RISK OF SAND COLIC IN WA HORSES

Sandy soils are typical of much of our soil in WA. When pasture grazing diminishes in summer, many horses are at very high risk of ingesting very large quantities of sand as they graze. With the break of the season, when young shoots of grass start to appear, sand ingestion can be at its peak - a dangerous time for many horses. We can guarantee that once the rains start, sand colic cases increase tenfold. Horses that move property from clay-based pasture (e.g., Perth hills) to sandy-based pasture (e.g., Baldivis) are typically also at risk of increased sand ingestion.

All horses will ingest some amount of sand as they graze, even horses on the lushest of kikuye/clover pasture. However, as explained above, there are situations when the risk of high sand ingestion increases.

At Silverson Vet Clinic, we recommend regular oil drenching for these high-risk horses. Why? Because the results from nearly 40 years of recording hundreds of clinical cases of minor sand colics in the Perth region, we can attest that those hundreds of horses have probably been saved from severe, traumatic impaction colics, surgery, and/or death, by regular drenching.

The benefits of regular drenching in these high-risk horses are that we can work to PREVENT THE ACCUMULATION of large amounts of sand. As sand accumulates, it builds up to the point where it can set like concrete in the horse's gut. Why wait for this to happen? Why allow large amounts of sand to accumulate, risking surgery and death?

Regular drenching (3-4 x year) is advised; some cases may even require 2 or 3 drenches at a time, before we start to see sand shifted. We are aware of research that advises X-rays to determine the amount of sand that might be present in the gut. However, there are no hard and fast rules for this measurement - horses don't follow textbooks. Personally, we prefer that $$$ are spent on prophylactic therapy.