Equine Sand Colic

Equine Sand Colic Can Be Prevented

Equine sand colic occurs in parts of the world which has hot dry periods, followed by warm wet conditions when new grass germinates. Obviously this occurs on sandy soils.

The horse has been grazing on dry pasture and is anxious to get some fresh, green grass. So, they eat the freshly germinated grass. This hasn’t had enough time to establish strong roots, so the whole plants, roots and all, come up.

Attached to the roots is the sandy soil they are anchored in. Most of this is spat out by the horse, but only a little needs to be ingested at a time. Over a long period, it will accumulate. And so equine sand colic results.

The normal way to deal with this is to pour an edible oil into the stomach. Often this is medicinal paraffin. But medicinal paraffin depletes the body of fat soluble vitamins such as vitamin A and E.

This further compounds the desire for the green food, which is a horse’s source of beta carotene, their vitamin A. It’s much better (and far cheaper) to prevent it occurring. The best way to do this is to graze horses on established, perennial pastures, so there is a good firm root system already established. But even this can allow for some sand ingestion.

Psyllium husk, about a desert spoonful a day, is a wonderful way to prevent this. The psyllium rolls around the digestive system, collecting the sand. You will notice a nice little deposit of sand on top of a stool pile. Psyllium husk is totally natural and non toxic.

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