New Web Site Will Be Information Center for Equine Colic

The University of Liverpool in England has created an information-packed web site for horse owners concerned about immediate danger, risk factors,and recovery of their horses in the face of the complex equine condition we call simply "colic".

The University is opening its Centre for Colic Prevention and has partnered with The Glass Horse at the University of Georgia to present dynamic multimedia graphics showing how colic disrupts the digestive tract of the horse.

Click on this link to go directly to the new colic web site.

Warning: Lawn Clippings Are Not Good for Horses!

golden light, originally uploaded by Dan65

It seems a little bit early in the season, but there’s no mistaking that sound: the mowers have started. Is there a more sure sign of spring?

I was surprised at how quickly the grass filled in and sprang up here in the Boston (Massachusetts) area. The temperature soared last week, and the grass responded, in spades.

If the sound of mowers is the first sound of spring, the second should be the sound of horse owners explaining to landscapers, lawn crews and neighbors that, while the thought is kind, it is NOT okay to dump mulch mower bags or raked-up grass clippings into horse paddocks or feeders.

Some people will think they are doing some clever recycling and being kind of animals, but the opposite is true.

Wet green lawn clippings are often left in mower bags or in piles, where they start to ferment quickly. A hungry horse will nibble at the clippings, and the fermentation (and the gastric gases it creates) in the gut can be deadly. We won’t even talk about the chemicals from herbicides and fertilizers!

Horses can also choke on clumps of grass clippings.

Laminitis might be a risk too, particularly for horses with other risk factors like insulin resistance, and for ponies.

If your turnout borders an area served by a landscape crew, talk to the crew foreman. If you are off at work and leave your horses turned out, consider posting a sign on your fence.

When you arrive home in the evening, check your pastures and paddocks and arenas, especially along any sections facing neighbors or the road to make sure nothing has been dumped.

Consider writing a letter to the editor of your paper, and post this article in your feed store and any stores that sell lawn mowers or at nurseries and farmstands that sell plants.

Chances are, your neighbors and community members are completely unaware of the dangers of grass clippings to horses, ponies, donkeys and mules.

Just a few years ago, I was informed at a party during a chance conversation that a neighbor took great pride in dumping the chemical-filled, fermented piles from his mulching mower into the paddock of a boarding barn where my horse lived. I was speechless, and it flashed through my brain that there had been a few deaths from colic at the farm. Who knows if they could be related or not, but the thought came to mind, nonetheless. You can bet the neighbor doesn’t do that anymore.

Veterinary Meeting Announcement: International Colic Research Symposium Planned for June in Liverpool, England

The Ninth International Colic Research Symposium, “The Olympics of colic research,” will be hosted by the British Equine Veterinary Association (BEVA) from 15th – 18th June 2008 at the new Liverpool Arena and Conference Centre in Liverpool, England.

The format of the meeting will be a mixture of 15 minute oral presentations and two poster sessions. This is a research-focussed meeting and is likely to include sessions on all aspects of equine gastroenterology including epidemiology, parasitology, intestinal motility, endotoxaemia, clinical practice and post-operative survival. A full program will be available at the end of February.

The meeting will coincide with publication of a Colic Special Issue of Equine Veterinary Journal. containing full papers of some of the studies presented at the meeting.

The waterfront venue for the Symposium, the Liverpool Arena and Conference Centre, has excellent conference facilities, good access to local hotels and is easily accessible by road, rail and from Liverpool and Manchester International Airports.

The International Colic Research Symposium is noted for providing both a high-quality scientific programme and a convivial ambience. Both will be recreated in Liverpool in 2008 at this unique meeting.

AAEP Publishes White Paper on Colic Research

The American Association of Equine Practitioners' Equine Research Coordination Group has published a white paper report on the status of equine colic research and education in the United States.

I have converted the paper to a downloadable pdf file for you to read in its entirety, as it is too long to post here. If you click on the link below, you should be able to have your own copy of the file.

Thanks to the AAEP for sharing this with us.
equinecolicresearch.pdf