question for horseman on site

[bridger]

I have owned horses for about forty years and have had something happen to me that has never happened before and am wondering if anyone on the site has had similair problems. three of my horses have died suddenly in the last 5 weeks in the corral at home. had two of them autopsied and vet found that they had died because fatty tissues attached to the large intestine actually wrapped around the gut and killed them. the vet said that this is a common occurence in older horses that gain a lot of weight in the summer and then get used a lot in hunting season. would appreciate any feed back anyone has. thanks in advance

[budismyhorse]

Good lord.....this is a terrible story. My condolences....losing 3 of your buddies like that is extremely unfortunate Bridger.

Fortunately, I have ONLY one experience with the death of a horse during a hunt.....

Older horse that we borrowed. 20+ for sure. Sat in the field all summer, no use. Because of this, we didn't use him much during our hunt and he was led almost entirely. Every second day he sat in camp all day. On day 7, I rode him for ~ 30 mins on flat land then led him for an hour. One small hill and poof, down he went. Not a bead of sweat on him.

Heart attack? no idea. The autopsy was performed by bears so we'll never know.

I do know an outfitter that will not use a horse for hunting past the age of 18. Now why he makes that call I don't know. But I think horses past that age need an incredible amount of use/training runs prior to hunting season.....something this outfitter may not have time to do prior to the season. Easier to just use younger horses.

We make sure our older horses get incrementally more and more use prior to the season to get them in shape so we never have to deal with it.

I'm very interested to hear what others have to offer with regards to this unfortunate situation you find yourself in.

Age of the horses? The definition of "older" varies between riders.

[Elkhound]

I'm very interested to hear what others have to offer with regards to this unfortunate situation you find yourself in.

.

I do not own horses but I too am very curious to hear what others have to say

[Jetboat]

Sorry to hear you lost those horses, Rich. Give Garth a call and see if him or one of his amigos ever heard of that happening. Was it Dr. "W" that did the autopsy? We like to use Mike (Dawson Cr) for our horses and Dr. "W" when it comes to our cattle.

[huntergirl270]

I'm very sorry to hear of the loss of your horses.
I talked to my vet friend and she called it Strangulating lipoma which falls under the category of colic. Its fatty benign tumors which grow on the bowels of the horse as they age. It is also more prevalent in the Arabian and Quarterhorse breeds. She said its not necessarily determined by the horses weight but can be caused by an older horse getting overfed or overweight in a short period of time. To have three horses die of this all at once is a bit of a strange coincidence from the sounds of it.
May I suggest keeping an eye on your remaining horses for signs of "colic"? There is usually some indication that the horse is in severe pain from this type of colic.
Sherry

[willy442]

We never worked horse's past the age of about 16. We did take some old timers out to just tag along as dad alway's believed they enjoyed being along. If we did use them it was to carry empty saddles or maybe a bedroll or two. Never did have any issue's other than one that was said to be about 21years old died, we always thought it was just old age though that got him.

[6616]

Gol-darn Rich, really sorry to hear about your loss, 3 in such a short period is a major blow, especially since they were safe and sound and at rest in the home corral.

[6616]

Older horse that we borrowed.

Ouch,,,, I bet that was a tough story to bring back to the owner...!

[budismyhorse]

Andy! Don't get me started with the rest of that story.....

I'd rather walk barefoot in the snow than borrow another horse.

[budismyhorse]

HunterGirl....did the vet say if this was a feed problem?

[Ruger4]

Colic signs to a certain extent for sure , any change in feed ? feeding patterns , water intake or not , grain/oats/beet pulp ration change / add ? winter fattening to fast, sand colic / dirt ingestion. Sad all around for you, Spring and fall colics are quite common but back to back to back so quickly. Please keep us posted as to the any further diagnosis , & from our farm to yours , extremely sorry for your loss. :neutral:

[goatdancer]

Really sorry to hear this awful news Rich. Hope you can get some good info on what to look for and avoid in the future. Sometimes bad things just happen. Losing animals can be hard to take.

[GoatGuy]

Rich, that's the shits. Sorry to hear that.

I'll ask Grant what he knows about next time I run into him.

[waistdeep]

colic is the probaly the issue from what i know of ponies, have you changed your feed lately? Have the horses been working more than usual or a major change in thier routine? All questions I would be looking to answer. I know from my experience that colic has different ways of displaying itself and gosh losing your buds is a serious bummer.

[J_T]

Andy! Don't get me started with the rest of that story.....

I'd rather walk barefoot in the snow than borrow another horse. The only thing worse would be if it was Berranick's horse.

[horshur]

never heard or seen such a deal with that many horses at the same place in a short period of time.

[bighornbob]

I dont really know anything about horses but I was once talking (more listening then talking) to two horse guys and they were talking about a third guy that had a bunch of horses die on him in a short time. They said it was from moldy or bad hay. The guy had somehting like 6 horses die in a short time and one of the guys could not beleive he did not check his after the first two died.

BHB

[compton]

I had to put one of our mares down a few years because she had colic, due to too much rich green grass, in the past it had never been a problem but this one particular year we sold our cows therefore there was more grass in the fields than normal. But like it was said before it can be caused by so many things food, water, exercise or lack of, etc. Sorry about your loss they become part of the family, so its always hard.

[bridger]

thanks guys for the kind words and advice. our feed wasn't the problem as we were feeding hay from three different sources and is was dry with no mold. my hunting partners are using the same feed with no problems. huntergirl270 i think your friend was right as that is the same opionon our vet has. it apparently can happen to any horse but older horses are more susceptible. we have had this bunch of horses together for about 15 years and they are all in their early 20's. wanda and I have decided to retire our last three old guys and start putting together a new string. thanks again guys and gals bridger

[daycort]

Bridger, that is ruff. Are you forking hay to them or are they eating at will? I started forking my hay 3 years ago and I use way less hay and my horses are in better shape. I have never woried about colic in grown horses, but more of founder when they have there head stuck in a alfalfa bale all day. I guess spring shoping you will go. I will keep my ear to the ground. Is one of your old fellas suitable for kids??

[BCrams]

I'm sorry to hear about your horses Rich.

[huntergirl270]

Just because the indication was "colic" it does not necessarily pertain to feed. Colic is used to cover a wide variety of intestinal and digestion problems in horses. This particular diagnosis is really about age and weight and sometimes just how prone your horse breed is to such a thing. Its not necessarily something that could have been prevented. If there were early signs of the horses being in distress or pain then only surgery could have prevented them from dying.

[Big Lew]

I'm very sorry to hear of the loss of your horses.
I talked to my vet friend and she called it Strangulating lipoma which falls under the category of colic. Its fatty benign tumors which grow on the bowels of the horse as they age. It is also more prevalent in the Arabian and Quarterhorse breeds. She said its not necessarily determined by the horses weight but can be caused by an older horse getting overfed or overweight in a short period of time. To have three horses die of this all at once is a bit of a strange coincidence from the sounds of it.
May I suggest keeping an eye on your remaining horses for signs of "colic"? There is usually some indication that the horse is in severe pain from this type of colic.
Sherry
x2! A very good rancher friend was paranoid about colic, and would hit the roof if anyone allowed his horses to over-eat, especially high energy foods, if they were not working. I used to have endurance/mountian horses that were on severe training/workouts for half of each year, and the vets would council me on how to feed them during the year to avoid colic and related problems.

[bridger]

huntergirl270's reply pretty well sums up what happened to my horses strangulating lipoma was the cause of death for my horses and is something that occurs in older horses. these fatty tumours grow over a period of years and when they get to big they pull away from the intestine and hang down like a ball on a rubber band and as the horse walks, runs, or rolls bounce and ocassionally wrap around the intestine. the result is death in a day or so. by the time the horse shows any sign of discomfort it is too late. surgery is a minimum of $5000 and sucess less than 25%. in our area the horse has to be transported to edmonton which is 400 miles from fsjohn and impractical. common colic is just gas bloat for the most part and can easily be cured by giving the horse mineral oil or by walking them constantly for a few hours. strangulating lipoma is something else. unfortunately after three autopies and a $4000 vet bill i am somewhat of an armchair expert. the only apparent way to prevent it is to keep older horses from getting overweight and use them on a regualr basis. horses that tend to be easy keepers are more susceptibe according to our vet.

[huntergirl270]

Bridger, if you weren't so far away I could suggest a few horses that are needing homes down in this neck of the woods. Lots of people are offloading their horses with winter coming and the rescues are filling up fast.

[yukon john]

sorry to hear about that bridger, I lost a horse under the same circumstances this season never heard of it happening to three at once though seems a little strange. Did you just get one autopsied or all of them?

[triggr31]

wow that is terrible .Ive been around horses my whole chilhood and teen years we owned many horses and i remember one incident of a friends horse that this was the case. Must run them all year round!