looking for ideas for heats that look like colic

[barnbum]

Mazie--age 4. She's had more trouble with heat cycles than any of my other mares. Her urine runs between her back legs and I need to keep watch to keep her clean. No biggie. I walked/worked her last night and she was fine. This morning she was covered in shavings and off. She's eaten all her hay, drank a good amount of water, and had many deposits in her stall. That picture said I had nothing to worry about, but she was off. So we walked and trotted. She peed a healthy stream when we got back. I put her back in the pasture and watched. She ate a bit of hay, then I saw her laying flat. I ran inside for the Banamine, and when I came out she was in an open stall pooping. It looked great--moist and perfect. We walked some more. Gum color good, resp rate fine.

I watched her some more. She relaxed for a while--standing in the sun. Then munched more hay. She gobbled carrots. She's normal now. I checked between her back legs and she needed washing off--which she appreciated. ;-)

So--I found this in an article: A situation that sometimes occurs when a mare is in heat is painful ovulation. During the second half of the heat period, a mare may have pain around a large follicle, perhaps from spasm or stretching of the tiny muscle fibers. Pain may last until ovulation takes place, and the mare will act colicky until the pain passes. A painkilling drug may be helpful to get her through the episode. Some mares experience back pain (and react adversely when being saddled and ridden) or even lameness, due to painful ovaries

The article was mostly about ill-behaved mares, but Mazie is always well behaved. I think this pain is what's going on, rather than colic. We've had massive temp changes in the weather this week--so I've been giving all horses a probotic treat to assist them through it--and my ones who tend to colic are fine. Mazie didn't like the treats as well--so I assumed it was colic--but now I think it's heat related.

So--besides keeping track of when she's in and out--for example she may have trouble again 3 weeks form today so I can keep Banamine on hand... is there anything else I can do?

Has anyone had this issue?

Thanks!

 

[chandab]

Have a vet check her and make sure everything is physiologically normal with her reproductive tract, just in case she might have an abnormality making her painful during her heat. There might be some sort of hormone or supplement that would help. I really don't know, just offering ideas.

 

[Carolyn R]

You're doing a great job. A few things to keep in mind, it was a reminder for me after my recent colic episode with my 1.5 yo full size gelding. We all know that our horses don't always drink enough this time of year. I know you said she is drinking and passing manure, my guy was passing manure too, but it was manure that was in the intestine beyond his impaction. There are many many feet of intestine, this is not uncommon. Even after he was treated and things started moving again, the Cecil impaction took awhile to break down because it essentially was pushed to the side of the cecum and allowed feces to eek by.

With that said, it this could very well be a heat issue, but I would be very inclined to remove any grain/ feed and give some soaked alfalfa or alfalfa cubes.....why, because achy horses develope secondry issues from the stress and pain, concentrates complicate things, alfalfa is a natural stomach soother, it offers extra hydration and promotes regular manure deposites. In other words, it's benefits won't hurt and can be helpful. If it is a regular monthy occurrence, I would be inclined to get a vet involved (a good horse vet that takes minis as seriously as the big guys). It may be as simple as an exam and giving a shot (s) to help with the hormone fluctuations.

 

[Reignmaker Miniatures]

I can't offer you much in the way of treatment options but I can share a story with you so you know you are not alone. I have a mare here that is my best driving horse. I often take her to shows, and she , like many mares , seemed to choose show day to come into heat. That is of course quit inconvenient but on top of that when I brought her home she wanted to have a colic episode. I was considering it stress related and dealing with the symptoms as per the vets instructions. After a half a day or a day she would be fine again. So I was thinking she was not a good candidate for the ring and entered only random shows that were scheduled between when I expected her heats. That was when I realized that she had the same reaction each and every time she was in heat regardless of where she was or how much stress she was under. Since she also had hidden heats where she didn't show signs unless exposed to a stallion it took me a while to realize the connection. When I did I spoke to a new vet who agreed to palpate her (the previous one was afraid she would hurt a mini doing so) and what she found was a folicle the size she'd expect in a saddle horse mare. The colic symptoms, as described in you excerpt above, were caused by pain not actual colic. She prescribed pain meds each month that she needed only one dose of to ease her thro and we expected that would be it. Then I stopped breeding, gelded or sold all the stallions and mixed my herd. Since I have been running the mares and geldings together she has not had one painful heat. It just stopped. It has been several years now and she has been shown (and come in heat there

) with no painful episode. I don't know if she just got past it (it did start unexpectedly when she was 8 after having her one and only foal) or if living with the boys keeps her hormone levels at better balance, perhaps living with a stallion would have solved the issue as well, I am uncertain but it is no longer an issue for her.

 

[Carolyn R]

Barnbum, is Mazie in the presence of an intact male?

Reignmaker , you bring up an excellent observation. I don't know that it is necessarily that your mare is with geldings, but rather the fact, that for some obscure reason, mares' bodies, whether it is a design by nature or the visual and hormonal drive of being in the presence of an intact stud, seem to throw them into a very hard, very active heat. Not only has my mini mare, who would show a strong heat in the presence of my boy when he was intact, our neighbor's mare, whom often has the run of the neighborhood would be found running our fence or breaking it down to get in with our then intact boy. Both our mini stud and BH are gelded, not one visual heat cycle nor one incident involving the neighbors mare has happened in months. The neighbor's fence is still open most of the time(accident waiting to happen) but their mare does not seem to have any interest in meandering up this way.

A friend 1/2 a mile away will be housing her sister's 26 year old stud from Alaska at her house this fall. I am curious to see if the vagrant mare shows up at her home.

 

[BSharpRanch]

I had a QH mare years ago that would have a few painful heats every year when the temps got cold. She would park oit as far as she could and push her belly towards the ground. The first time I seen her do this I just stood and watched in amazement and thought, Oh thats a neat trick! The next day she was fine. The following month, same thing. It wasn't too hard to figure out. I had painful times myself and she was doing the horse version of stretching I did against the wall.

 

[barnbum]

Wow--great and helpful replies! Thanks!!

I only have four girls here now--Mazie is the youngest. Tucker was gelded and sold in November. He's being trained to drive and show which is exactly what I wanted for him!

Mazie has been 100% today--I've checked her often. She hasn't needed cleaning off again. Chanda--I have plans to call a vet--but I wanted to have more details to share first. If this happens once every 3 weeks, I'll be sure. She's never shown this before so I also want to see if it happens again. I always keep a tube of Banamine on hand for gas colics.

Carolyn--I remember reading here years ago that a horse can still poop when colicking, that's why I kept watching her and why I looked closely at the poop that had come out. The pellets they get are a mix of alfalfa and Timothy--Standlee pellets. They all just get enough to mix in with their Triple Crown 30 tbsp. of vitamins. lol Mazie gets very little in the am because she just wants out. I didn't give her any this morning. I considered keeping her in her stall--away from the hay--but it would stress her out to be away from her pals, so I decided to let her munch on hay. She's not one to overeat--stops to wander--so I just hoped it was a good decision. And I wanted her to move about. Out temps have moved from 60s to 90s for two days, to 70s to 50s. I've kept a close eye on them--and esp their water intake. I check what they drink each night too. Water consumption has been at awesome levels. They all just got new Himalayan salt blocks added to their stalls--so they each have 2-3 now. That seems to help. They are tied to their stall walls so I think they are like toys for them.

Reignmaker--thanks for your story. I hope this was a one time deal--could I get that lucky?

BSharp--it did just get cold compared to the 90s it was Tues and Wed.. so wondering if that's a factor.

 

[FurstPlaceMiniatures]

Colic is a very broad term. All it means is bellyache. She could still be colicing, but its not an impaction colic. I'd check for ulcers.

We had a big app that would look off, but fine like you described occasionally, then he finally had a mild colic that just wouldn't go away. He had massive ulcers. He was fine in the end, but we felt sooooo horrible we didn't call earlier.

 

[Miniv]

Colic is indeed a broad term.......It's a symptom, not a cause. All it shows is the horse is in discomfort.

I'd keep a calendar and mark when your mare shows the colicky symptoms. It may answer your suspicions. If so, a half dose of banamine may be all she needs when she tells you.

If this was a one time episode, I would agree with an above post.....It may have been an over sized follicle passing. We have had that occur only once over the years that we know of. And the only reason we knew is because we had a vet checking her with an ultra-sound machine.

 

[barnbum]

I marked it on the calendar today miniv! I gave her a 300 lb dose--and it sure seemed to do the trick. It's about 3 weeks when I should be looking for it again?

 

[Miniv]

Yes, I'd watch her in about 3 weeks.

 

[Diva's Girl]

Instead of banamine I use razzbery leaves(dried and fresh). My mare diva goes into heat irregularly and almost always if she is around stallions or geldings. She has very painful heats and will act like she is having impactions or gas colic but she drinks a lot of water and goes regularly and often with her apples normally shaped. I started giving her razzbery leaves on recommendation from a trusted friend who has been working with horses her whole life and I saw a dramatic improvement. When she has her leaves she behaves normally(asside from being flirty). Before I knew about the leaves she used to seek them out and try to eat them on her own if she could reach a razzbery plant in her grazing area.

 

[barnbum]

Diva's Girl--I think that's what a friend said she gave her mares. Doesn't SmartPak have it? I'll check! Thanks! Mazie was 100% the next morning--whew. I'll be watching her.

Look!--I'm sure this is what drivingmebuggy uses... http://www.smartpakequine.com/mare-magic-4738p.aspx

Added later...

The ingredients are 100% raspberry leaves. We have a lot of raspberry plants--so tomorrow I'm going to pick and dry some leaves and sprinkle it on their hay and see what happens.

 

[Diva's Girl]

I find that they work really well for mares in heat and since I have a huge infastation of razzbery plants everywhere I just collect and dry my own. I have not checked to see if any brands carry dried leaves but they probably do like SmartPack.