Equine Colic Treatment - Three Causes and Their Natural Solutions

In deciding on the best equine colic treatment, you first need to know that there are three main causes. By determining what the cause is, your next job is to establish what your horse’s unique symptom picture (collection of related symptoms) is.

This may be too much to consider if you are in a high state of concern, as a level head is needed. So expert, homeopathic help may be your best option.

However, there are still areas that you may find helpful.

The three most common causes of equine colic are:

1.  from overfeeding (or stealing) grain
2.  from ingesting too much sand, over time
3.  from stress

Sand colic can be treated by pouring an edible oil into their stomach. Often medicinal paraffin is used, but I recommend this is replaced by a plant based oil such as oilive oil. Paraffin oil depletes the system of the essential fat soluble vitamins, such as vitamin A and E.

I also suggest you avoid canola oil. This is not a well tolerated edible oil.

Preventing sand colic can be achieved by a daily dose of psyllium husk. This removes sand as it is ingested.

Equine colic treatment from stress or over feeding is most efficiently dealt with by homeopathic medicines. Following are the three top medicines depending on the cause and the horse’s unique symptoms.

Horses, being prey animals are very easily frightened. The fear makes them tense. This in turn, causes the colic. If the horse has had a frightening experience (which can be as mild as moving home), and they are very restless and agitated, the homeopathic medicine Aconite is likely to calm the horse and so resolve the colic.

If the horse has ingested too much grain, this will start to ferment and cause bloating. The horse may strain to pass dung or urine. And they often want to lie down. They may look anxiously at their side. There is a desire to hollow the back, but this may be hard to see in a horse. If this picture seems to fit, the homeopathic medicine Nux vomica is probably the best choice.

Some horses seem to get colic for no apparent reason. In this case you need to be a careful observer of the symptoms. If the horse wants to lie down and remain motionless, with no interest in anything, perhaps a little irritability, the medicine Bryonia may be the most appropriate one.

Natural Worm Control

I’m often asked about worming animals.

Worms are natural. In small numbers.

One reason for worms is a copper deficiency. 

Horses, sheep, pigs, cattle and poultry will never have worms if their diet includes foods naturally rich in copper. That means a pasture rich in diversity and naturally fertilised. The use of chemicals throws the natural balance out.

Weeds supply the best diversity. They are usually deep rooted so can bring up minerals from deep down. Grasses are shallow rooted so can’t do this. This is one reason why animals eat the bark of trees. Trees pull up minerals.

As most weeds aren’t eaten by grazing animals, they allow the minerals to be absorbed into the soil, when they die and rot down. And so naturally fertilising the soil.

You can also add copper sulphate (in tiny quantities - about 1/8 of a teaspoon for a horse, less for smaller animals) in daily feed during the active worm season (spring and summer). If you use this, make sure the animals also have access to kelp.

The better and safer method is to use the homeopathic medicine Cuprum (the potency 6x or 6c) daily during the season, or a specific homeopathic complex for worms, which will include Cuprum.