[Note: This blog post was originally published on March 13, 2012.] Don’t you love winters that are relatively snow-free? That was the case here in New England this year. Riding and training continued, indoors and out. Horses wore fewer blankets and made less use of the studs or hard-surfacing on their winter shoes.

Horse owners put a lot of the time saved from shoveling and thawing to good use in the saddle. Plenty of horses are completing the winter in better condition than they normally would. That’s because they’ve been able to move around in pastures that might be closed off to them in snowier winters. in addition, many of them have been ridden more than usual.

But with every ray of sunshine comes a potentially dark cloud: sand colic.

Risk factors for sand colic

Many parts of the United States have sandy soil. And many of our horses are turned out in sand arenas, especially during the winter months. Because of these risk factors, veterinary medical experts at Michigan State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine were the first this year to ask horse owners to be aware of the dangers of sand colic.

According to extension veterinarians, the lack of snow cover this year has resulted in horses nibbling at forage and, as they do, taking in sand. This behavior has resulted in more sand colic cases than are typical this time of year. Normally horses don’t take in sand during the winter if they are in snow-covered areas. This means that their bodies go through a cycle of sand and no sand, giving the horse a chance to get rid of the sand instead of constantly adding to it.

But this winter might have been different, and horse owners should be aware that colic is a risk.

Early signs

Early signs of excess sand in the equine gut reportedly include sluggishness, diarrhea, weight loss and a stretched-out stance. It is believed that excess sand irritates the gut lining, producing these symptoms.

In acute cases, impaction colic may result. Affected horses will present with the standard signs of colic, including frequent rolling, kicking or biting at flanks, pawing and/or sweating.

Prevention

Prevention of sand colic involves keeping horses off of sandy soil where forage is limited, if possible. Feed horses in buckets, not by throwing grain on the ground or on the floor of a stall. Feed hay in mangers or from hay bags. Also put mats underneath feeders and buckets so that horses nibbling fallen bits won’t ingest sand.

Something many horse owners forget is that horses need their feet cleaned out when they come in. Get the sand out of your horses’ hooves so it doesn’t come out on the stall floor and possibly mix with kernels of dropped grain.

Make sure that horses have plenty of clean water whether they’re turned out or in the barn–and that they’re drinking it.

If you have a lot of mud in your paddock in the gate area or along the fenceline, use something other than sand to try to deal with it. Avoid using sand for traction on icy spots in the paddock as well. Break up the ice or fence it off if you can.

Some psyllium feed supplement products have been used with mixed results, but should be used according to manufacturer’s instructions and fed once a month for a week, and not continuously.

According to MSU Equine Extension veterinarian Judy Marteniuk, “it can take weeks or months for sand to be moved out of the digestive tract, depending upon the amount present.”

References

Some information used in this article was published on the MSU Extension News webpage. For more information from MSU Extension, visit this link.