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  Discussion on Sand Colic Prevention
Author Message
New Member:
Barbju

Posted on Monday, Nov 24, 2003 - 3:51 pm:

I was wondering if there is anything better than psyllium for sand clearing. How often should we sand clear the horses. We live in California and the soil is pretty sandy. We have had instances of colic not sure if it is due to sand or not.
New Member:
Horselov

Posted on Monday, Nov 24, 2003 - 4:29 pm:

HI
I have had the problem of sand colic also I feed the psylliam in grain mixed with a good amt of liquid molasses with no problem with any horse eating it. Do not feed the whole grain ration at the beginning. Mix and feed about 2 cups mixed with any sand colic med and molisses enough to coat everything. Don't make soup though. In the spring and the fall they tend to eat roots and the increase of sand colic is higher. They choose this over hay such as 1st cutting and so I add some second cutting to offset it as much as I can. Good luck
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Monday, Nov 24, 2003 - 7:17 pm:

We explain about how sand is cleared, efficacy of psyillium, and effective prevention mechanisms in the article on this subject that is associated with this forum. Go to the top of this page click on » Sand Colic » and then you can access the article.
DrO
New Member:
infiniti

Posted on Tuesday, Apr 1, 2008 - 3:48 pm:

My vet told me to put my horse on psyllium for sand accumulation. My horse won't eat any psyllium products...at all! I tried rice bran which he loves and used a ratio of 1 part psyllium (ground) to 30+ parts rice bran the way he likes it...soupy. Took two slurps, made gagging noises and then walked away. I did some research on ground flax seed. Would that work?
Member:
juliem

Posted on Tuesday, Apr 1, 2008 - 11:41 pm:

Pam, rice bran is usually palatable enough to feed dry. The psyllium turns "yucky" when it's wet. Start out by adding just a little and each day increase the amount of psyllium until you have them on the full daily dose. I've also added the fine alfalfa leaves to the mix. If you can, leave them in a stall or enclosed area for awhile with just the mix to eat. Hunger is a great motivator. Also, there are different brands of psyllium--mine "like" "Sand Clear". You may have to experiment a bit, but by starting with just a little and increasing slowly, they'll come around.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Wednesday, Apr 2, 2008 - 6:32 am:

Pam it is not clear that these products are beneficial at all. Though there use is sandy areas is almost universal be sure to pay attention to exposure. Recommendations are given in the article on Sand Colic that you can select off the navigation bar at the top of this page.
DrO
New Member:
infiniti

Posted on Wednesday, Apr 2, 2008 - 12:36 pm:

Thank you DrO for your quick response. I've always been aware of horses ingesting sand while eating and have taken the appropriate steps. I've read the articles on this site and I will make sure I exercise him more. But I'm completely confused when it comes to using psyllium products (not that my horse would eat them)for sand removal or as a preventative. Are there any products to be given that would help as a preventative?
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Thursday, Apr 3, 2008 - 7:58 am:

I thought my previous post answered this question Pam. Is there something I am missing?
DrO
New Member:
infiniti

Posted on Thursday, Apr 3, 2008 - 12:38 pm:

DrO,to clear up any confusion on my part are you saying that products such as psyllium, flax seed, etc., has no beneficial effect on sand accumulation? I was confused by all the products (psyllium for one) that claim to prevent sand colic.
Member:
wgillmor

Posted on Thursday, Apr 3, 2008 - 12:58 pm:

Hi Pam,

I'll try to save DrO a response. What he says above is "it is not clear that these products are beneficial at all". He says substantially the same thing the article.

However, as he constantly tries to teach us, this is not the same as saying "it is clear that these products are not beneficial at all".

(By the way, I use Psyllium on my vet's advice despite this. My horse will eat anything you ask him too, so I am no help on that problem.)

DrO may want to amplify or correct.

Regards,
Wiley
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Friday, Apr 4, 2008 - 6:48 am:

Thanks Wiley,
That is correct. I use to state that research indicates that psyllium is not beneficial as this was the conclusion of what I consider is still the best run study to date (Vet Surg. 1998 Nov-Dec;27(6):547-54. Failure of psyllium mucilloid to hasten evaluation of sand from the equine large intestine. Hammock PD, Freeman DE, Baker GJ. Department of Veterinary Clinical Medicine, University of Illinois, College of Veterinary Medicine, Urbana 61802, USA.).

However since that time several other less well designed studies have found a possible beneficial effect. The studies are flawed by lack of a untreated control and the results in the psyllium treated horses comparable to the results of the rate of sand evacuation in the untreated controls of the study quoted above.
DrO
New Member:
infiniti

Posted on Tuesday, Apr 15, 2008 - 2:38 pm:

DrO, I just read a new study regarding sand colic in the online version of "The Horse Health E-Newsletter. I would like to email this to you if you aren't a subscriber. They were testing the efficacy of a commercial psyllium/probiotic/prebiotic product(Assure & Assure Plus. It appears they had good success with removal of sand when management alone was not enough.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Wednesday, Apr 16, 2008 - 6:54 am:

Hello Pam,
I attended the lecture at the AAEP that this article was based on and it is one of those studies I mention above that I believe had a weak design. The control method was inadequate as it did not control for the changes in routine and changes in environment over the 42 day project. Also several confounding variables with several products introduced at the time of the experiment confuses what is going on. But mostly I found the finding that fecal sand was elevated at the end of the study puzzling. If the horses were stable before the research project began, as indicated by the lack of history of problems, and the product increased fecal sand output, would you not expect by the end of a month there would be less sand in the gut rather than continued elevated amounts in the fecal decants? I guess you can figure it might take longer but from what we know about sand clearance in horses this does not seem likely. The best explanation I can think of for this observation is the horses were ingesting more sand over the course of the experiment which was not contolled for.
DrO
New Member:
infiniti

Posted on Wednesday, Apr 16, 2008 - 1:33 pm:

Again, thank you for your prompt reply. It sounded like they were on the right path.
New Member:
darlenh1

Posted on Friday, Apr 18, 2008 - 6:29 am:

Hi Folks,
I too live in an area with a fair amount of sand in the soil. I also have taken two to three fecal balls and done the glove and water test. The amount of sand was not much when I began testing every week, but I was still concerned. I am now using rice bran with nothing mixed in with the rice bran at three cups per 1000 lb horse three times a week. I have two horses, and since I started the rice bran regimen, the sand has been reduced to a few grains per horse which is a significant improvement. I no longer have concerns for either horse. Research or no, rice bran has been wonderful. The results were instantaneous after two weeks at three times per week. Also, my horses love rice bran.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Friday, Apr 18, 2008 - 11:07 am:

Again Edward research is iffy as to whether the addition of bran helpful so the question remains would you have seen these changes without the addition of the bran consider the possible opposite explanation: the bran causes more sand to be left behind so there is less in feces and the extra sand is left behind in the bowel? These are unanswered questions and I don't pretend to know which is the case I just want everyone to keep their feelers in the air and consider the difference between what is known (more sand..less sand) and what is conjectured (the reason for the observation).
DrO
Member:
darlenh1

Posted on Friday, Apr 18, 2008 - 11:47 am:

Good point doctor, and I shall consider it, but my use of rice bran is not from research studies but the advice of others.

Edward
Member:
vickiann

Posted on Friday, Apr 18, 2008 - 10:20 pm:

Have been around and around on this issue and given the research, I have tried to find the courage to give up my week long course each month of psyllium for my boys. But as Dr. O acknowledged, "if it ain't broke don't fix it." I had tried various other sand reduction remedies and I live on a Florida sand hill. There is no place that your horse could possibly ingest more sand than the environment in which I live. The Veterinarians in this area pay attention to the scientific studies but most still advocate psyllium because of the results that they see with their clients. As I see it, a very important factor to successful sand elimination is access to as much forage as a horse could want. The forage allows their system to work to the best advantage and pushes the sand through. I have done my own personal tests and have observed that more sand is pushing out of a horse's system on day 5 or 6 than on day 1 or 2 of a treatment. If you live on a sand hill, I think that ANYTHING that you can do to facilitate your horse's digestion is a good thing -- probiotics, plenty of forage, psyllium. In years past I tried bran (not good results), etc., but the week long course of psyllium each month has been the most valuable, in my experience, and I make this judgement based upon colic problems. The feed that I use has probiotics in it and the last two winters I have supplemented my coastal hay with Triple Crown Safe Starch Grass Forage, which seems to have an equalizing effect on my boys' systems (NO colic episodes) -- each horse is different, but with the forage as a supplement, they all achieve a more "normal" digestive outcome and also do not wish to seek out as many nasty, bad, or potentially poisonous weeds from my pastures. For years I used Sand Clear, but one of my horses developed a dislike for it. I could eventually get him to eat it each day by grinding feed pellets, flax or oats and mixing that in with the psyllium, but it was challenging. I switched over to Equi Aid again, and that has been accepted.
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