated higher than ‘normal’, exceeding 45 to 50 beats per minute.
On any good day, you can practice taking your horse’s resting heart rate, by counting the beats in a span of fifteen seconds and multiplying this by four. You can either use a stethoscope, if you have one, or feel the pulse under the jaw, or at the fetlock. The normal resting heart rate for a horse is from 30 to 40 bpm. If your horse is able to stand for you to do so, check and record the resting heart rate.
Your horse may be refusing to eat or drink and here’s another tell-tale sign: there is no fresh manure being passed. Check your waterers daily, as there can be matter left there by birds that turn the horses off drinking!
The severity of these common symptoms will range as widely as the severity of the impending colic.
Causes commonly range from gut spasms, such as from gas or a sudden draught of cold water… to impaction, which is a blockage in the intestine due to dry feed, sand or a lack of water, a heavy worm load or a glut of unaccustomed feed… to a torsion, or twisted gut, which is severe and will most likely require emergency surgery or euthanasia.
One of the scariest things about colic is that it can run the gamut, from a mild discomfort where the horse is ‘not right’, to a life-threatening emergency, all in the same day.
We take all of it seriously because the horse, despite its size and almost limitless strength, is in fact a frail and sensitive being, with little ability to weather acute pain without becoming ‘shocky’.
Shock is when a sudden drop in blood flow throughout the body leaves vital organs starved of oxygen. We can see this with rapid, shallow breathing, a shut-down appearance and upon opening the horse’s mouth, unusually pale gums. If this is the case, call your vet—or the nearest available large animal vet—immediately.
Colic, no matter its origins or severity, must be watched closely and taken seriously.
Horses are prone to gut issues simply from how they are built. They have a small stomach and hugely long, bendy intestines (like a kinky garden hose) that can be easily displaced. They are not equipped to deal well with dietary changes, without developing fermentation in the gut. They are easily put off drinking enough water, for myriad reasons, yet they are highly prone to impactions without enough hydration.
As our equine vet friend shrugged and tried to explain, “Horses are born and then, they spend the rest of their lives trying to die.”
Berry alerted me to brewing trouble when I went out to do my morning chores. She was lying down in a treed area of the pasture, quite by herself.
I made mental note of the time and place but I did not panic, as she was lying quietly and was not rolling or in obvious distress. But she was behaving in an unusual manner, which was noteworthy in itself… clue #1. This is why it pays to know our horses, inside and out.
After I’d fed I walked out, brought her to her feet and led her up to the yard. She was more lethargic than usual, including allowing me to halter her while she stayed prone, something the proud and sensitive mare is not keen on doing, on a usual day. Clue # 2, right there.
She stopped several times as I was leading her in, as though she was trying to pass urine. Clue # 3.
I brought her into the big corral, pressing my ear against her abdomen, back along the flank. The usual intestinal workings were strangely silent, which is clue # 4.
She was beginning to sweat in patches and wanting to roll, so I left her very briefly to go and alert Mike that we might be in for a spot of trouble and to stay with his phone, in the event that I needed help. In the time that I went back to the mare, she was lying down in a different spot, looking at her side, wanting to roll again. Clues #5 and 6.
If your horse is rolling and you cannot get her to her feet without a struggle, call your vet immediately. Don’t mess around.
As Berry was not yet in an actively distressed mode, just 'dowly', I clipped on the lunge line and we went to the arena, to walk and stop as needed, just going quietly, in large circles. This way, I could ‘feel out’ the mare, note whether she was having spasms of colic and to see if we couldn’t induce her bowels to move. Berry was quieter than usual but she was able to move around me, without any drama.
This, right here, is one of the reasons I teach my horses to lunge calmly. I would never force the mare to move, however. The only time we need to get demanding is when they drop and roll violently... in which case, the vet had best already be on his, or her way.
Note that if I was having to actively keep Berry going and on her feet—with or without rolling—I would have immediately called for veterinary assistance. Only then, am I comfortable administering Banamine, myself, after talking with a licensed veterinary professional, answering key questions and on their advisement.
Some of you with long horse experience may well be different but I tend to err on the side of caution, especially when giving online advice.
Finally, we stopped and gave Berry acupressure on two key points that are related to the relief of colic: one is on the outside-front indentation near the top of the front 'knee' joint and the second is a strong pressure held on the very last vertebrae at the end of the tail. I’ll put a picture in the comments.
In both cases, if the horse is experiencing a mild gas or impaction colic, you can see visible relief in their breathing and facial expression, with yawns, blinking, licking and chewing as the pain and tension passes.
In Berry’s case, we immediately began hearing loud rumbling noises from her gut, which is a sign that things are beginning to move. An hour or so after the accu-pressure, she passed some droppings, the first since I’d noticed her trouble during early morning chores.
We were lucky. The mare rested throughout the day but by afternoon, was back to her normal bossy, vocal and inquisitive self. Meanwhile, we removed all feed but kept her near fresh water. We made sure she was able to walk around quietly, with room to relax and find sun, or shade. We had our veterinarian’s number ready and the trailer hooked to the truck, just in case.
If the horse can keep to its feet, it is possible to transport it to a nearby vet clinic. If you are having trouble keeping the horse walking without its lying down, then the vet must come to the horse. A downed horse in a trailer is a nightmare that you’ll want to avoid, trust me.
We stayed home with an eye to the corrals, not entirely trusting that this little episode was a done deal. I did not treat the horse myself, with any drugs, oils or laxatives. I paid attention and had help on standby, if necessary.
While I don’t know what caused it, there has been quite a change in the pastures this week, with the arrival of spring. I don’t let Berry or the others have free round-the-clock access to the new grass but she probably took on a belly-full overnight, without making the walk in for water. It was enough to cause her considerable distress, which was a red flag in this ordinarily tough and stoic mare.
Colic can be a momentary concern and it can be life-threatening.
I want to share that at age nineteen, Berry is entering the 'danger zone', when it comes to risk of colic. Our beloved senior horses are very much more prone to gastrointestinal issues, than are their younger herd mates. Once they’ve had a colic episode, we must stay watchful, lest this be a sign of future trouble.
We never know how colic will play out until it has run its course. We can’t know for certain whether it will be mild or serious, a cause of walking and watching, or a day needing emergency veterinary intervention.
If I can leave you with anything remotely useful, it would be to not leave it too late to call the vet. Have the horse’s symptoms on hand, its heart rate recorded and do make note of any recent changes in diet, medication, deworming, herd-mates, location, water source, exercise or routine, so that you can answer your vet’s questions in a calm and informed manner.
This, too, is part of our horsemanship. Ultimately, both Mike and I were prepared to end her suffering, if it came to that.
Today, we’re feeling very fortunate that Berry is still here with us—being exactly who she is and doing everything she does—bringing her good, strong, capable mare vibe to our family’s beloved herd of horses.
