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  Discussion on Mountain Horse with gut problems
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New Member:
rockytaz

Posted on Friday, Feb 6, 2015 - 7:03 pm:

Hello everyone

I'm completely new on this board, however I've read a lot of interesting posts on here about different equine diseases, so I thought that this might be the perfect place to ask about the problems I have with my wonderful 3-year old Rocky Mountain Stallion.

Unfortunately I live in a country where most vets are pretty unknowing about most topics, so I feel my only source for help is to search beyond my own boarders.

I got my horse in summer 2013 as a 2 year old. Back then his DrOppings were good, however he disliked to be touched near his groin, like a typical ulcer horse. I fed him Egusin and it seemed to help, however his immune system was very low and he was very prone to get parasites. He had large roundworms. I tried to give him Fenbendazole and unfortunately he severely constipated on that wormer. Ever since I've been very cautious about giving him any chemical dewormers. I've tried all different kinds of natural wormers, but none of them has seemed to work, only my homemade one, and yet there still seem to be a lot of them.

About a year ago I had him stabled in a hilly terrain. He thrived mentally, but strangely he started to get lame on his left front leg. His back got stiff as well, and he really did not like climbing the hills even though he is a "Mountain Horse". I had him x-rayed, but there was nothing to find, as soon as I had him back at my place again on flat ground he was sound.

I then read on this site that stomach problems can start out with shoulder problems, which made perfect sense in his case.

About 7-9 months ago he started getting very gassy from what I suspected was eating too much sand, despite he has freechoice hay. I had him and two other horses graze in the pasture in fall last year, the two other horses were well, however mine had very loose stool and was gassed more than ever. I gave him active charcoal to dampen the symptoms, it worked, but not entirely. Since then, it's like his whole system has been thrown off balance. His stool is not that loose anymore. The consistency is not hanging together very well, but it is definitely better after the charcoal. He will have episodes which comes and goes. Sometimes he has loud gutsounds, very bad stomachaches and is constantly bloaded. Anyhow he is still a very happy horse, loves to learn, play and when you look at him he shines and looks healthy, which is great!

For quite some time he has supported most of his weight on his haunches at his heels. It pretty much looks like a "mountain goat stance". That has resulted in him looking more kind of roached backed, which I believe he does because he has intestinal "cramps".

Ever since he came to me, he has also been a heavy drinker and can drink for an eternity. I've given him Egusin more times than once, but still did not have any satisfying effect. I highly suspect it's the parasites which are causing all the problems. However my last hope is feeding him bentonite clay for 120 days, who a very skilled practitioner recommended me to do.

He is extremely sensitive to chemical medicine, so I try my best with natural remedies to get him back on track.

Now he is in a paddock paradise, and is fed with black oats, chopped dried grass, soaked flax, an organic vit/min supplement and probiotics.

Has anyone on here experienced anything similiar with their horses?
New Member:
rockytaz

Posted on Friday, Feb 6, 2015 - 7:35 pm:

*
Member:
moxshi

Posted on Friday, Feb 6, 2015 - 9:48 pm:

Taz,

The stance of your horse sounds very peculiar. Can you post some photos? Do you think he gets lots of sand while eating his hay?

They have recently found the Psyllium PLUS Epsom Salts (Magnesium) is best in helping horses with sand colic. It sounds like your horse is very uncomfortable: Lameness, odd stance, discomfort in the groin, diarrhea, gas . . .

Do you have any veterinarians near you? In order for him to have moved up and down the hills, he would have had to push off his hinds more to go up hill and put more weight on his front end when coming down hill. On the flat, he doesn't have to do as much pushing/pulling.

Can you palpate his legs all around from top to bottom without him showing any discomfort? Has he ever been trained to let you handle him all over?

Trying to get a better picture in my mind.
New Member:
rockytaz

Posted on Saturday, Feb 7, 2015 - 6:04 am:

I will try to shoot a video of him later today.

No, he does not get sand while eating hay. He just prefers to graze, despite the sparse grass that is available in his field. He has 4 feeding stations in the paddock which are very small masked haynets, so he gets to eat a little bit everytime.

He is uncomfortable sometimes, but it really comes and goes. He is a very sweet horse who are one of those typical "it hurts, however I'm happy, and wont tell" kind of horse.

I can touch him all over without any reaction. The only place where he shows discomfort, is around his navel - and groin area, he will bite and whip his tail if I touch him there, but that has been going on for almost two years. In the beginning it was the roundworms and ulcers (and I still suspect parasites), which created the pain. I have had vets to look at him, but they are not very helpful where I live.

His topline though is super stiff and barely moves at all in trot. He would never lower his head, as most horses do in that gait, because of tension.
He doesn't have a "roach-back", however he is a very short and compacked horse which allowed him to "curl" himself in when in pain, and by that it looks like his sacral junction has somehow been pushed up with his kidneys and intestines. His appetite however has never been affected.
I've also suspected his kidneys, but it is very hard to find a person who can help me on him, since he is a very Unique horse who is someone you'll only meet once in your life. The vets who has met him rubs their head, as he is very special.

The best thing for sand in his case has been flax. That has helped a lot.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Saturday, Feb 7, 2015 - 8:17 am:

Welcome Taz,
Though there is nothing in your post that is diagnostic for a problem I agree that parasites might well be a problem. The constipation you describe might have been a large mass of round worms being killed. You need to have fecal float tests done by a veterinarian to assess your deworming program. This is critical for your horses best health. For more seeHorseAdvice.com » Horse Care » Worms, Deworming, Parasite Control » Overview of Deworming. It has a list of dewormers that are very safe.

Taz you should also note that many if not most young horses are normally sensitive about having their groin area touched and should be trained out of this. It is not a symptom of gi ulcers.
DrO
New Member:
rockytaz

Posted on Sunday, Feb 8, 2015 - 11:46 am:

Hi Dr. Oglesby,

Thank you for bitting me welcome.

It could be possible that the constipation was due to a large death of the worms, but I never saw him pass them out later on.

I also suspect it could have been a huge chemical release from the worms as they got irritated from the drug - anyhow I'm still very cautious about giving dewormers to him again.

By law here in Denmark you should always have fecal tests done before giving any dewomers. A vet is not allowed to prescribe if the eggcount is below 250. So that is always done before a plan is made.

I also routinely remove DrOppings from the paddock.

When he came to me, he would just drink huge amounts of water and only eat Birch leaves and Yarrow. A big indicator of kidney related issues.

Before he was imported he had a lot of vaccines done, which caused his entire system to be overloaded with Mercury and thereby his kidney - and liver got overtaxed. Months after both him and I had medicated him, he seemed more sound.

Today I filmed him, and he did much better. I have not done anything, but he was not in that much pain and his DrOppings looked good. However his movement was still very limited and it seemed like he was a bit lame again in his left front leg, which otherwise was in improvement.

I can describe his loin to be more "puffy" than Roach backed, what might looks like Scoliosis. However I know for sure his problems are gut-related and a chiro would not help, as it is not a holistic treatment.

The groin point I'm mentioning is also an accupressure point which is related to parasites in kinesiological tests. So that many young horses react on that spot is not a surprise, as many are affected by roundworms.

Here is the video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6wjQy4839U&feature=youtu.be
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Thursday, Feb 12, 2015 - 10:05 am:

And when and what were your last fecal test results? I do not know any vaccines with toxic levels of mercury what brand vaccines were these?
DrO
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