Sand Colic a Rising and Real Threat

Written by: Dr. Jay Altman

Over the years I have had some concern over horses accumulating sand in their colon, due to constant low level ingestion. I have often recommended that clients consider placing their horses on a psyllium product to aid in the removal of sand traces in the colon, so that we might avert a colic situation. In fact I published an article, on detecting sand and reducing sand ingestion problems, that was printed in our 2002 newsletter series. The article is reprinted below.

The doctors at Equine Medical Service have diagnosed an unprecedented number of sand colics within the past 4-6 months. Some of these colics have been so bad that the horses involved, have had to, have the sand surgically removed from their colon and others have required euthanasia. Although I have no scientific research to reference on the rising problem with sand colics and its cause, I do have a theory; With the drought conditions over the past couple of years, our horses have had to contend with three factors that contribute to the increased sand load. These are, poorer quality hay's in our barns, shorter or non-existent grass in the pastures, and increased dust and dirt in dry lot pens. The first two factors lead to more "rutting" around for feed on the part of our horses and the second and third factors magnify the problem by providing more dirt (dirt ingestion = sand ingestion) for them to consume.

I am quite concerned and I have now been recommending psyllium treatment for almost every horse in our practice.  My specific recommendations differ from many label directions and make more sense with the current problem and the questionable efficacy of former psyllium treatment protocols. The recommendations are listed below in the reprint article.

REPRINT: Sand In The Colon: What to do!

Have you ever noticed your horse nibbling intently at the ground; scavenging for those few last morsels of hay? Horses are notorious for "cleaning up their plates", but with the good must come the bad. When your horse is scraping the floor of his stall, with those little bits of food, he's ingesting little bits of sand; and over time that sand can build up.

Eating of sand can cause weight loss, depression, decreased performance, diarrhea and colic. Sand can be a contributing factor in occasional episodes of colic and can be the cause of recurrent colic pain. Abnormal amounts of ingested sand settle out in the ventral large colon. Generally, horses that are enthusiastic eaters take in more sand than finicky eaters, as they "vacuum" up every last bit of hay or grass on sandy soil.

The Sand Test

• Fill a 2 to 4-quart plastic container two-thirds full with water. Mark the water level on the outside of the container.
• Add 6 large fecal (manure) balls from your horse and mark the new water level on the container.
• Now you have a system to add the same amount of manure every time you do the test: fill the container with water to the first mark and add enough manure to have the water rise to the second mark.
• Mix the manure and water into a slurry, allowing any sand to settle to the bottom. Gently pour off the slurry of manure and water. Any sand will remain at the bottom.
• If you find sand on the bottom of the container, the test is positive.
• Test your horse's manure every other day for 2 weeks and record the results.

Important Points

• Make sand tests a routine part of your horse's care. To initially evaluate your horse, do a sand test every other day for 2 weeks. One negative test does not prove that sand is not present in the large colon.
• Do not feed any hay, grain, supplements or other type of feed from sandy ground.
• Feed hay on rubber mats, a platform or wood shavings in an area of at least 8 ft by 8 ft.
• If you graze your horse in grass paddocks and or pastures, be sure that the grass is not being cropped too closely, exposing the underlying sand or dirt.
• Include a psyllium product in your horse's feed to help coat any sand that has been ingested, thereby reducing irritation to the intestine. This also helps move the sand along through the intestinal tract.

Remember, even if your horse is only taking in small amounts of sand at a time, those little amounts build into a large amount and can become a dangerous and unsuspected predator for your horse. Stay on top of your horses sand intake so you can better predict a potentially dangerous mishap for you and your horse.

Psyllium Feeding Recommendations:

• Quantities for a 1000-1250 # Adult horse (small ponies and large draft horses require adjustment).
• For a confirmed sand condition: Feed 6-10 ounces of Equine Medical Service Psyllium Husk Pellets or powder every day for one week. Following a week off repeat the treatment. This cycle of one week on and one week off should be repeated, for a minimum of 3 cycles and until testing for sand confirms removal of all sand. Once all sand is removed prophylactic treatment as described below should be followed.
• Prophylactic treatment (no or minimal sand problem): Feed 4-6 ounces of Equine Medical Service Psyllium Husk Pellets or powder every day for one week. Skip 3 weeks, and then repeat the cycle. This procedure should be continued as long as the horse has exposure to dirt and sand, for many horses this means for their entire life.
• Treatment of confirmed sand conditions especially those experiencing colic should be conducted under the guidance of one of our veterinarians. The movement and passage of sand my cause additional abdominal discomfort.