This is an archived Horseadvice.com Discussion. The parent article and menus are available on the navigation menu below:
HorseAdvice.com » Diseases of Horses » Colic, Diarrhea, GI Tract » Diarrhea in Horses » Diarrhea an Overview »
  Discussion on Loose stools when pony gets nervous
Author Message
New Member:
dlsenDrO

Posted on Sunday, Feb 21, 2010 - 8:38 am:

Sorry if you have covered this before, but I couldn't find it in my searching. I have a large pony that my daughter shows frequently. His nature is to be a little nervous and we work with him all the time to gain his trust and expose him to the scary things in life so he will relax. He is otherwise, very healthy and doesn't have trouble keeping weight on. We determined early on that most hays make him cough so he has been on dengi hay with no molasses for a few years and doing well. He also gets a daily supplement of Magnesium and the cough is almost non existant. Other than that, he is a pretty easy keeper.
When he is being ridden and gets nervous, he does pass manure alot. We are used to it and as long as it isn't runny, we figure that it's just a part of him. We do have a problem, though, when trailering and at the horse shows with really loose stools and sometimes they get really watery. It always clears up once we get home. I wanted to know if you can recommend anything to help clear that up or if you think he has an ulcer of some sort. My trainer wanted to put him on ulcerguard, but I don't want to do that if he doesn't have an ulcer. Most of the time, he shows no signs of an ulcer. I was hoping that there was something else that is milder to help relax his stomach, or whatever is causing the diarrhea. We go away once a year to a week long horse show, and last year he lost a lot of weight because the diarrhea situation was at it's worst. That's when I really started to worry. Other than the water, his feed didn't change because we brought everything from home. As soon as we returned home, he was back to normal and put all the weight back on. I know that horse shows are stressful, but if you have any remedies that can ease the stress, I would love to help him out. Do you think I should test him for ulcers?
Thanks for your help!
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Sunday, Feb 21, 2010 - 9:42 am:

Hello Dana,
Nervous diarrhea when traveling to a show is a pretty common event and I do not have any easy fixes. One problem we run into is that some of the possible treatments for nervous behavior and some drugs which act directly to slow down the diarrhea would be prohibited under show rules. Will you be showing under such rules that prohibit drugs which act on the central nervous system.

Concerning the Ulcerguard I think the chance it would help is low but would be worth a empirical try starting the day before and continuing through your next show without being scoped. If you get a response I would scope to assess the severity of the problem.

The weight loss is worrisome. Was this actual loss of muscle mass or the more likely explanation a dehydration event? Management for prevention would be different. If uncertain well conducted PCV / albumin levels in the blood before and after the show will answer the question.
DrO
New Member:
dlsenDrO

Posted on Sunday, Feb 21, 2010 - 10:56 am:

Dr O,

Thanks for getting back so quickly.
Unfortunately, as you know, the USEF shows are governed by strict drug rules. I have sporadically used a few anti-nervous remedies that don't test, but I haven't payed attention to whether the loose stools went away or not with their use. I was more focused on how they calmed or more often didn't calm him, in the ring. Should I try them again and pay closer attention to how they effect his diarrhea? Are there any that you recommend that won't test?

When we were away, I'm sure the weight loss was due to dehydration, probably because of his excessive diarrhea and not drinking as well because of nerves. He appeared a little colicky the second day we were there, so we took him off of the little amount of grain he was getting and gave him some Banamine and that helped him to relax. He got progressively better as the week went on. But by the end of the week he was definately tucked up in the flank area. It was the end of our showing season and he was pretty fit already and not carrying a lot of extra weight, so the loss, although not a hugh amount, was noticable. I just felt so bad for him and would have done anything to make him more comfortable. When we show at home, it never gets to the point of dehydration because he's back in his environment by the evening.

I will try the Ulcerguard as long as you don't think it will adversely effect him. If it works, should I be looking for it to help him to be more relaxed, or reduce the loose stool situation, or both?

Thanks again for your help!
Member:
mrose

Posted on Sunday, Feb 21, 2010 - 11:30 am:

Dana, we had good results with "At Ease" put out by Select. It was the only thing I tried that helped keep our one stallion quieter while showing during breeding season. I don't know how it would affect the diarrhea as I haven't had that problem when at shows. You can look it up on line and make sure there is nothing in there that is on the USEF drug list. This was several years ago and the list changes from time to time.
Member:
rtrotter

Posted on Sunday, Feb 21, 2010 - 11:59 am:

Dana,

You might have solved your problem. If banamine is allowed up to a certain time before you show and it is allowed by your association. Why not, treat with banamine for the relaxation effect. It's the timing you will have to look at and most likely you will have to treat with IV injections so it clears your horses system in enough time to only allow allowable levels at the time of testing.

I have not used banamine in years to race on, but I know there is a tranquilizing effect to it that may help the nervousness and the diarheah.

Also, I know its a pain, but if unfamiliar water is an issue with this horse, you might have to bring your own. There is also a product called equi-tea (electrolyte blend) that you are supposed to put in your horses water all the time, so that when you go someplace strange the water doesn't taste any different.

I use Triple Crown molasses in the water after I race, or my horse will not drink anything. She's fine at home, so no molasses there, but it does make a difference at the racetrack.

Rachelle
Member:
mrose

Posted on Sunday, Feb 21, 2010 - 12:09 pm:

Mixing stuff in the water is a good idea if you haven't tried it. A lot of people do it for traveling. My horses prefer 7-UP and lime Gatoraid, but you can try all kinds of things.
Member:
dlsenDrO

Posted on Sunday, Feb 21, 2010 - 5:12 pm:

Thanks Sarah and Rachelle, for your suggestions. I never thought about the Banamine to relax him, but now that I think about it, he was much calmer in the ring the next day. But won't that really mess up his stomach if I give it every weekend?

I will try the "At Ease" - I'm willing to try anything.

The pony is not a great drinker unless he's at home, so I will definately try the Gatorade and the molasses because if he will at least drink when we travel, maybe the diarrhea won't have such an adverse effect.
Member:
rtrotter

Posted on Sunday, Feb 21, 2010 - 6:05 pm:

Dana,

SInce vet's use banamine for colic cases, I don't think it has the same effect that bute does on a horses stomach. Dr. O can chime in here as far as if you can treat him on a weekly basis. I know racehorses get treated weekly IV 24-36 hours before they race, so it could possibly be ok to do for showing your pony. I am not sure how it would affect the diarreah. Maybe an experiment is in order to see if it works. Give him a shot of banamine, load him on the trailer and take him someplace strange and see what happens.Maybe take him to a schooling show and see how his demeanor is and see if he gets the runs.

My 2 cents, try the Molasses first at home for a few days and give him two buckets. One with the molasses and one without. Use a small amount at first and build it up over time. You want him to like it, but not overly like it to the point that the only thing he is drinking is the molasses flavored water. He needs regular water too.

At the shows, while it would be better to have him drink regular water, in his case any water would probably be better than none at all.
Rachelle
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Monday, Feb 22, 2010 - 5:27 pm:

I am not aware of any tranquilizing or anti-diarrhea effect of flunixin (Banamine). Neither have I had luck with oral OTC calming agents. Concerning the dehydration the only easy cure for this is to find a way to get more water in him at the shows, at least 8 gallons a day on average. For some helpful hints on getting horses to drink a bit more see, Horse Care » Equine Nutrition, Horse Feeds, Feeding » Water, Water Quality, and Watering Horses.

One thing you might try is a combination of beet pulp that is soaked in several gallons of water. Some horse's diarrhea improve on beet pulp and most horses like the flavor. Get him use to it slowly and gradually increase the amount to see if this helps. For more on feeding beet pulp see Horse Care » Equine Nutrition, Horse Feeds, Feeding » Beet Pulp
DrO
Member:
dlsenDrO

Posted on Tuesday, Feb 23, 2010 - 8:13 am:

Dr O,
If the diarrhea is a result of the nerves, do you think the beet pulp will still work? I read the section on feeding beet pulp, but can I feed it to him when needed, like a few weeks before we go away and during the time we are away? Or, once he gets used to it, does that replace his regular feed all the time? 99% of the time, dehydration isn't a problem, except the time we went away for an extended period.
Dana
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Tuesday, Feb 23, 2010 - 7:15 pm:

No, I would not look on the beet pulp as a "treatment" to be used episodically. A horse's digestive system evolves slowly to accommodate feeding regimens so these are recommended to be attempted as regular feeding regimens.

As to whether it will work in the case of a nervous diarrhea...I don't know...but given the constraints of drug testing I do not have any better ideas.
DrO
Member:
rtrotter

Posted on Tuesday, Feb 23, 2010 - 7:58 pm:

Dana,

My race mare is a nervous high strung horse. I do everything I can to keep her relaxed. For her to be at her best at racetime. I do several things. 1) Most race horses warm up at the track, she doesn't. She warms up at home ( tows 4 miles and does nothing when she goes into the paddock to race.

She also goes everywhere from the time she loads onto the truck until the time she finishes racing with a hood and earplugs. I also feed her a few hours before she races, just so her stomach is not empty. When I was racing her last summer, I switched to Triple Crown safe starch forage and no hay and she seemed much better with not having loose stools. In fact, before I put her on the TCSSF by the time I would get her to the track, she's go several times. After I switched she could ride to the track and not take a dump and the consistency when she did was normal.

Just my thoughts
Rachelle
Home Page | Top of Page | Join Us!
Horseadvice.com is a BBB Accredited Business. Click for the BBB Business Review of this Horse Training in Stokesdale NC